Watch the attached clip of Williams' "The Glass Menagerie." Since we have spent the last few weeks exploring the world of plays, comment on the theatrics in the clip. Were the actors in character? Were they believable characters? Notice the relationship dynamics between Tom and Amanda. This is obviously not a normal adult to adult relationship. How does this relationship differ from what the reader expects? Use quotations from the clip or the play to help you formulate your answer.
15 comments:
I actually thought that this was a wonderfully rendered version of the play. The actors were so into their parts and characterizations that I thought that I was watching a real life story! They were expressing Amanda and Tom's emotions to an extreme extent, so it was quite believable. That being said, the relationship dynamic between Amanda and Tom is skewed. You would think that Tom has the upper hand because he works to support Amanda and Laura, but Amanda seems like she's holding something over his head. It's as if he can't do what he pleases just because Amanda's making him feel guilty. And if she really wanted to solve his "movie-addiction", she would do more than yell at him. And since Tom is a grown man, he really should just either tell his mother the truth, or decide not to deal with her anymore and move on. Either way, he needs to make his stance clear and free himself from her. Overall, the reader just expects more support from Amanda and less acceptance from Tom.
I agree with Yousra. I think that the actors were well into character. They effectively portrayed the dysfunctional relationship between Amanda and Tom. Even though Tom is an adult and should be treated as such, Amande still treats him like a child and yells at him. In reference to the books that she confiscated, Tom is a grown man and what he reads is his business. Confiscating books deemed inappropiate is something that parents do in a effort to shield their children. As for Tom, up until this point he has taken whatever Amanda has dealt out to him without a single word. But now, Tom is finally standing up for himself and having his "coming of age" moment. This scene shows him having his teenage rebellious moment, something that should have happened a long time ago but he was forced to grow up and support the family.
To me, the actors did an exceptional job in effectively portraying the complex tension between Tom and Amanda. The way that they interrupt each other seems natural and completely unscripted, and they are comfortable enough with each other to engage in this mother-son relationship with excellent senses of gesticulation. The only thing that I found to be questionable was Amanda's inner city accent, which does not fit in with her past as a Southern belle.
However,the characteristic of Tom and Amanda's relationship is unexpected as we as readers are exposed to the extent of how dysfunctional they are in this particular scene. I agree with Yousra that both Tom and Amanda are not attempting to resolve their problems; instead, they are perpetuating their disagreements even further with their behaviors. I also feel that Amanda is desperate in trying to keep Tom in the apartment for fear that he might abandon her and Laura, just as Mr. Wingfield had done, which would "jeopardize your job... [and] our security" (from the video). The most interesting line that I think epitomizes their relationship is when Tom says, "How lucky dead people are," because it shows how they perceive their lives to be hellish and inescapable.
The actors did an extremely good job with interpreting their characters personalities and relationships with each other into the screenplay. The conflict between Tom and Amanda is unavoidable and undoubtedly convincing. The only aspect of their acting that I expected to be slightly different was for Tom to be more sarcastic and playful with his mother; although, his behavior does make complete sense and is exceptionally pertinent to the script. The audience would expect Tom to represent his true feelings about his work life to his mother much more in depth though. One would also believe that a mother would support her son in whichever career he chooses, just as long as he feels personally fulfilled, thus, making aspects of their relationship jaded.
Towards the conclusion of the video, Tom does have fun teasing his mother about his life outside of home and work, saying that he is "‘going to opium dens...joined the Hogan gang,’ and is, ‘a hired assassin’" (Williams 1446). This reflects his deep frustration with his mothers tight reigns and controlling nature.
I found this video to be an extremely convincing and accurate depiction of the interaction between Tom and Amanda. Between the escalating vocal pitch and increasingly erratic movements, this tension-filled scene was well portrayed.
The actors themselves were fantastic, their facial expressions spot-on, and their frenzied body language impeccable. I honestly could find no fault in the acting. Even though this was a rather chaotic scene, viewers are not distracted from the character relationships and plot points of the play (unlike in A Doll's House).
Tom and Amanda don't really act like adults in this scene, and the excellent acting only emphasizes this discrepancy from the norm. Tom acts like a rebellious teenager while Amanda plays the part of the contrary child. Both throw temper tantrums. Tom, like most teenagers, "doth protest too much" when it comes to dispelling his mother's doubts. He overreacts to these doubts by pummeling himself with hysterical accusations, which only serves to worry and excite his mother more.
These two adult don't seem all that grown up.
-Diana Heriford
Again, just like the above posters, I thought the acting was extremely well done, especially on Amanda's part. The way she talked down to Tom and waved her finger at him reminded me distincly of a mother chastising her six-year-old. In fact, it was a little disconcerting seeing this done to a grown man. The one thing that I disliked was the fact that, in the heat of their argument, they had to speak rapidly. It was much harder to grasp the significance of Tom's wishing he was dead when he spat it out over the course of half a second. Of course, this is necessary in any play, but I think it detracted from the rather deep insight of Tom's emotions that the book gave.
As mentioned above, the Tom-Amanda relationship is clearly not healthy. She treated him like an unruly child who stayed out past his curfew, whereas Tom was so depressed he could not even begin to try and formulate a compromise with Amanda. Watching them in the play, I distinctly got the impression of a married couple that is about to divorce. Amanda does not trust Tom, Tom does not respect Amanda enough to confide in her. Which is a shame, really, because their characters are actually quite compatible - he dreams of being a hero, seeing the world, bringing back glory. I'm sure Amanda would like nothing more than to sit on a nice, Southern porch and wait for her son to come back with the spoils of his adventures. Unfortunately, providence has willed them both into a dead-beat situation where neither of them can realize their dreams, and so they let out their frustration on each other.
The actors portrayed the characters exactly how I had pictured it when I first read the play. The relationship between Tom and Amanda was extremely believable and the tension was very clear. The reader would expect a typical adult to adult relationship to treat each other as equals, and since Tom is the oldest son he would typically be expected to take care of his mother. If anything, it would be Tom whom the reader would expect to "baby" his aging mother. Instead it is Amanda treating Tom as her inferior and making him seem younger than he really is.
I thought the direction in relation to the actions themselves was a bit off. Tom took the time to walk around a scene divider in order to argue again with Amanda on the other side, yet immediately jumps to the floor when the glass breaks.
It might have been more effective to keep the arguing frantic without such a long (3 seconds without speech vs. constant speech) break, and then make the solemn scene more solemn. It's a bit off-putting to create a scene of loss that takes qualities from a hectic argument scene.
In that sense, the characters, along with the scene as a whole, are not too believable. Sure, arguments can get hectic and use very unsubtle sarcasm, but the whole flow seemed to contradict the very definition of hectic. If it were truly as hectic as they wanted yet still be believable, there would have to be a little more stumbling about as they try to articulate their responses. Still, the scene was well acted out and very nicely portrays The Glass Menagerie as it should be, even if the story itself is not too terribly realistic.
I really liked the video portrayal of the play. I thought both characters, Tom and Amanda were played well and fit the part perfectly, as the book depicted their characters. I especially favored Tom as he argued with his mother. His movements were exaggerated yet I thought it mirrored his internal frustration with his own identity. Laura was also briefly seen in the movie clip, clutching a pillow, coping with her dysfunctional family's dynamics. Even the physical appearances of the characters seem to fit their issues as Amanda as dark circles and many worry lines across her face. The short glimpse we see of Laura, her shoulders are hunched and she looks even smaller as she clutches her pillow. Tom has a small frame as well, with rounded shoulders; almost a foreshadowing to the abandonment of his family.
I feel like this rendition of the play is spot-on. The characters of Tom and Amanda are perfectly portrayed, with their inner emotions, as well as the relationship they have between each other both being adequately portrayed. Tom's steady lying is reenacted just as I imagined it to be from the play. Although the acting was fairly good overall, the only thing preventing me from providing a higher review was the lackluster effort put into Amanda's accent. She is supposed to be southern, however her speech in the video comes out as an extremely regional northern dialect.
I think that as far as acting goes, the people playing Tom and Amanda did an exceptional job. However, as far as portraying my expectations of Tom and Amanda, I felt as though things were a bit off. When reading the play, I got the sense that their arguments were just a blanket covering bigger tensions - things they could not say out loud without inflicting irreparable hurt upon the other. I did not feel as though the actors portrayed that aspect of their relationship very well, beceause both of them got so hyped up on the argument that was currently taking place, that the audience is left with little room to imagine a bigger picture. I also agree whole-heartedly with Yousra's assertion that Tom's reaction to Amanda should be her reaction to him instead. She tried to come off as powerful in her household, while the text leads the readers to believe that she is suffering from inferiority amongst her children, particularly Tom, who supports her. Tom also acted and argued very unlike the "poet" I had imagined when reading the play.
A general consensus seems to exist here that the actors performed at an extreme level of proficiency, and I agree in that they acted very passionately and convincingly. When I read the play it gave me a slightly less hostile impression of that scene, but I guess that's just the way I pictured it. The argument between the two characters is both fast-paced and somewhat coherent and would therefore require an immense amount of wit from both parties if it were real, but the interplay between Amanda and Tom seems typical enough of a dysfunctional family to be believable.
In an adult to adult relationship, a reader may expect mature and progressive arguments, but the argument between Tom and Amanda is very immature. Tom dodges Amanda's questioning, unwilling to tell her the truth, while Amanda relentlessly presses Tom. Obviously, this is not an adult-adult relationship but a strained mother-son relationship. The reader can infer that it has been that way between Tom and Amanda for a long time and will not change as long as Tom is living with her.
Yousra, nice job of bringing out the realism.
Emily, great idea to focus on the book confiscation as a sign of a relationship more reminiscent of parent and child.
Gary, right on about gesticulation and I concur about the accent.
Grace, great supporting quote.
Diana, love the clincher sentence of your argument.
David - interesting descriptor "dead-beat situation".
Hunter - enjoyed the "eye of the director touch that you gave to the explanation.
Mary, great emphasis on posture.
Keely, excellent characterization comments, especially about Tom.
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