Comments on: Class assignment

By: aahmed

aahmed — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:24:48 +0000

I have to disagree with Erica that the first two acts were boring and unnecessary. I feel as though, just as Jesse stated, that the first two acts gave “a good sense of growing up with the characters.” Because of this growing up, I was able to relate to the characters because I had seen them turn into, for example, married adults from young children. If the first two acts were truly unnecessary, then the third act alone could uphold the entire play, but of course, the third act alone would not make sense.

Sara said “…the first and second part of the play was not sentimental for me because of exaggerated emotion.” But this is precisely what makes up sentimentality: exaggerated emotion. The definition itself says that sentimental is having those feelings of emotion in an exaggerated way. Therefore, I feel as if the entire play is sentimental. The emotion was exaggerated but it certainly did not lead to falsity for me. Something exaggerated is not false. It is just simply exaggerated.

–Anam Ahmed

By: ssani

ssani — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:13:04 +0000

I agree with Jesse in that I was able to relate to almost every single character as well (despite the obvious fact that I don’t live in New Hampshire). Each character was just an ordinary person, with ordinary feelings. I didn’t find that any of the characters’ emotions were strange and out of the ordinary, because everything they said, did and felt is similar to what I was feeling at the time. If I were in fact Emily, once I died I would probably want to visit the living also. I would want to re-live the happiest moments of my life just as she did.

By: ssaeed

ssaeed — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 01:57:06 +0000

As Joanne stated, “I loved the idea of invisible props and most of the actors handled that well. In the beginning of the play, I actually could visualize the vegetables that Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb were breaking with their hands. When Mrs. Webb was pretending to carry a cartoon full of milk to the table, I could imagine that as well. The milkman annoyed me because it seemed like at certain times he forgot that he was supposed to be handling a cow.” I completely agree with her and i believe Bessie was a horse not a cow. The actors did a tremendous jobs in their acting with the invisible props and made it seem very believable. However, i still stick with my point of view that the too much emotion put into the first two acts made it unbelievable for me, because even though i can relate with what is going on, but not with that much emotion put into it. That was a very big turn off for the first two acts being sentimental because i was able to relate with the overall action happening but not what the characters were going through because it was too emotional, than i would have imagined it to be. I also agree with what Joanne stated about the last scene in which Mrs. Gibbs was trying to do what was best for Mr. Gibbs and there is never a bigger gift than that.

By: jbroome

jbroome — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 00:15:20 +0000

To be honest, I was surprised when we first read and saw “Our Town”. I expected it to be boring but for me it truly was not boring. I loved the idea of invisible props and most of the actors handled that well. In the beginning of the play, I actually could visualize the vegetables that Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb were breaking with their hands. When Mrs. Webb was pretending to carry a cartoon full of milk to the table, I could imagine that as well. The milkman annoyed me because it seemed like at certain times he forgot that he was supposed to be handling a cow.
Just to remind you guys, I’m with the majority. I think that the play was sentimental. In fact I think that the whole play was sentimental, especially the last part. I know that Mrs. Gibbs seemed cold when she was observing her husband grieving near her tombstone but that coldness can be interpreted in many ways. I interpreted it differently than Alyssa and Jesse. I think that the dead and the living can still have a connection with one another despite the fact that they do not exist in the same state. Mrs. Gibbs will always love her husband but in death she has realized that people need to live life to the fullest. I interpreted this scene as Mrs. Gibbs severing the connection between her and her husband, so that he can move on with his life. This scene literally screams out sentimental to me. What is more touching than a person trying to do what is best for his or her loved one?

- Joanne Broome

By: jleon

jleon — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:51:27 +0000

Sorry Anita, I think the ambiguity of Wilder’s characters makes it easier to relate to some extent. For example, Miller’s characters in “The Death of A Salesman” are very clearly defined. However, I found it difficult to find myself in any of them.
As I was watching “Our Town,” I realized that I was able to relate to nearly all of the main characters in one way or another. They were malleable, incomplete, and unsure, just like a real person. This connection made the play much more related to me, and thus, sentimental.

By: asonawane

asonawane — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:28:35 +0000

Alyssa, I really liked what you said about the last act.

I must say that given the opportunity to watch “Our Town” again, I would rather not. I find it too quaint for my tastes. “Our Town” absolutely pales in comparison to “The Glass Menagerie” and “The Death of A Salesman.” The characters are not exceptionally memorable. And their personal ambitions are made incomplete. Wilder introduces the aspirations of a character and then chooses not to throughly explore the topic…

In an attempt to emphasize the surreal quality of time, Wilder compromises his characters and I find that unforgivable. I wish Wilder had taken a few pages from his friend Willa Cather… And her account of a declining small town in A Lost Lady. I love how character-driven her novel is and this is simply a quality that Wilder’s play lacked.

By: ssaeed

ssaeed — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:38:35 +0000

As Jesse stated ” …the play would have been insufferably long and kill any sentimental feelings with boredom.” Thats what the first two acts did for me, killed any sentimental feelings with boredom. They do show what we go through everyday but the actors just put more emotion than needed to seem real. It felt fake, until the last act, in which Emily puts so much emotion into it. In that act a lot of emotion is needed whereas in the other acts that much emotion was not needed.

By: amante

amante — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:05:40 +0000

I agree with Jesse. The last act is emotional but it does negate the sentiment of the other two acts. In the first two acts, the families are happy. Both sets of parents are happy watching their children grow up, they enjoy spending time with their family and they both want to give their children the best lives they possible can. The part of the last act that annoyed me the most was how Mrs. Gibbs showed no emotion for her husband. Ok, I get the message that the afterlife could be better than real life, but how can one spread the message that our tangible and real life serves no beneficial or inspiring purpose. The stage manager even says that “nobody realizes life while they live it.” Well, what does it take to realize how good your life is? I did not view any feelings of disrespect, anger or hostility taking place between any of the characters in the first half. Each family showed love for one another and truly cared for each other. They all recognized external beauty and enjoyed watching the sun rise, a full moon or simply watching their gardens grow. I do not understand what else it takes for one to truly live their life and I think the last act of “Our Town” was contradictive of itself.

By: jleon

jleon — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:14:55 +0000

I wasn’t saying that the last act wasn’t emotional, it certainly was, but it attacks the sentimentality that is established by the first two acts. Even at the point where it plays on the audiences heartstrings the most, when Mr. Gibbs or George go and cry at their respective wives graves, the two men are dismissed by their deceased spouses as ignorant of life.
This first to acts may have been a little rushed chronologically, but it did give a good sense of growing up with the characters. If they tried to slow it down, the play would have been insufferably long and kill any sentimental feelings with boredom.
I think though, that the message isn’t to reflect (a sentimental message) it’s that we should enjoy the moment we’re in. How often do we just go through the motions of life or fall into a pattern and miss the chance to truly enjoy it? Emily is distraught during her return to her 12th birthday because her mother doesn’t really look at her, she’s just going through the daily motions and not enjoying the day for what it is and for the people she’s with.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:32:01 +0000

I must disagree with Jesse on the last act. I personally thought that act was very emotion, and impacted me very strongly. Without the last act, I believe the play would have been a dull, over the top play in which characters, like I said before, try to be sentiment, and in the process, fail to do so. In my eye, they all seemed to hide their true feelings, by coming across as overly sentimental. Thus, I found the first two acts boring, unnecessary, and time-wised rushed. I loved the last act, in which the message was put across, and justified for the first acts, by portraying the message that we the audience need to reflect on our lives, cherish the little details, as well as the big one, and open our eyes to the world around us.