Movie Suggestion - Liar Liar

I suggest that we should watch “Liar Liar” starring Jim Carrey. I have not watched the movie myself but I personally love Jim Carrey for one reason. He is HILARIOUS! But the first thing that attracted me to this movie was the title itself. Among the many plays that we have read, more than half of the plays had some if not many aspects of lies/cheat/deceptions/perjury in them. Some of the plots were even built on lies after lies which caused conflicts and misunderstanding among the characters.

In this movie, the main character Fletcher (Jim Carrey) is a lawyer but he has a habit of giving precedence to his job, breaking promises to his son and his ex-wife Audrey, and then lying about the reasons. Fletcher's compulsive lying has also built him a reputation as one of the best defense lawyers in the state of California as he is climbing the ladder in the firm for which he works.

The most obvious play that could relate to this movie is of course, The Broken Jug. Both the main characters were representatives of the legal field. Their duty was to uphold justice but for different reasons they tell lies to secure their statuses. The Misanthrope also has a tiny aspect of lie when Celimene cheated on Alceste by flirting around behind his back. The Beaver Coat reveals Mrs. Wolff deceptive character towards the people around her by stealing and trying to put the blame on others. The plots were driven by lies which indirectly influenced their respective resolutions.

What if they were all unable to lie? In this movie, Fletcher one day realizes that he is unable to lie, mislead, or even withhold a true answer, which put his career and family relationship at risk. It would be interesting to imagine or discuss how the plots and endings of the plays that we studied would be different if the characters were unable to lie.

Movie Suggestion: She's the Man

I think that the movie She’s the Man would be a great movie for us to watch in class.  It can be related to The Venetian Twins and Lysistrata. 

Here is a link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4OhwrMidSU

For those who haven’t seen this movie, it stars Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum.  Amanda Bynes plays Viola, a tomboy whose mother insists on her acting more ladylike.  Viola’s twin, Sebastian, is in a band and gets a last minute gig in London, and Viola comes up with a plan to disguise herself as her brother in order to go to his school and play on the soccer team there.  When she arrives (acting as her brother), she meets her roommate Duke, played by Channing Tatum, and tries to act manly, but just ends up looking like a freak.  There is a big love triangle, which ends up as more of a complicated web of relationships.  This movie is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

I think this movie can be related to The Venetian Twins because one twin inpersonates the other and chaos ensues.  One twin (Tonino/Viola) pretends to be the other twin (Zanetto/Sebastian) and winds up causing lots of confusion and heartache for everyone around them. 

This movie can also be related to Lysistrata because both the movie and the play have lead female characters who do not agree with how the men are doing things and decide to take matters into her own hands.  Viola’s school soccer team is cut, and when the men’s team laughs at the idea of a co-ed team, she sees her chance to pose as Sebastian at a different school where she can join that team and play against her previous school in a big rival match. 

            She’s the Man covers topics like gender roles in society, lies and deception, and breaking stereotypes.  I think it would be a good choice to watch in class and we could make many connections between the film and the plays we have read. 

The Broken Jug: Tell the Truth

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”  Mark Twain

As I was reading this play and watching Judge Adam scramble to keep his story straight, this quote popped into my head.  Adam tells multiple stories of how he acquired the cuts and bruises on his face and head.  He tells several different accounts to explain his missing wig.  He claims to be well acquainted with Martha, but then states that he rarely visits her at her house.  He attributes his nervous attitude to being sick, then changes his story to worrying about his sick hen.  Eventually he is caught in his lies and runs off to the hill like a scared little boy.

I found that the social implication of this play is that it is better to tell the truth in a sticky situation rather than try to lie your way out of it.  (Of course, not doing something shady in the first place would be ideal.)  In several of the plays we have read, a character attempts to lie and deceive the people around him all for personal gain.  We have seen this in Celimene, Dimple, and now Adam.  Things do not work in favor of these liars. 

Rather than approach the topic of lying and deception in a straightforward and matter-of-fact manner, The Broken Jug has a comedic setting that allows for a lighter discussion of the repercussions of lies.  As Emily said in her post, we have talked in class about how comedy shines a light on character flaws.  Deception is definitely one of those flaws!  Have you ever heard of a time when someone greatly benefited from telling a lie and did not experience any consequences?  Probably not.  Lying just does not pay off.  The benefit of examining these flaws in a comedy setting is that lying is not directly condemned and we can find humor in the liar’s actions, but when we stop to think about it, the audience is left to make the conclusion that no good can come from lies and deception.