After watching Oleanna in class we were asked to have discussions amongst ourselves and talk about our initial reactions to the play. It seemed to me that overwhelmingly the class thought of the professor, John, as a victim. That he was "just trying to help" and that he "deserved" respect because he was the teacher, as opposed to her, the student. I definitely felt that John was portrayed as the protagonist, and Carol the antagonist. While I feel like her actions were coming from a morally questionable place, both of their actions were detrimental to each other. Just because he was not aware, or conscious of misusing his power does not mean that he's innocent. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, or so I hear.
I do agree with Showalter in that the characters were not equal and fair in their representations. True, they were both incredibly annoying but John was easier to relate to. His goals and ambitions (to rise up the social ladder by teaching at a university, to buy a nice home for his family) line up with typical American ideals. Carlos motives are never fully understood. It is clear that she wants to ruin John's career to make a statement, but her arguments are exaggerations of the truth, at best. Her character is largely unexplored, creating more questions than answers. By portraying the characters as such it seems clear to me that the audience would naturally sympathize with John. In reading how audiences react to this play, especially the end when John beats Carol, by cheering and applauding, it seems hard to argue that the there isn't a "right" or "wrong" side to take.
Showalter was definitely harsh in her critique of David Mamet. While I do not think he succeeded in his goal of creating a balanced case for each character, the writers goal and what is created do not always have to match up to make a successful piece of art. I think the play was well written. Being able to draw out such strong emotions from an audience, who knows that they are watching a play, that it is not real, and yet they get so emotionally wrapped up in it is a very difficult task. If nothing else this play brings up questions and forces people to think about what they feel and why.
Good Blog Post Cara. Your right when the majority of the class thought as John as the victim. I also agreed with you as John being portrayed as the protagonist and Carol as the antagonist, and that we see John as the more relatable background. Meaning that he is trying to have what a typical American wants to have a house, wife, and kids. This movie was able to bring out many emotions in the first parts of the movie. Your right this movie is a movie that will make any one think about what they just watched.
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