Blog Number Five

Once I got past the initial irritation that “Oleanna” brought on, I found that it had raised many interesting points. After surveying the different scholarly articles on blackboard, I found the one that interested me the most was called “We're Just Human: Oleanna and Cultural Crisis”. The author of this criticism touches on many different psychological topics and interesting aspects of the play, most of which I agree with. 

One of the grand themes of “Oleanna” in my opinion was it’s critique on state of sexual harassment in America. In the play there is an odd tension between John and Carol in the three different scenes that take place in his office. While most people agree that it isn't really clear if John sexually harasses Carol, his closeness to her and his repetition of phrases such as “because I like you,” and “let me help you,” do come off as a little creepy. Mark Silverstein states in his article, “theatre can demystify and perform a kind of ideology critique of the desires and values inhabiting our national unconscious.” This grey area of sexual harassment that is brought up in “Oleanna” is one that was on the nations mind at the time this play was written, it appears Mamet intended to confront this. Plays and other works that force a public discussion on uncomfortable topics such as sexual harassment are important and can bring closeted issues into the public eye. 

Another topic that I thought was very important and evident in this play was that of violence perpetuated against women, especially a certain kind of woman, the “whistleblower”. This was a topic that we touched on in class and seemed to generate a lot of feedback. In his article Silverstein states, “that so many of those who see the play take evident satisfaction to the point of cathartic release in the violence directed not simply at a woman, but at a woman backed by and identifying herself as spokesperson for a feminist "group"raises the question: What can Oleanna tell us about the uses of misogyny, about the frightening "need" for misogyny, at the particular cultural moment at which we find ourselves?” I feel that this eloquently phrases the question, why is it so many of us secretly (or not so secretly) cheer when John finally blurts out, “I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole you little cunt.” Also the question of when is it acceptable, if ever to speak to a woman this way, let alone use violence against one. These questions have different asnwers for different people, depending on the person asked. Also, what does our society say about this? Aren’t most young boys told to never hit girls? Yet it is impossable to watch TV without seeing some sort of violence against, or domination of women perpetuated. These social issues are important for discussion because thay are so complex. While “Oleanna” does not offer answers to these questions, it helps to raise them at a time when they may otherwise not be confronted.