Lots of plays are about abhorrent behavior and scheming slimedogs who seek to benefit from the tragedy of others. If this play is able to do more than exploit or explain away then it will be deserve to have some success. That said, my gut is wrenched in knots knowing that this particular story is still too soon to be told.
Last night I attended the Sydney Theatre Company's production of A Streetcar Named Desire here in DC. Through a peculiar and unplanned series of events, I attended up partying with the cast and crew after the show. My roommate and I were sitting with a number of the company's top administrators for most of the night, and since the media was one of our major topics of conversation, we ended up talking about this play quite a bit.
I can't speak for Soderbergh -- he wasn't there -- but as for those running the company itself, I have to say, they were clearly interested in the journalism/media aspect, and nothing they said struck me as remotely exploitative. They spoke with deep respect about the New York Times, saying that none of the media outlets in Australia approached its quality, and they were clearly disturbed by the media sensationalism in their home country and here.
I don't know how to feel about this play either -- I was quite taken aback by the idea when they first described it -- and I have no idea what Soderbergh's motives might be. But I do now have a great deal of faith in the professional integrity of the Sydney Theatre Company, and I'm willing to reserve judgment. #totmom
@SaturdaysChild: Well, I didn't love it quite as much as Peter Marks did -- [www.washingtonpost.com] -- but it was certainly very good. Of course, Streetcar being good meant it was incredibly depressing. I kind of wanted to die the entire time. #totmom
A blog like this one is just as much entertainment as any play. The site even has carefully scripted dialogue, stars (too obvious!) and bit players, and plenty of throwaway lines. So if it's all right to post stories of murdered children here and prominently feature Polanski's case--which meant those lurid details being rehashed in comments dozens of times--why is a film director automatically suspected of exploitation? #totmom
If it were another writer, I would be more worried. Soderbergh's work, while not all golden, does tend to be nuanced and smart.
Nancy Grace being a famewhore about it is no surprise, but honestly I'd be surprised if the play didn't involve skewering her role in all of this. Her interpretation of the play on her site may not be accurate.
Art, in all its forms, can help us make sense of things, as well as make us look at something with a new angle. I trust Soderbergh as an artist to handle this with some grace(no pun intended) and not to turn this into TMZ: The Musical. #totmom
@Chamalla,barren crone: The title alone makes me suspect this play might portray Grace in at least a partially unfavorable light. Her insistence on repeating the name "Tot Mom" as often as possible is grating and ridiculous. #totmom
That being said, there's something a little too "Ripped from the Headlines"/Law & Order about this. But it could also be brilliant, so I guess it all remains to be seen. #totmom
Am I the only one who thinks the hate sex between Jon and Nancy would be ridiculous? UH yeah I went there, but there is just something about those two.
Also, last night's Its Always Sunny was the second best episode EVER. Wine in a can. Gail the Snail. GEMS!
I never get asked about things like "most annoying words," because I'd probably look into the camera and say, "America, your love affair with 'antidisestablishmentariansm' has got to end. END, I SAY."
God! He is such a douche! Look at him trip on his words. Man, I never EVER would want to find myself in his shoes. Who is telling him that what he's doing is a good idea???
Also, one of my fave 30 Rock moments is when Sherri Shepherd as Mrs. Tracy Jordan has a new ring that Liz Lemon calls "bling bling." Sherri gives her a cold look and says "it belonged to Brooke Astor."
When my beloved comes home that drunk, I refer to him as "drunks mcgee". So naturally this lady is now "journalist mcgee". I have no idea why the common descriptor gets dropped. I DON'T MAKE THE RULES
Also, I have never watched the woman who yells at Jon Gosselin's show, but if she can insert that much contempt into the simple phrase "don't care," maybe I should start. And take notes.
@morninggloria: I'm with you. Nine carats? Holy crap. Her hand/ring scale looks like when Barbies had holes punched in their hands, so you could insert a rhinestone on a stick for a ring.
BTW, I'm not a fan of diamonds in general, but there are always those awesome lab created ones. I think the biggest they can get up to is two or three carats, however, so KK's probably came from a long trail of suffering and pain.
11/01/09
11/01/09
I can't speak for Soderbergh -- he wasn't there -- but as for those running the company itself, I have to say, they were clearly interested in the journalism/media aspect, and nothing they said struck me as remotely exploitative. They spoke with deep respect about the New York Times, saying that none of the media outlets in Australia approached its quality, and they were clearly disturbed by the media sensationalism in their home country and here.
I don't know how to feel about this play either -- I was quite taken aback by the idea when they first described it -- and I have no idea what Soderbergh's motives might be. But I do now have a great deal of faith in the professional integrity of the Sydney Theatre Company, and I'm willing to reserve judgment. #totmom
11/01/09
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Nancy Grace being a famewhore about it is no surprise, but honestly I'd be surprised if the play didn't involve skewering her role in all of this. Her interpretation of the play on her site may not be accurate.
Art, in all its forms, can help us make sense of things, as well as make us look at something with a new angle. I trust Soderbergh as an artist to handle this with some grace(no pun intended) and not to turn this into TMZ: The Musical. #totmom
11/01/09
11/01/09
That being said, there's something a little too "Ripped from the Headlines"/Law & Order about this. But it could also be brilliant, so I guess it all remains to be seen. #totmom
10/09/09
10/09/09
10/09/09
Also, last night's Its Always Sunny was the second best episode EVER. Wine in a can. Gail the Snail. GEMS!
10/09/09
10/09/09
10/09/09
10/09/09
10/09/09
10/09/09
When my beloved comes home that drunk, I refer to him as "drunks mcgee". So naturally this lady is now "journalist mcgee". I have no idea why the common descriptor gets dropped. I DON'T MAKE THE RULES
Also, I have never watched the woman who yells at Jon Gosselin's show, but if she can insert that much contempt into the simple phrase "don't care," maybe I should start. And take notes.
10/09/09
/humorless anti-diamond frownypants
10/09/09
BTW, I'm not a fan of diamonds in general, but there are always those awesome lab created ones. I think the biggest they can get up to is two or three carats, however, so KK's probably came from a long trail of suffering and pain.
10/09/09