Play+Comparisons

//Tulsa Lovechild// and //the Vietnamization of New Jersey//

The playwrights of //Tulsa Lovechild// and //The Vietnamization of New Jersey// both address the war in Vietnam, the 60's and 70's, the American family, and the influence of the family on the behavior of children as farce comedies. Both of these playwrights talk of serious topics by making fun of both sides of the issues. On all these subjects the playwrights take a neutral stand so as not to alienate half of their possible audience. They present extremes of both sides of an issue to the point where the characters are so over the top that they become comical in their own short sided views. However, while these playwrights methods are similar they both have their own unique styles. The playwright of //Tulsa Lovechild// approached these topics in a slightly more serious manner. That is his play had some serious moments that provoked feelings other than those of a comic nature. Tulsa's parents were both hippies however when her mother was pregnant her father abandons her and heads to war. Tulsa herself was to a large extant a serious character as was her relationship with her mother who had sacrificed everything to raise her. Death is still sad and Tulsa's indecisiveness is quite irritating. The war tore her parents a part and was responsible for her father's death. Great importance is placed on the family in this play those who have it want to preserve it and those who do not desperately seek to find one. A family gives a sense of belonging and purpose that most the characters seem to desperately long for. On the other hand, the playwright of //The Vietnamization of New Jersey// maintained a farcical atmosphere throughout his play. The father shot himself, the family had do mortgage their home, both sons are failures and yet all of these were comical. His only serious moments were the characters dramatic monologues but these were random and a little out of place and therefore still could not be taken seriously. A disjointed family breeds messed up kids and the war in Vietnam turns the older son David into a blind hippie who raves that suicide is the only way to repent for America's "rape" of Vietnam.