LKVIETNAM

Lily Kim 10/26/10   THEA 2100H In // The Vietnamization of New Jersey, // playwright Christopher Durang satirizes U.S. conventional family values, relationships, religion, left and right-wing politics concerning the Vietnam War, the Vietnam War itself, and many other topics. By including these real-world elements in the text and combining them with heavily exaggerated characters, sexual innuendos, odd reactions, and bizarre situations, Durang effectively criticizes these topics while entertaining his audience in a sweeping work of farce comedy. The genre of farce is not just found in theatre; it is found in many types of media and entertainment. The trademarks of farce- stereotyped characters, slapstick comedy, violent horseplay, pointed irony, broad satire, and as well as the aforementioned elements- can be found in farcical television programs, films, literature, and radio. The composition of the family in the play is not inherently bizarre; there is a mother, father, two sons, a daughter-in-law, and a maid. It is Durang’s characterization of these characters, as well as their interactions and personal relationships that make the family a target of farce. Ozzie Ann desperately wants to fulfill her conventional role as a mother, but instead succumbs to hysterics and crying numerous times, always implores Harry to “talk to Et” instead of her actually disciplining him, and tolerates being disrespected by her son and her maid. She switches rapidly between jolly and hysterical moods often, as she does in the Fourth of July breakfast in Act 2, Scene 3. Harry, who would be a conventional father figure, hides in the library for five months instead of going to work, then shoots himself at the table during dinner to little reaction from the family. Et, the youngest son, does little but eat cereal from his pants and fool around with Liat, or Maureen O’Hara. Hazel, the maid, doesn’t clean as much as provide ominous sayings about the wrongs America has committed, such as “It’s American History of the past 200 years that’s upsetting him. Killing the Indians, Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine…”. She also plays to the black stereotype by saying “Six o’clock and the master not home yet.” as well as other slave references. All of these exaggerated and crazy characters in what is modeled to be an “Ozzie and Harriet” nuclear family is a characteristic of farce comedy. Their reactions to events and each other are abnormal, and clearly farcical. Themes of violent and sexual horseplay pervade the play as well. Larry, the uncle, embodies strict right-wing militarism, while David plays the part of liberal guilt monger and dramatist. The two characters get involved in many violent altercations. David is particularly an ironic character in that he feels extreme dramatic guilt for violence in Vietnam but he finds no fault in asking Liat to shoot everywhere in the living room to purify the house for America’s sins. A good example of irony in this is that although David only married a Vietnamese woman to atone for his sins, Liat is not actually Vietnamese- she is Irish and named Maureen O’Hara. Liat is also involved in many scenes of sexual horseplay with Et that would be considered bad taste in other genres, such as the orgasm scene behind the couch. Sexual themes are brought up again during Father McGilliCutty’s visit in which he discusses how homosexuality, as well as fires and plagues, is a divine gift to control human population. This is a clearly outlandish statement that would be a characteristic of farce. Absurd situations occur regularly throughout the play. Larry parachutes in from an airplane, Maureen fools everyone into thinking she is Vietnamese by taping her eyes, Hazel and Et almost get into a knife fight, and the family puts Harry’s body in the garbage. There are Bicentennial Minutes in situations that make no sense, and the play ends by David setting himself on fire while Ozzie plays with cornflakes. These situations are characteristic of farce comedies as well; they are disjointed and highly improbable. Farce comedy exists in many mediums of entertainment. On National Public Radio, there is a program called // The Prairie Home Companion // with a segment called // News from Lake Wobegon //. This segment chronicles an imaginary small fishing town that contains exaggerated, often stereotypical residents with bizarre, often unfortunate events happening in their lives. The television show // Arrested Development // also incorporates many aspects of farce into its plotline; the story revolves around a once-wealthy, dysfunctional family. It chronicles one of the children’s apparent love for his cousin, a wife’s relationship with a seemingly-homosexual husband, and the patriarch’s role in prison. Together, the family gets itself into and out of strange situations. This program is an example of farce comedy as well, and the sense a viewer or listener gets when witnessing these absurdities is similar to the sense when one reads // The Vietnamization of New Jersey- //a sense of being entertained, but also being slightly confused. Although not everyone may understand or enjoy farce comedy, it does have distinctive characteristics that sets it apart from other forms of comedy. Such aspects of farce comedy as slapstick humor, gratuitous violence and sex, absurd dialogue, and unlikely situations feature prominently in // The Vietnamization of New Jersey, as //well as other media forms such as television, film, and literature.