How does the depiction of the underprivileged family affect your idea on poverty?
Why do you think the playwright chose to have a thirteen year old girl as the main character and last but not least , In what ways can this family depiction be seen offensive to others? Be honest and open . Healthy debates are always welcome.
9 comments:
This play touched on everything we are investigating: race, class, economics, gender, war, drugs, violence, sex, the self.
I will hold my tongue for now but I just want to thank Ruby and Timothy for taking the time to start this conversation, which I am hoping will continue throughout the remainder of the semester.
I'll hold my tongue, too, with two exceptions. 1) I second Professor Stein's thanks to you all for keeping the conversation going. 2) I said to Professor Stein as we were leaving the play, if this were an English class the very first question I'd ask is the one Ruby asked y'all: why does Katori Hall make a 13-year-old girl the main character? So whose war is it anyway?
I think that Katori chose cookie as a main character because she was the only untouched character that was a victim of circumstance and had nothing to do with any decisions she had made. I think in a general perspective , cookie is a character that's easiest to sympathize with . This theory of mine is purely based on opinion but I can't help but be justified in it when I think of one of the first classes we had where we discussed how " we like our victims a certain way ". If cookie is the most likable, who'd be the least? Would it be Tony? Cornbread? Or what about the long lost war vet grandson? Are we forbidden from having I'll feelings towards him simply because he suffers from Post War PTSD?
My guess for the age of the protagonist being 13 is due to that age period being close to when children begin to really understand some of the more complicated adult matters. The themes of sex and violence kept coming up in the play, which Cookie had to learn to deal with from the other adults around her. As for why a girl over a boy, I would think it's because girls are traditionally considered more vulnerable to violence and sex (rape?).
The way the family was portrayed seemed to fit many of the articles that I read about African American families living in the ghettos. I have never really seen the situation with my own eyes, so I don't know how bad it is. It's probably offensive to others due to the pure emotions and offensive language that comes from the play. People who might have never seen the living situation of the underprivileged might just ignore the situation. So when the situation is presented to them without any censors, it can seem offensive.
I guess I'm still pretending to hold my tongue, but I'd raise another question for you to ponder for tomorrow's class. We've talked this semester about language and how our word choice can structure the way we think about something. What is the significance of the refrain "This be the WAR"? Why conceive of the "problem" posed by "Hurt Village" as a "war"? Of course there is a simple plot reason: the returning soldier. But what else might be going on?
13 year old Cookie was chosen to represent a certain purity and innocence (although you wouldn't think this if you only witnessed her participating in a round of Dozens) that seperated her from the other characters of the play. Her grandmother is bitter and broken and appears to blame the white man ("They") for all of the family's hardships and short comings. She has been so beaten down from years of disappointment that there is not much fight left in her. Only random outbursts caused by pain and frustration. In contrast, Tony C character accepts his social location and position and becomes an opportunist. He decides to capitalize or make the best of his place in society even if it means contributing to the destruction of his OWN people by selling drugs throughout his OWN community.
13 year old Cookie is the seed from generations of "trees" that are withering (her grandmother is old and tired), unstable (her father suffers from psychological trauma), and eroding (her drug addicted mother is slowly killing herself). This can be a result of years of denial of sufficient water and sunlight by society, in which every tree has the right to have access to. BUT, she is the "future" generation. Katori Hall is clever in strategically setting up the conclusion of the play in such a way that this 13 year old character represented a statement: "There is hope in our FUTURE".
Ruby, thank you for planning everything! Professor Stein, thank you for picking such a wonderful play!
Hurt Village forces us to rethink what the word “poverty” means. In Hurt Village poverty meant a working grandmother taking care of herself, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. Poverty included an unemployed veteran with post traumatic stress disorder and women, men, and children who continuously struggle to find a way out of the life. Poverty becomes an unbreakable cycle.
This notion of “war” is an interesting association. When interning at Esperanza, I also used the term war to describe our fight to keep students out of the prison system. It was a war because we were constantly fighting against the system to help our kids, in which we encountered many problems we had to surmount. There is never an easy solution to our problems and the government always seems to make it extremely difficult to help their most troubled youth. It seemed that we were on different sides because we were not working together for the same cause.
Hurt Village is extremely powerful because it gives a voice to the community that is often silenced. The use of loud music, profanity, and offensive language all are strategic and artistic ways the writer conveys her message. Everything is loud because it forces the audience to listen. This depiction of the underprivileged family touches upon significant features of a family in poverty. Hall’s representation of education, family roles, job inequalities, and the government’s involvement are all very insightful for those who have not experienced the life in poor communities. I agree with Ruby, Cookie was the main character of the play because she was in a vulnerable position. This was the age of learning, adapting, and change. It was the age that one could begin to make a change in his/her life. Women are often times seen as the more vulnerable sex, but in this story, at such a young age, Cookie is forced to be an adult. So much can be said about the roles women play in this story! The grandmother plays the head of the household and is a strong hardworking woman. Cookie’s mother and her friend are both at the mercy of the men in their relationship. They feel as if their lives are controlled by the men and must use their sexuality as a means to have power over their life. Cookie tries to be independent and strong, but quickly realizes her efforts are futile and the society will dictate her success. She is afraid to be wrong and to fail because she does not see failure as a pathway to success. I love the dialog between Cookie and Skillet about her science experiment! In so many ways does her hypothesis represent biopolitical control. The fleas in the jar are supposed to be conditioned to the environment and assume the lid will always prevent it from jumping out, even without the presence of the lid. Skillet explains the dangers of biopolitical control and talks about how one can resist this form of domination.
This play can be offensive to the White population because of the blatant resentment towards rich White people. By stereotyping rich White people, the play places the white person as the person being stereotyped as opposed to the person doing the stereotyping. This position forces the White psyche to experience what it feels to be stereotyped. Hurt Village can also offend the Black community because of the way the poor African American family is portrayed. Despite what might seem as offensive, the play sends a very important message. The poor community is an extremely segregated society, and if it were not for this play many people from other neighborhoods would not be able to experience the life of poor communities. Many times their stories are untold and their problems are unrecognized.
Thank you Ruby so much for everything this weekend and thank you Professor Stein for the opportunity you gave us to see this play.
I was so stunned by the life that Cookie was going through. I don't mean stunned by surprised that this was happening, but stunned that someone would actually depict the reality in a play. Most plays are fictionalized to some extent, but this play connected to many lives of residents at the shelter I intern at in all context. The welfare system is a huge problem even today when it comes to housing. Just as we saw Big Mama begging to the lady at the welfare office to waive the $300 in order for her to get housing, we also see that today with public assistance and food stamps. The week before we went to see this play, a resident from the shelter was stuck with this exact problem. She was in tears because as much as she wanted to work, she was afraid to lose all benefits and not have enough to even start to save up towards an apartment. What I liked about the play was how the whole story was depicted though Cookie because I always here the adult's side, but never heard what a child in those circumstances think. Cookie was the perfect character because although she looked streetwise, she was naive towards many things. Her identity was something she had to explore for herself because although she wanted to become a rapper, she also didn't want to be living how her family was living because of the poverty. I think that there was one thing that might have even been offensive to me and that was the fact that every character was African American and somehow involved in drugs. It was almost like sticking to a stereotypical myth that generalizes over a certain population. Overall, however, I enjoyed how the play ended. It showed that happy endings don't always happen, only better endings to understand the main point of the WAR.
Ruby, I completely agree! “Hurt Village” is really a powerfully thought-provoking play! At first it took me a while to adapt to the street vernacular, but I was “wit’ it” a few minutes later.
The depiction of the unprivileged family did not contribute to my ideas on poverty. It’s a perspective that I’m well aware of, especially from interning at CASES. Sadly enough, some of my clients live that particular lifestyle—not the same one per se but something similar. We’ve been talking about perspectives in class, and to me, “Hurt Village” is a perspective of poverty. It is not one that defines poverty as a whole.
I think “Hurt Village” was told through the voice of a thirteen year old because the playwright wanted the audience to understand the lifestyle and street culture through an honest mouth. I say this because the main character is still at a very innocent age, she is aware of her surroundings, and the way she depicts everything around her is honest and raw.
I’m not sure how the family’s depiction can be seen as offensive to others. However, if I would have to take a guess I would say that people who come from that particular background may feel offended because the play maybe showing an inaccurate perception of the daily lifestyle in the projects. Maybe there is a far brighter lifestyle that we may not know about.
As for Professor Reitz’s question, the phrase, “this be the war,” shows how an entire community of people are playing survival. It’s one against the other. The mother against her child, the grandmother against her grandchildren, the drug dealers against other street hustlers, and the cycle goes on. I think because of the larger frame of rivalry in the play, the phrase not only fits the play but also contributes to why the village is hurt. They are in constant combat with each other, the government, outsiders, and therefore, they are one hurt village.
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