Oleanna
by David Mamet
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Book Summary Information
Author: David MametEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-01
ISBN: 0822213435
Number of pages: 72
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Book Reviews of Oleanna
Book Review: Alive and Well and Living in America
Summary: 5 Stars
Totalitarianism, that is. That is what is alive and well and living in the gool ole U.S. of A. As Mamet powerfully represents in this punch-to-the-stomach play, it has found a comfortable spot on American college campuses.
Yes, the dialogue in OLEANNA is a bit to get through at times, with far more interruptions between characters than there really needs to be, especially in a play with only two of them. But OLEANNA'S impact lays far deeper than the lines.
Carol, a young student struggling with her school work, goes to see the professor, John. He takes the time to talk with her in an attempt to help her through the class. Nothing particularly offensive or egregious happens in this initial meeting, comprosing Act One of the play. John might come off as a bit, though just a bit, arrogant. Carol is simply weak and desperate to try to pass John's class.
By Act Two, however, Carol has found her strength. Her "group" has provided it to her, and now, thanks to the group-think mentality common among totalitarian ideologies, she interprets all of John's behavior from Act One in a manner absolutely consistent with her new world-view. This interpretation is simply and relentlessly negative. Further, as her "group" does not appear to be of the forgiving type, Carol is intent on completely destroying John's career and even his life.
Many people, trying to seem 'fair,' split the difference between Carol and John, opining that John's words are ambiguous, and it is not really clear who is at fault. This is hogwash. Although a few select phrases of John might be construed as ambiguous, it takes a willful attempt at pejorative interpretation to view them in such a dark light. There is, however, absolutely nothing ambiguous about Carol's "group" interpreting things in the single most malicious manner, nor is there anything ambiguous about Carol's explicit desire to destroy John's career. Even the most generous interpretation would have Carol openly destroying a man who has helped her based on, at best, vague and unclear comments.
Such King Solomon interpretations must come from either the exact members of Carol's group that exist in real life (read: feminists) who realize how bad they appear, how bad they are, and figure a draw is better than nothing, or, in the alternative, those who are not themselves ideologues with clear psychological problems with men, but who want to avoid the flack of stating the obvious and finding themselves the targets of feminists' wrath. (Though, to be fair, a third option exists. That feminists have been so successful at transforming the cultural landscape with their hostility towards men that even otherwise good people interpret relations between men and women in a skewed manner consistent with the new zeitgeist that has emerged).
A case study of rhetorical gymnastics and personal manipulation, OLEANNA is a cautionary tale. There always have been, and always will be, people who are spiteful and who display obvious antipathy towards select others. But when an entire belief system is created revolving around such a mentality and, worse, this coalesces into a political movement that create policies consistent with such attitudes, lives get destroyed.
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