Response to The Vagina Monologues (Michael Gibson)
Subject: The Vagina Monologues
Well this was certainly an interesting, and shocking piece. Shocking in that it delivered exactly what I expected it to, which is indeed an all-together different type of shock. I think as a male, it’s hard to assess the piece. Well, at least as a very inartistic male. While I do believe that the message is powerful, I’m not sure that the way in which is presented is the most tactful. Now I know that’s exactly the point of it, the shock-factor is very purposeful and no doubt meant to draw extreme focus to its ultimate message of female empowerment but I just can’t get away from how socially crude and atypical it was. It almost seemed like shocking for the sake of shock, which, to me, takes away from its truly important message. Those monologues that utilized humor were more meaningful to me because they took such a serious issue and removed some of the taboo nature gently so that the core idea was what stuck out. Also, it’s not as though I feel like the vagina, or sex or any of those things are taboo and should never be discussed in such a setting, but I’m realistic to know that such schemas exist in today’s society. What I mean is that while denotatively these issues are a fundamental part of human, and specifically female, experience, one still must take into account the connotative, social aspect which is still one that may not respond so well to this type of subject matter, or expression of such.
Written by Michael Gibson February 20, 2007
Posted by Kirk Andrew Everist
posted by Kirk Andrew Everist @ 10:06 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I agree that some of the monologues seemed to have shock value just for the sake of being shocking, especially the monologue where the cast chanted “cunt” over and over again, in hopes of getting the audience to join in with them. I hate the word cunt, and it will never be a word with a positive connotation; I think it should be stricken from language instead of sensationalized in a performance. Also, I can’t imagine being in the audience as a male; there is no way you could have understood everything discussed in the monologues, but you may be perceived as chauvinistic if you go against the production. Did you find any monologue enjoyable in particular?
I also feel that the monologues were a bit over the top and many elements were incorporated into the monologues to decrease the comfort level of the audience members. At times I found it difficult to pay attention to what the actresses were trying to get across in their message because I was distracted by the shocking and unexpected behavior. During the course of the play I found myself asking, “Did they really just do that?” Although as uncomfortable as some of the scenes were I feel that recognition and popularity of this play are all the controversial elements that are incorporated throughout it.
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