The beginning of Fires In The Mirror is extremely important to not only the development of the characters but to the effectiveness of the story telling. It introduces the topic and eases the play into the plot. The story is that a Jewish driver, hit a young African American boy, killing him. Then a group of African Americans, murdered a young Jewish boy in revenge. This caused tension, hostility and riots in Brooklyn. That is the story of Fires In The Mirror, but it is NOT the plot.
Anna Deavere Smith, with the inclusion of the first few 'irrelevant' monologues, makes the story real. Often, even when stories are completely true, they actually happened to real people, they are difficult to connect to. There is a reason people don't always cry when they turn on the news. It is not because they don't see horrible things happening to innocent people. It is because we have created fortresses in our minds that allow us to disconnect. It doesn't make sense that if I hear about thousands of people drowning, getting killed in a war, or starving on the news, that I don't burst in to tears. But if I saw someone or new someone who was killed I would never be the same. Anna Deavere Smith introduced us to those people we see on the news. She puts us in their kitchen and in their offices and forces them to become familiar to us. Then, once this horrible sequence of events is discussed, we feel it. It isn't just a bad thing that happened to some people in one part of the world. It is a heinous, unfair, poorly handled, misinterpreted, jumble of pain that was experienced by fellow human beings.
Allowing the characters to discuss their traditions, beliefs, experiences, and families gives them a chance to just be people before they are forced to become witnesses, by-standards, and victims.
I agree with this, Laine. These first monologues provide a general introduction to the cultural heritage, motivations, and similarities and differences these two unique groups. They provide what essentially amounts to expositional backstory in a somewhat roundabout way as well as providing and avenue for a deeper connection and understanding between the audience and the two cultures. It gives the audience an opportunity to view the events objectively rather than through the lens of cultural and racial stereotype and bias.
ReplyDeleteLaine, I really liked the connection you made between someone watching this show and someone watching the news. It's true that people tend to build up a wall to events (especially ones that really happened). It's kind of like a survival instinct to keep us from going insane. Keeping the beginning monologues really does help break down that wall so that the story can truly reach us as an audience.
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