Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Trying to get ready for our project on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof  has been trying this week: there has been a lot of communication, and lapses of communication amongst our seven members, but I believe we are coalescing—and as they say in sports: peaking—at the right time. For a few days I was rereading and making notes pertinent to our project and contemplating how to specifically  contribute, but I did not realize that there was already a Google Document  that a few of my colleagues were participating in. I helped arrange both meetings--the first and the last; however, some wanted to present the information in lecture form; I advocated a classroom activity which the others bought into but wanted to have  "game show" type presentation, which I thought was to extreme and did not agree with but went along with it reluctantly. From the outset I recommended we synthesize are input into a power point  type presentation, and have an activity that would include classroom participation, and acting out scenes.
 After a lot of discussion it appears that after all we are giving a presentation that coincides with most of my initial suggestions including the pertinent dialogue, power point presentation to go along with analysis, incorporating how the cultural and critical theorists are relevant to our interpretations. I was concerned for a while because I had not partnered up with anyone to do a segment but Ken emailed me yesterday and suggested I call him today, and we are supposed to introduce dialogue that reflects possibly “class.”

I will bring in some Marxist Theory, the article on “The Politics of Culture”   by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, and Ferdinand De Saussure, and how their theories relate to our Tennessee Williams's play. (I also bought a lot of candy and treats for our classmates tomorrow to be given as prizes for answering our questions correctly.) We have all been busy contacting each other in our Popular Culture Group for presenting Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, trying to facilitate cohesion amongst us. I believe we will have a good presentation for tomorrow; everyone ultimately contributed wonderfully, and it has been a good experience sharing each other's views, albeit I am a little behind the eight-ball now and need to do a few more hours of preparation tonight and tomorrow so my contribution to the power point presentation goes smoother tomorrow.

 A few hours ago I watched the movie adaption from 1958 of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and got quite emotional with the scenes of Big Daddy and Brick, especially when Brick helped Big Daddy reach down deep and acknowledge that yes, he did once love someone a lot—his dad, who died from a heart attack but with a smile on his face while trying to jump a train with Bid Daddy when he was about ten years old. While reaching back fifty-five years to when his dad died, Big Daddy breaks down, admitting that yes he did love his dad so much, irregardless that his dad was dirt poor and at times traveled and rubbed shoulders among the hoboes. In the movie this was an emotional climactic scene because Big Daddy's love for his Dad as a ten year old was probably the last time he allowed himself to love. I related to Big Daddy and his scene with Brick because I lost my beloved dad about fifty-five years ago and also  have an estranged relationship with my son who is about Brick's age.
Of course the written play does not emphasize this highlight this so I can’t delve too much into it, other than the fact that although Big Daddy has now become an upper echelon bourgeoisie, he and his dad had origins from the working poor, the proletariat, when his dad would pick up odd and temporary jobs and live as a transient. I will also bring in “class” in relation to Maggie, Brick, Big Mamma, Mae, and Gooper. One last thought:  although the Tennessee Williams version that we read is a truly great and riveting play, the movie adaptation for me may be superior.