Post #8 OEDIPUS COMPLEX

What Oedipus Complex is, is that it is a theory of Sigmund Freud's that says young males are unaware of a desire that consists of penetrating both his parents: one with the tip of a sword, and the other with a penis.

My opinion on this is that I do not think this is true because I have never experienced such absurd thoughts of killing my father and marrying my mother. Though I agree on the other topic discussed in class earlier days ago, which was I believe: finding a friend or even a significant other who share the same characteristics of our parents.

The Oedipus Complex in my opinion is a disturbed idea that will stick to our heads for the rest of our lives because it is very overboard and unique.

Film Adaption Personal Response (lightings/actor performances)

A Streetcar Named Desire was first adapted for film in 1951 by Tennessee Williams. Although the stage directions of the written play was clear, Tennessee William’s film adaption would give the audience a clearer idea of the mood during the scenes through stage lightings and actor performances.

There were a lot of additions and minor changes to what happened in the novel that could affect the meaning and perception of the character greatly such as the part “My clothes’re stickin’ to me. Do you mind if I make myself comfortable? (he starts to remove his shirt)” (26) where according to the play Stanley started removing his shirt before Blanche had given a response yet, but in the film it was clear that Stanley only took it off after Blanche told him “please, please do.”

Furthermore, the acting of the actors made it easier for the audience to understand the character’s personality and what they were like. For example, the look in Blanche’s eyes whenever she got reminded of Belle Reve or her dead husband showed that there was definitely some mental stress within the character in between all her daintiness and frailness. Stanley was often being portrayed as this violent-tempered, vicious man but in the film for the most part, the actor did not seem to be reenacting the character of the written play as much. Although he could be rough at times where he yanked and pushed Stella several times throughout scene 1, the way he spoke made him sound stupid, irritating, and ridiculous. His way of slurred speech along with the loudness while speaking when arguing with Stella proved his animalistic stupidity but didn’t seem too violent.

Besides the actor performances, the lightings of the film also would provide the audience with better ideas of the scene’s mood as whenever Blanche was reminded with Belle Reve or her dead husband in the middle of a conversation the lights would start blinking at a slow and steady rate, sort of like the lightings in a horror movie, and that no one else would notice the light. It reflected what was going through Blanche’s head as those were certainly traumatizing experiences for her, placing her on the brink of sanity every time.

The lighting and actor performances brought the originally written play to a film filled with emotion and mood.