PYGMALION…ON THE BIG SCREEN

I will never watch classical films unless Audrey Hepburn is in the films. Undoubtedly, I am a truly big fan of her. However, when my class had to watch Pygmalion last Friday, I was more than excited about it. It was only later that I realized that it was a classical film in black and white and needless to say… without Audrey Hepburn. Since I really enjoyed reading the play, I tend to be optimistic to think that the movie will not be rather disappointing. Basically, the film was very similar to the original play by Shaw in terms of characters, plot, settings, dialogues and the issues portrayed. The written play and the film were like an identical twin standing face-to face in front of a mirror. They reflected each other most of the times. The only difference between both genres was certainly the ending. In the original version, Eliza did not marry Higgins but Freddy instead, which likely support the idea of Pygmalion as “A Romance in Five Acts”. The movie drastically diverges from Shaw's play at the end by indicating that Higgins falls in love with Eliza and in the end Eliza willingly come back to Higgins. The movie was remarkable and great because of the strong issues it conveyed about the language as the vital instrument of power and oppression. It was like watching another version of Cinderella story however with a sad ending. To be frank, I dislike the movie’s ending as it ended with Higgins final question to Eliza, “Where the devil are my slippers?'. The question sounds very sexist to me as it indicated a strong male dominance towards woman. Personally, I think men and women are made to complement each other, not for one to subjugate the other. It is not a matter of who leads who but it is a matter of walking side-by-side together. Thus, I disagree with Higgins's harsh and immoral treatments to Eliza and sorry to say that I prefer Shaw’s original version of Pygmalion than the latter on the big screen.

THE TWIN: ANIKE and ANTIGONE

Previously, I have never heard of neither Anike nor Wong Phui Nam. Who wants to bother about Malaysian play or Malaysian playwright anyway? People are more concerned about the latest hand phones on sale or the hottest hits song on the radio than any good play. Well, thanks to my drama class for giving me new insights and perspectives about our own Malaysian play written by our own local playwright. We should be proud because we actually have many talented playwrights here. Just because they are not as famous as Siti Nurhaliza or Mawi, it doesn’t mean that they are not talented and great individual. It is surprising that Anike was actually the Malaysian version of Sophocles’s Antigone. I was impressed by the way Wong Phui Nam used his creativity and turned the imaginative ideas into a startling reality. After reading the play Anike, I realized that the story was basically quite the same with Antigone. There are quite similar characters and issues dealt in both plays. However, what made it a unique masterpiece of its own right was actually the setting that was so close to our own world and culture. It is not another isolated setting for us to be in. In fact, we can also identified Malay words such as taugeh, dusun, verandah, tosai and belukar used by him to maintain the originality and local identities. Apart from that, I also found that Anike was full of gory and horror-filled scenes than Antigone. The choices of word used in Anike to describe certain things were so vivid and clear. This can be seen in the extract “Wira was to have our brother carved, stripped bare and hung from a tree by the city gate, then left there to mature into a sack of waste for worms...”(page 3). This is one of the example and I'm sure you can identify a lot more. In conclusion, Anike is certainly a great local play I ever read with my heart and soul. It is a truly great work by a truly great playwright.

THE ONE AND ONLY PYGMALION

Pygmalion is not the name of a bird and it certainly has nothing to do with “pygmy”. Pygmalion is originally a Greek name. By definition, this one word can convey a thousand meanings. However after I have read this play, Pygmalion by Shaw is apparently connected to the tale by Ovid “Metamorphoses” though it is very much different from the original play. Thinking of the word “metamorphoses” really bring me back to my biology class a long time ago in the land far, far away. I learned about butterfly’s metamorphosis where an ugly greenish caterpillar transformed slowly into a beautiful butterfly. Thus, the key words of Ovid’s play are transformation or changes in shape. In Shaw's play, Higgins transforms a common flower girl into a graceful lady, like the sculptor Pygmalion in the Ovidian legend carved a beautiful statue out of shapeless ivory. Higgins effects this amazing transformation by teaching Eliza to speak correctly and beautifully. In addition, Pygmalion is described as having repulsion for women and he thus decides to remain single but his statue is so realistic that he falls in love with it. He offers the statue presents and eventually prays to Venus. She takes pity on him and brings the statue to life. They marry and have a son, Paphos. Similarly Higgins stresses out that “I shall never get into the way of seriously liking young women: some habits lie too deep to be changed…besides, they’re all idiots.”(pg 34) and he remains as a bachelor till the end of the play. The twist created by Shaw is witty as even though Higgins was actually fall in love with his elegant work, Shaw moved from the cliché as not all love story ends with “…and they lived happily ever after”. By looking at Higgins utterances, his character possesses similarities with Pygmalion as a sculptor. For example, Higgins assumed Eliza as his masterpiece instead of his student as he said “I’m not going to have my masterpiece thrown away on Freddy”(pg70). Other similarity that makes these two masterpieces connected can be identified in the last lines of Shaw’s play. "Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion; his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable".(pg 82) In the end, Eliza prefers Freddy's simple-minded proclamation of devotion to Higgins' profound indifference. Personally I really enjoy both Shaw’s version of Pygmalion and Ovid’s Metamorphoses “The Story of Pygmalion and the Statue. What I can say is that reading Ovid’s work really helps me in comprehending the play deeply.

BRING IT TO LIFE

Recently, I went to TGV Cinema to watch this year gigantic blockbuster film, Transformers. Well, I am not really a cinema-type person as I prefer to watch VCD at my cozy room on a lazy Sunday evening. If we are given the chance to choose between two things-watching a movie or reading a drama, which one will become our cup of coffee? I believe that majority of us will opt for a movie treat instead because it has more visuals, sound effects and not forgetting the handsome good -looking actors and pretty actresses. My first encounter with reading a play gives me a truly great experience. When I read a drama, I like to imagine myself as the director of the drama that is waiting to be acted. For me, the drama script is merely a text if we as the readers do not make it “alive”. By giving the script an interpretation and then imagining its effects onstage, we complete it and bring it to life. Indeed, as imagined directors, we determine the perspective form which it will be staged. This is completely different with watching a movie because we become an audience who see, hear and analyze the director’s imagination of the movie. Thus, it is crystal-clear that reading a drama will not leave us with a bad experience at all even though you have to deal with the one by Shakespeare, Sophocles or other classical playwrights. This is because it gives us the total freedom and independent to create our very own drama by using our unlimited, borderless power of imaginations. We draw the characters and settings as we wish for in our minds. I think that’s what make the reading of drama more enlightening and in fact as enjoyable as watching a movie in a cinema. My point is to just enjoy your reading of the play and do not feel de-motivated to continue reading it till the last page. Initially, I also think that drama is terribly a nightmare however as I had get along with Antigone and Pygmalion I just yearn for more. I also can’t hardly wait to watch a real stage play performance soon and experience all the thrills.

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

The background music beats loudly and sounds rather catchy for me. Four young Indian girls in dazzling red Punjabi suits with colourful-beaded veils suddenly appear from the backstage. They dance with full of energy tuned to the lovely beats. The sheer fluidity and grace of their dancing invokes a wonderful feeling in me. I was mesmerized by their performance as I have never seen a Bhangra or maybe Bhagra dance (well, that’s what the M.C said) before. After the energetic dance performance, what really comes to my mind is one of the plays that Dr. Edwin has mentioned in class “Dance like a Man” by Mahesh Dattani. After reading the short extracts, I feel the drive to learn more about the dance form mentioned in the particular play. Basically, this play is about two Bharatanatyam dancers. Bharatanatyam is a well-known dance art from Chennai. It is rather fascinating and interesting as it deals with the general inhibitions to a man taking dance as a career which is usually and traditionally performed by women; the relationship between a husband and wife and how their own thwarted ambitions and frustrations affect their own daughter who is in love with a man who has nothing to do with the art scene at all. Thus, this brings up the issue of preserving our very own roots and culture in today’s generations. The other play “In the Name of Love” by Ramli Ibrahim also deals with the similar issues when Mak Su mentioned that “Nowadays people don’t really care about us anymore”. The Makyong dance “has become-not dead or alive”. Reading both extracts of plays really become an eye opener for me. Through my personal experiences, it is sorry to say that this scenario is actually happening to the new generations. In our high-tech age of flat screen, movies, DVD, Play station and so on, not many of the youngsters nowadays really know or care about any traditional dance form. As for me, I like to watch dance performances especially zapin dance and I enjoy watching them a whole lot. Even though I am not skillfully gifted with the dance talent, deep in my heart I treasure the uniqueness and originality of our culture. I always experience an unspeakable feeling whenever I watch a dance being performed. I always imagine myself as one of the dancers moving gracefully on the stage. How does one describe such a feeling: exhilarating, fantastic, incredible? I feel as if I am “on top of the world”, so to speak.