less than zero novel

The novel follows the life of Clay, a rich young college student who has returned to his hometown of Los Angeles, California for the winter break during the early 1980s. He spends much of the novel going to parties and doing drugs with his friends. During this time, he must decide whether or not he wants to restart a relationship with Blair, for whom he is uncertain about his feelings. Meanwhile, Clay has one night stands with a few men and women on the side while his relationship with Blair goes downhill. At the same time, he attempts to renew his relationship with his best friend, Julian, who has become a prostitute and drug addict. Throughout his descent into the netherworld of the L.A. drug scene, he loses his faith in his friends, and grows alienated with the amoral party culture he once embraced. He is greatly disturbed by four events. Eventually, these events lead him to leave Los Angeles, possibly intending never to return. It was first published in 1985 by Simon & Schuster.

Review

Ellis was viewed as the voice of a new generation and critics dubbed the book as "the first MTV novel". Less Than Zero is very fast paced and divided into brief scenes much the same way MTV is fragmented into short videos. Additionally, the characters of the novel refer constantly to songs and artists. Songs provide additional meaning to the novel, like, for example, an Elvis Costello song, which is the novel's title. Like the novel the song conjures up an atmosphere of a world out of joint, pervaded by mass media, drifting towards ultimate chaos.

This novel links to my play as it explores teen relationships and some of the more extreme problems that were experienced in the 1980s.
My play focuses on teen problems today, but teens attitudes towards relationships and their families were similar in the 1980s and this book  has given me ideas about teen relationships which has enhanced the characters in my play.

stepmom- mother/daughter relationship

Stepmom

 

Anna and Ben, the two children of Jackie and Luke, have to cope with the fact that their parents divorced and that there is a new woman in their father's life: Isabel, a successful photographer. She does her best to treat the kids in a way that makes them still feel at home when being with their dad, but also loves her work and does not plan to give it up. But Jackie, a full-time mother, regards Isabel's efforts as offensively insufficient. She can't understand that work can be important to her as well as the kids. The conflict between them is deepened by the sudden diagnose of cancer, which might may be deadly for Jackie. They all have to learn a little in order to grow together.

This links to my play as there is a conflict in the mother and daughter relationship increased by the events that take place in her life. the father offers minimal support which is similar to my play. the conflict between mother and daughter is similar to my play. Jade and her mother are arguing as Jade is rebelling and distancing herself from her parents.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGBtEVaq4SA

relationships father/daughter and characterisation

Everybody's fine-relationships

Widower Frank Goode has had to make plenty of adjustments since losing his wife about a year ago, but maybe the hardest one has been maintaining his relationships with his four adult children. It would seem that Frank's wife was the glue who held the family together, and when all of the kids bug out on a planned visit home, he decides to set out on a trip around the country, dropping in on each of their lives in order to help put things right. But their relationships aren't as simple as they once seemed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBWVRFEikO8 trailer

this links to my play as it shows the struggle of relationship of a father and his children. Their relationship is getting strained and the father expects too much of the children.

My play shows the father and daughter who argue over what she will do with her life when she gets pregnant. He wants her to have a career and education. They part on bad terms and they do not speak because the father cannot accept her choice to have the child.

He is shown as expecting too much of her which is similar to this film.

Characterisation

The subject matter of fractured families is hardly original territory. That's perhaps because these days family bonds seem to be more frail than they once were. In Everybody's Fine those bonds have been strained by the geographical distance between the siblings and their father.

Robert De Niro Everybody's Fine Interview

INTERVIEWER
Are you so at home being a father?

ROBERT DE NIRO
Well, I'm not, I'm not at home. I think, you know, it's tough. Eh, there are good moments and not so good moments. Anybody who has children knows that. So, it's just life. I, I needless to say, but as long as you have children, there's going to be a problem. You know, that's something.

http://www.femail.com.au/robert-de-niro-everybodys-fine-interview.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780511/

The father in this film is very similar to the one in my play becuase the relationship with his children is strained and it is the same as the father in my play. they both struggle to find common ground to work on in thier relationship with their children.
the confilct within father/daughter relationships is common and this film and Robert De Niro's character shows this. it helped to influence the character of Jade's father in my play.

characterisation

Characterisation: Nikki reed and rachel wood in Thirteen relate to my characters of Anna and Jade

Character Evie:Nikki Reed 

Describe Evie’s character…
Evie is insecure. She definitely grew up too fast and was faced with a lot of things. You never really know what’s going on with her because she lies a lot. Obviously, she’s been abandoned and she’s in survivor mode. She takes what she needs because all her life, she had to take care of herself. I saw her being four-years-old and watching her mother O.D.’ing on the carpet, or something like that. It was hard things like that that we shouldn’t see when we’re young. So her insecurities come out, fortunately for her, as being very confident. Putting other people below her makes her feel like she’s on top of the water and that she can breathe. I just think she needs a mom and someone to take care of her. Hopefully, she’ll find it one day in her life, like a household that’s stable.
Talk about the struggles you faced when you were 13, and then talk about the Evie-type character in your life.
There wasn’t an Evie in my life. There were a couple of girls in my life, and a couple in Catherine’s life – Evie’s actually the only girl in the movie that’s a composite character. The other ones are too, of course, things can [written] in. Like if Holly Hunter is playing her Melanie, then of course Holly brings herself into it. Evie is the only character that doesn’t have a specific character to match.
I went through a lot of things. The story’s not autobiographical, Tracy is very close to me and to a lot of stuff I went through. But it’s a movie. It’s an hour [and a half] long and you can’t have someone’s entire life or personality put into something that’s going to be on screen.

http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0308201

Character tracy: Rachel Wood

By contrast, Evan Rachel Wood is quieter and more shy, rarely looking up when answering questions. Wood, of course, is more polished and has more experience with the whole press thing; a star of the short-lived “She doesn’t appear jaded either, but she’s certainly got a darker edge than her costar. One could even say she resembles her on-screen character as well." Wood has made a habit of playing the sad, introverted teen, a choice she seems to acknowledge. “It’s just a type I enjoy playing”, she says, smiling. “But I don’t want to be typecast as the misery chick for the rest of my career. I guess I have to watch out for that.

Both of these characters link to my characters of Jade and Anna both are rebellious and best friends. they support each other and try and ghet on woth their lives even though sometimes they are confused.

the character of Evie relates to Anna as Anna is very strong, confident but very independent with no additional support form parents. She lends support to her best friend Jade. this is similar to the character of Evie in Thirteen.

The Character of Tracy in Thirteen is similar to my charatcer Jade as they are both quieter, shy and emotional.
these characters helped me see the rebellious side to teenagers and hepled with some of the dialogue in my play when writing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wScczSXpM4k

thirteen

Tracy Freeland is a thirteen-year-old girl who just wants to fit in. To do so she must make friends with the most popular girl in the 7th grade ... Evie Zamora. It's not as easy as it sounds when Evie peer pressures Tracy into doing things such as stealing, drugs, piercings, and sex-- far from the Tracy everybody seems to know. But as Evie and Tracy's friendship gets closer, Tracy's old self drifts farther and farther away from her family and neighborhood friends where it's up to her mother to finally step in.




thirteen is an unflinching exploration of this time of life.  Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is a young, gawky, studious, sort of nerdy girl.  An outcast in the social circles in her new junior high school, she is nonetheless thoughtful, smart, responsible and loving to her family.  

Holly Hunter (mother in film) is quietly heartbreaking as a helpless mother seeing her child spinning out of control and having no idea how to cope with it.

links to my play

it links as the film looks gives an honest and contemporary look at the modern teenager.

my play is about the troubles and issues some teens experience for example teen pregnancy.

it also explores the relationship and friendship between two teenage girls. even though in this film the teens are rebellious the theme of friendship links to my play and gives a realistic view into teen friendships.

it also explroes the strained relationship between a mother and a rebellious daughter or teen that acts out. this links to my play as the relationship between motehr and daughter in it is complicated and in my play you see the tension in their relationship as you do in this film.

relationships

Dirty Dancing

In the summer of 1963, 17-year-old New Yorker Frances "Baby" Houseman )is vacationing with her affluent family at Kellerman's,^[5] a resort in the Catskill Mountains. Baby develops a crush on the resort's dance instructor Johnny Castle, part of the working-class entertainment staff. When Baby, while carrying a watermelon, is invited to one of their secret after-hour parties, she observes for the first time the "dirty dancing" that the staff enjoys. She is intrigued by the sexy dancing, and receives a brief lesson from Johnny. Later, Baby discovers that Johnny's dance partner Penny Johnson is distraught over being pregnant by Robbie Gould, the womanizing waiter who is dating and cheating on Lisa, Baby's sister. Baby learns that Robbie plans to do nothing about the pregnancy as he says "Some people count, some people don't," so she secures the money from her father to pay for Penny's illegal abortion. Baby's father agrees to give her the money despite her secrecy regarding what it will be used for, because of the trust he holds in his daughter. In her efforts to help, Baby also becomes Penny's fill-in for a performance at the Sheldrake, a nearby resort where Johnny and Penny perform annually. This upcoming show requires Johnny to train Baby to become a better dancer and learn the required routine.
As Baby becomes Johnny's pupil in dance, tempers flare and a romance begins to develop. Their performance at the Sheldrake goes reasonably well. When they return to Kellerman's, they learn that Penny's backstreet abortion was botched, leaving Penny in agonizing pain. Baby brings her father to help, but he assumes that the pregnancy was caused by Johnny, and forbids Baby to have anything to do with him or his friends. He is furious at Baby for lying to him and betraying his trust. Baby, however, defies her father and goes to visit Johnny in his room that very night, where they begin an affair.

This links to my play as it shows a man who gets a young woman pregnant and then lesves her telling her to have an abortion. he says that he doesn't know if the baby is his and this links to Chris who says the same thing in my play when confronted with the pregnancy.
It also shows young love and relationships.

Titanic

Links to my play because it shows a mother daughter relationship that is having troubles and they are disagreeing on the decisions and choices the daughter should make. This leads her to rebel and start an affair. This rebellion links to Jade and the mother’s disapproval of her choices.

Rose’s fiancée has expectations of her but she goes against them as Jade goes against her expectations of her father if not on purpose.

Teen rebellion and coming of age

Skins is a BAFTA-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of sixth form. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness (including eating disorders), sexual orientation identity, substance abuse and death. The show was created by father and son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures,and premiered on E4 on 25 January 2007.       

Skins links to my play as it shows young adults through school and their lives at home. My play explores Jade’s home and school life before she is pregnant.

As the characters in skins act out so does jade in the first scene of my play.

It also links because you see teen relationships and the complications and problems that come with these.

It shows how teens interact with each other and their strained relationships with their parents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skins_(TV_series)


No where boy

The drama tells the story of Lennon's teenage years from 1955-1960 and the start of his journey to becoming a successful musician. The story also examines the impact on his early life and personality of the two dominant females in his childhood – his Aunt Mimi, and his mother, Julia. In addition, the film shows the first meeting of Lennon with future Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison, and the development of their friendship and musical partnership.

This links to my play because it shows the boy rebelling against his parents and expectations which is similar to Jade and the expectations her dad has for her. He is seen to go against convention, and this is what Jade does by getting pregnant then having a career. This also links as it shows the strained relationship with parents and relationships with his friends.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowhere_Boy


Cemetary Junction

 1970s Britain, three friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce  and lovable loser Snork are happy with life the way it is. When Freddie gets a new job as a door-to-door salesman and bumps into his old school sweetheart Julie the gang are forced to make choices that will change their lives forever.

This links as it shows a coming of age in the main character which is similar to Jade as she takes on her responsibilities as a parent herself. She is forced to live on her own without her parents support which links to the main character in C.J.

It shows a young love and adolescent relationships which has helped develop my play.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemetery_Junction_(film)

9 months



Child psychologist Samuel Faulkner's ideal romance with ballet teacher Rebecca Taylor is turned upside-down when he learns he's going to be a father. His fears mount due to his encounters with an overbearing couple, Marty (Arnold) & Gail (Cusack) their unruly daughters and the confusing advice he gets from his perpetually single artist friend Too uninvolved with Rebecca's needs, Samuel parts company with her and takes a last stab at playing the field, but when he sees an ultrasound of his soon-to-be-born son, he decides that it's time to take responsibility before it's too late. Robin Williams, as Rebecca's Russian Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, adds much of the comic relief in the film.

 

links to my play   

This links to my play as it shows the stages of pregnancy which is similar to the structure of my play that follows the main character Jade from before she is pregnant to all the way through to when she gives birth.

It also shows the mother’s point of view and worries for the future when she becomes a mother. This is similar to Jade who is young and has more worries than most mothers do.

This film helped me develop my character Jade and show the stages of pregnancy.

chocolat- mother/daughter relationships

 This film is aboutVianne Rocher like her ancestors, drifts across France. In the winter of 1959, she travels to a tranquil French village, where she and her daughter, Anouk  open a small chocolaterie. The store imbues both wonder and angst within the classical villagers as it opens during the forty days of Lent.

links to my play

This film links to my play as it describes a single mother who brings up her daughter without the involvement of the father. This is similar to my play and the character of Jade. The mother is also successful in life in Chocolat even though she is a single mother and this helped me with the end of my play, in that Jade will be successful despite difficulties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolat_(2000_film)

Film August Rush- relationships

boy named Evan Taylor lives in an orphanage, all the while believing that his parents are alive. He believes the music that he hears all around him is his parents communicating with him. He meets a counselor, Richard Jeffries, of the New York Child Services Department. Evan tells him he does not want to be adopted, because he believes his parents are still alive and will come to collect him eventually.

Through a series of flashbacks, his parents are revealed to be named Lyla Novacek, a famous concert cellist, and Louis Connelly, an Irish guitarist and lead singer of a rock band, who spent one romantic night together and don't see each other for a long period of time. Lyla became pregnant, which her father did not approve of, instead wanting Lyla to have a successful career without the obstacle of a child. After an argument with her father, Lyla ran out of a restaurant and was hit by a car. While in hospital, she gave birth to a son. Afterwards, she was told by her father that her child "was gone", unaware that he had actually been delivered successfully and then been sent to an orphanage by her father.

Evan has a strong faith that as long as he follows the music he hears and reacts to it, he will have a chance to be found by his parents. He makes his way to New York City, where he is taken in by a man known as "Wizard"who houses various orphans and runaways, employing them to play music on the streets and taking a large cut of their tips. Wizard enlists him and gives him the name "August Rush", convincing him he will be sent back to the orphanage if his real name is ever discovered.

Lyla only discovers that her son is alive when her father, knowing that he is dying, confesses what actually happened. Lyla immediately sets out to New York to look for her 11-year-old son.

A work he composes is chosen to be performed by the New York Philharmonic in Central Park, but Wizard barges into a rehearsal, and Evan reluctantly follows him back to his life of performing music on the streets. Meanwhile, Lyla has discovered Evan's identity and has decided to stay in New York while searching for her son. While there, she decides to resume her cello career. She is then chosen to play in the same concert, which  features Evan's piece. Louis, has a chance meeting with Evan in Washington Square Park and they play music together, although neither knows who the other is.

The night of the concert, Evan finally chooses to run from Wizard in favor of performing at his concert. In the meantime, Louis races to the park when he sees Evan's pseudonym along with Lyla's name on a sign billing the concert. Evan conducts his piece, and at its conclusion, he turns around to see Lyla and Louis standing hand in hand, and he finally makes the connection that they are his parents.

Links to my play

August rush links to my play as it shows the disconnected and distant relationship with the boy’s father. This links to my character of Chris who doesn’t want anything to do with Jade and her babies. He is only around long enough to find out she is pregnant, he is selfish and self-centred which links the character of Louis in August Rush.

This play helped me with the development of the character of Chris and helped me imagine how a 19 year old would behave when confronted with his pregnant girlfriend.

The film also shows the strong relationship the mother has with her child even though they are apart. The character of Lyla links to my character Jade in that she cares deeply for her babies and won’t give them up.

This film showed me a devoted mother and son relationship and a disenchanted father and son relationship and the disastrous relationship between the parents.

This scenario is similar to my okay and helped me to develop characters.