Details about the play and the movie/inconsistencies: AIDA and ABC

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tAdRmO8DpVWCMN0tao5zPmCl5-568JUieR226QfJTHE/edit

 

Act One. Scene One.

Leads are people who are interested in buying property and have money. Leads are only given to the top salesmen. Williamson is in control in this scene.

Watching the movie.

The scene with Alec Baldwin first of all was never originally written into the play, but this scene in the movie added a new dimension to the plot. We talked about how in the play, the characters were unlikeable, but with the context of Alec Baldwin’s super-predator and powerful presence, we have a sudden bout of sympathy for the salesmen. Just to get some initial thoughts down, I would definitely say this play is about something more than just salesmen begging for leads that they can close. Money? Manhood? America? It could be something about manhood or the American dream, or more like the fallacy of the American dream. These salesmen are expected to make money out of nothing, or out of “toilet paper”, mirroring the values of the American dream where you can do anything as long as you put the effort in. In reality, this isn’t the case and sometimes it’s just not possible. Manhood – well there’s more of that in the movie than in the play in my opinion. Alec Baldwin’s character sort of visibly has them by the balls, and Williamson (Kevin Spacey) just happens to have a backbone and doesn’t let Shelly get to him, which is what we can see in the play. The line of reasoning Baldwin’s character uses on the salesmen, like “I can close this in 2 hours tonight, can you? Yes or no” sort of leaves them with not much room to back out. Either they promise something they’re convinced is impossible and left with no choice but to try and do it, appearing to retaliate and appeal to the whole ideal of ‘who’s the alpha here’, OR they say no and they’re not only forced to hit the bricks, but they admit to being “weak” and not as powerful as the $76,000 BMW and watch guy. The manhood part is a little amusing to be honest, where right after when Baldwin’s character, instead of immediately trying to close the leads, they talk about it for a little while and they’re like “are we really gonna let this guy talk to us like this?”. Interesting priorities.

Is the play staggeringly inarticulate? Are we talking or are we just talking?