Frank Lloyd Wrong
The father in the nuclear family at the center of this play begins as a struggling architect with dreams of I. M. Pei-style glory. His dreams are characterized in imagery that serves as profoundly tragic irony. Juxtapose these visions of what he hopes his future will be with his rise to the top: a series of strip malls.
“My buildings will be unique
Bold
Gargantuan
Towering over cities and peoples
Reaching
Touching the heavens”
“Strip—Malls—?”
The woman learns all about what “the latest thing in America” will be from her husband just before she learns what his real architectural ambitions are. It has already been confirmed that the mindset of the Asian immigrant to American views survival as equitable with success and success as equitable with financial independence. Dreams are fine and certainly worth pursuing, but not at the expense of survival. Which means success. Which means foregoing touching the heavens for something else, at least in the short term. And so the architect designs strip malls because:
“They are the new city centers
The future town squares of America
Where people can come together
Commune socialize fraternize—”
“A Place in the Sun”
The domineering mother in the play forces her son to re-enact scenes from what remains one of Hollywood’s most corrosive critiques of capitalism, the 1950’s Oscar-winner A Place in the Sun. Beneath the sunny veneer of the film’s romantic plot is the dark subtext of what capitalist ambitions and the expectations placed upon those in pursuit must be willing to sacrifice to attain their goals. The result of one young ambitious young man pursing his “place in the sun” results in nothing but tragedy for everyone involved. It is reflective imagery designed to underscore the play’s equally dark portrait of capitalism’s effect upon humanity.
“Marilyn Monroe blond”
The mother is shocked when she sees her son has dyed his hair blond. He has changed, now spending his time listening to loud music, smoking pot and dying his hair like a “rock star.” She confronts him about the dye job by asking “Robert Redford blond?” to which he replies, “No, Marilyn Monroe blond.” The imagery is a coded message for telling his mom that he’s gay.
