PLAYS

I have never been one for plays. Part of the is my laziness. I hate having to cast the play before I read it just so I am able to understand it. In all the reading I have done recreational and assigned I have only eve liked plays by Arthur Miller. Something about how depressing his plays are excites and intrigues me. I appreciated Neighborhood 3 Requisition of Doom. The concept was great I just wish it dabbled more in the line between reality and the game. I would have liked to see more dysfunction and chaos. Unfortunately when it was time to end it really did end. Usually that is supposed to be a good thing where you are left wanting more but here I really wanted more of the story. More of the dysfunction. It was reminiscent of all those shows where suburbia has all those secrets. It was a quick read and I wasn't as invested as I should have been.

neighborhood 3 Final chapter

I felt like I struggled with what was reality and what was in game throughout the story especially with the end closing in it blurred the lines for me a lot. One big question that the end brought up for me was were the kids so in their games that they couldn't tell reality from the game because at the end blake killed his mother , or were things that were happening in the game actually happening in real life which is why Joy found Codys mother outside. My theory was that the game was creating a parallel universe where the game was no real life. Or maybe nothing ever happened at all. What if in the end the mother that we read about was actually in game, and he killed Joy in game and when he did he got so scared he snapped into reality, asking for her to see if it affected him in real life. Also if I am right about the game coming to life what happens to all the parents to they become zombies eventually like they are in the game, or do they just not exist anymore. Still plenty of blurred lines like I mentioned I'm hoping that watching the play answers all my questions.

Response to Neighborhood 3 Ending

- When I see this play, I expect to see young kids that are warped into this game. They are actually like zombies in the real world. I expect to see action going on within the game that is the focus, as well as outside of the game while they are still playing because the story progresses along with the games progression.

- When blake shoves himself away from the computer, he is shivering and his last word is "mom?" because the game and real life are parallel in this story. He killed his own mother without meaning to. Chapter 9 was told from the mom's perspective while chapter 10 was his when he came back to realization after he killed the final boss in the final house (his own) in the game.

- I think it's significant that the parent look like zombies for one of 2 reasons if not both. The first is that while the children were zombies from the perspective of the real world, or the outside world, it's only fitting that the opposite would be true in the world that came to substitute reality for the kids who played this game and became obsessed. Also, I think there may be a metaphor in making everyone a zombie in the game. It may represent how although the kids are zombies for the video game, everyone is a zombie to other things of the world.

Finishing Neighborhood 3

• I'd like you to try to describe what you expect to see when you see the play performed.

I am excited to see how the characters interact on stage. The dialogue in the book is really open to interpretation and I think seeing the actors inject personality into the characters will help make the play more interesting for me. 

• Why are scenes 9 and 10 formatted differently than the rest of the play? 

I think scenes 9 and 10 are formatted differently because they are more dramatic: the real drama starts later in the play as the characters lose touch with reality and are sucked into the game. 

• In 10 when Blake shoves himself away from the computer why is he shivering? Why is it significant that the last word is "Mom?"

Prior to this moment, Blake only referred to his mother by her first name. He is distant from his mother. I am unsure where Blake lays in the blurred line of fantasy and reality and I think he is too. He seems to snap out of it when he says "Mom" and looks for his mother. He kills her in that game and I think he's nsure 

Neighborhood 3 Ending

To see the play performed I'd expect to see the emotion of the character (s), even the lack of emotion. In the beginning the redundant lifestyles of the characters is what I'd like to see expressed, then towards the end I'd like to see the surge in emotions as expressed in the climax of the play. It would also be interesting to see how can the actors and/or stage directors manage the special affects on a live stage.

In my opinion, the parents appearing as zombies could be for two reasons. One reason could be as I mentioned in my last blog post about Neighborhood 3, I believe Haley is expressing the monotonous and somewhat empty lifestyles of families living in suburbia. The parental transformation into zombies could also represent the detachment from real life when one is submerged into the virtual world.

In scenes 9 and 10 I believe that they are formatted differently to express the adrenaline in these scenes. We can see stage direction, emotion, action, etc. This could also represent the mirroring of a 'fake reality' rather than reality because the scenes are more set up.While reading the ending of the play, I honestly felt the increase of 'thrill' that was expressed.

Blake's final words being "Mom?" are significant for a few reasons. For one, now the character shows the expression of curiosity, but also, Blake is aware of his surroundings and the importance of his mom. I see this as an awakening of his reality, surroundings, and empathy. The fact that he refers to her as Mom rather than Joy shows that he sees her in terms of their relationship rather than a characters description (name).

Finishing Neighborhood 3 - Mom?

• In 10 when Blake shoves himself away from the computer why is he shivering? Why is it significant that the last word is "Mom?" 

Blake is so engrossed in this video game that he does not acknowledge his own mother. He doesn't seem to respect his mother. He won;t even call her mom. He does not acknowledge her existence. And when he does it is in a half hazard way. There seems to be some animosity between Blake and his mother. It is just the two of them in the house. The father is not around. 

The most interesting part of this scene is the fact that Blake's mother is Barbara but he keeps calling her Joy. They don't really explain why he does this. But it is very possible that he is so engrossed in the game that he is losing his sense of reality. He may be referring to his mother by the name of a character in the story. In the scene we sort of lose a sense of what is real and what isn't also. I think Blake comes to a realization that he is losing this sense of reality. It frightens him to a point where he starts to worry. This is possibly why he pushed away from the computer. And this fear drives him to finally have this need for his mother. this is why he referred to his mother at the end as "Mom".  

• Why are scenes 9 and 10 formatted differently than the rest of the play? 

I believe they require a more in depth performance that requires more attention thats why its different

• In 10 when Blake shoves himself away from the computer why is he shivering? Why is it significant that the last word is "Mom?" 

Because its a significant break in the character from the savage rebellious gamer boy that feels he is superior to those around him , to the son of a mother 

• What happens in the last scene?

The lines of reality and fiction are blurred and crossed to the point where a in game weapon appears in the real word

• Why is it significant that the parents appear as zombies?

It might be a reflection on their inner character relating to them being mindless going after something