MovieChat Forums > Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Discussion > Mae

Mae

posted 14 years ago by lambiepie-2
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Tennessee Williams plays are an acquired taste in my book (love some, hate others), and this is one of those plays/films I just didn't get until someone explained it to me - but let me add this to my review: No one made any sense to me except for Mae. I hated her from the moment she opened her mouth.

When it came down to it, Mae was the character that was easiest to read for me. Brick, Maggie, Big Daddy - were all saying something that alluded to something else (Why not just come out and SAY it!), but with Mae, she was a greedy, nosy, jealous, breeding, conniving witch from minute one. You can't have empathy for someone so awful - especially when what she though all she was good for is nothing she is good for. (wasn't a Tennessee Williams play that first brought the line: "Even a stray dog can have puppies?")

If I was Maggie, I would have punched her in the nose...and clear across the plantation.

"They're NOT role models - unless you idolize greed and tramps."

[–] PillowRock 14 years ago

Brick, Maggie, Big Daddy - were all saying something that alluded to something else (Why not just come out and SAY it!)

If they all just came out and immediately said what was on their minds, then:

A) The whole play would run about 15 minutes.

B) That 15 minutes wouldn't be very interesting.

C) If the characters had been in the habit of saying what was really on their minds, then none of those issues would have existed at the start of the play either. They all would have been dealt with openly weeks, months, or years (depending on which issue) earlier.

[–] 14 years ago

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