Fiddler on the Roof

So before we begin the show, I'd just like to comment that this is one of my absolute favourites, I encourage everyone to watch...beautiful, tragic, hilarious, and profound. Good stuff, good stuff.

Mkay, the show is beginning. I like to picture the dawning fiddler scene appearing from behind a curtain. "You might say all of us are fiddlers on the roof. Trying to scratch out a decent tune, and not fall and break our necks." This opening song, Tradition, sets up the rest of the show so perfectly. At this point, tradition seems so ideal and so invicible. Everyone in the family has a place. This niche does not seem oppressive at this point. The viewer finds himself imagining the hollowed out jobs that each family member was designed to do and saying things like, "Of course! A Kosher home."

So after the credits roll the matchmaker drops in. Tzeitl is extremely upset by this considering that she is the oldest daughter and first in line to get married. These marriages are arranged, hence the matchmaker, and Tzeitl is afraid that she will be forced to marry an old man, a bald man, an unnatractive and unlovable man. Unfortunately for Tzeitl, the matchmaker brings news that a wealthy butcher has "set his eye" on her, and her mother is thrilled at the prospect.

Tzeitl is in touch with the reality that most matches are less than ideal for a poor girl with no dowry. However, her two younger sisters are naive and full of wishful thoughts that they will get the very best in a match and live happily ever after. Tzeitl wakes them up to their likely prospects and by the end of the discussion they are in no hurry to marry.

Tevye sings his song about wishing he was a rich man. Then he heads to town and a few very important things occur; the men gather around and one reads aloud that Jews have been evicted from a very nearby town. This is a dark cloud that gets darker and more eminent as the film progresses. Directly after this, a young scholar, who is a Protestant Christian, comes into town. He has radical views and is not shy about telling complete strangers about them. Through a brief conversation, he is hired at Tevye's home to tutor his daughters.

Tevye returns home with Perchik the tutor and the Sabbath begins. After the family is introduced, a very interesting parallel scene happens between Tevye and his wife and Motel (Tzeitl's childhood sweetheart) and Tzeitl. The older couple, a product of a long ago arranged marriage, argue over whether or not Tevye should talk to the butcher (although she does not tell him why), while Motel and Tzeitl argue in a more subdued manner about whether or not Motel should talk to her father and ask for her hand. Both women get their way and both men agree to talk to the third party. However, when Motel is given the chance, his will fails him and his fear of losing Tzeitl forever (and of Tevye yelling at him) take over. Tevye goes and talks to the butcher and agrees to let him marry Tzeitl...after a very long and awkward misunderstanding.

They drink on it and return home. On the way, a police officer leaks the news to Tevye that there will be "a little unofficial demonstration" among the Jews. What he means is that there will be looting and trouble of that sort around town just so if the authorities come through, they can see that the police officers "did their duty." So the discrimnating cloud darkens a little more.

Back at home, Perchik is tutoring Tevye's daughters. After the young ones leave, he and Hodel have an argument over his interpretation of a Bible story. He seems to shatter a little bit of the traditional glass she lives in.

Shortly after, Tzeitl's parents tell her she is to marry the butcher. Perchik's radical views become more evident as he argues on Tzeitl's behalf that money is no reason to marry, but is rather "the world's curse." Tzeitl has a breakdown and her father tells her he will not force her to marry. Motel comes and asks for her hand immediately following the breakdown. Tevye then has a breakdown of his own over the fact that the "children" have matched themselves, not keeping with the Jewish tradition of the time.However, after a far-away inner dialogue, he decides out of love for his daughter to allow them to marry. They are overjoyed. :)

Later, Tevye has to break the news to his wife that her daughter will no longer be marrying a rich man. Instead of being honest, he decides to feign a dream/omen that Lasar's late wife visited him and warned that if Tzeitl marries her husband that she will kill her in the night. In the dream, Tzeitl's grandmother also put in a good world for Motel. To the superstitious woman, this was more than enough to carry her favour from Lasar to Tzeitl's beloved.

At Tzeitl and Motel's sunset wedding that was very soon to follow, her family reminisces about the couple's childhood. Although it was not originally their first choice, and although the parents know that it will be hard for the "children" as they start out together, they are happy for them. And it's beautiful. There's dancing and rejoicing and drinking and lots of well-wishes. Lasar is bitter about the loss of his bride however, and this causes a great deal of tension within the wedding party. Unfortunately, this is the least of their problems when the police force arrives to crash the party, ransack the wedding gifts, and destroy the beauty of the night. There is a turning point in the show here--it gets very dark after this point--and never really goes back to the way it was.

Time passes--Motel and Tzeitl have been married for some time. They are poor, but happy together. Tevya prays that God will give Motel a sewing machine so that they will be able to have a more comfortable life.

Perchik confides in Hodel that he will be leaving to go join in a revolution. But before he goes, he, in a very roundabout way, asks Hodel to marry him. Although it is his personal defense mechanism to go into political mode whenever he feels uncomfortable, he allows Hodel to remind him of the necessity of love and affection within a relationship.

When Hodel and Perchik go to Tevye to announce their engagement, Tevye has a very difficult time understanding that they did not ask for his permission, only for his blessing. "At least Motel and Tzeitl asked him, they begged him." Again Tevye is struggling with "tradition," or more accurately, pride. But again, out of love for his child, and out of the belief that God has matched them and begun the work, he gives his blessing...and his permission. :)

Inspired by this, Tevye brings up the subject of love for the very first time with his wife of 25 years. They discuss their past--how they met for the first time on their wedding day, how their parents told them "they would learn to love each other." And after 25 years, it seems that they have.

Far away, Perchik has been captured and taken away to a settlement in Siberia for his rebellion against the government. He has sent for Hodel, and she has chosen to go to him. She understands that she may never see her family again, but she makes this "melancholy choice" out of love. Tevya prays only that God will take care of his daughter, and that she will dress warm.

At home, Motel and Tzeitl have a "new arrival." Motel has received the sewing machine that he has been praying for. The town turns out to see it, and we discover that he and Motel also have a baby. Though they seem to be doing well, Tevya's youngest daughter is in torment. She is in love with the Catholic boy she met on the road earlier in the film, and she knows that they will never be able to marry while he is outside of the faith. However, she confesses to her father that they wish to be married. In response to this, he says what is one of my absolute favourite quotes from this show..."A bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?" He forbids her to ever mention it again.

Desperate, Tevye's youngest daughter marries her beloved without permission from her family, without notifying her family at all. Golde runs home to tell Tevye, and he seems to be in complete shock. He resolves that their disobedient child is dead to them now, without ceremony and without mourning. In the midst of this shock, she suddenly appears, begging him to accept her marriage. He inwardly debates, but just as she chose her love over her tradition, he decided to choose his tradition over his love. He disowns her, and both parties separate, heartbroken in different ways.

Nonverbal Communication

In the short film "Mr. Bean," the main character relies mainly on nonverbal communication. This means that he rarely speaks, but rather conveys the messages he wishes to send in other ways, such as facial expressions, body language, actions, and hyperbole. His audience understands him very clearly even without the use of words. However, the actors around him in the film itself often seem not to notice his outbursts or not to consider them humorous. When Mr. Bean decides to cheat on his exam, the audience immediately understands what he is up to. However, for the remainder of the scene, the film focuses not on understanding his message, but rather on all the crazy ways he tries to complete one task.

In the second skit with the swimsuit, Mr. Bean tries very hard to not look conspicuous to those around him, which seems to be a reoccuring theme within all of his comedy. However, the skit introduces irony when the man he is worried so much about gets out of his chair and makes evident that he is blind by using a walking stick.

In the church skit, the comedy is introduced by placing the outrageous Mr. Bean in a very reverent and quiet seting. The slightest occurences such as sneezing or dozing off or opening a wrapper cause the biggest problems, magnified of course by his exaggeration of every situation.

In all of Mr. Bean's skits, although he doesn't speak, devices such as irony and hyperbole are very liberally used. The audience understands these familiar situations without the use of verbal explanation or elaboration.
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In the second video, Mr. Bean is having a day out on the town. He seems to be focusing on financial situations; giving money, having money, spending money

. What stands out to me the most about this section in particular are the basic human emotions that he feels. His escapades are so humorous to us because we know exactly what it's like to feel all the basic things that he feels and think many of the same thoughts. This is why verbal communication is unnecessary. The difference is that we would never actually do these things and he just does without a second thought.