Thursday, November 6, 2008

Infidelity

In both of the plays I mentioned in my last entry -- Fifty Words by Michael Weller and Fault Lines by Stephen Belber -- a major crisis erupts in response to an actual or possible act of infidelity. In both cases, the marriages in question are either destroyed or irreparably damaged by the disclosure. For that matter, infidelity is the major marital crisis explored in many plays, movies, and TV shows. Beyond that, we probably all know people whose marriage or relationship ended when one of the partners was discovered to have had sex with somebody else. Now, indulge me in an exercise in fantasy and imagine a world in which the fact that most people (or, at least, many, many people) are incapable of complete fidelity were acknowledged--as well as the fact that sex becomes a decreasingly important aspect of many if not most marriages as time goes by despite the fact that by most other measures these marriages may be very solid and nurturing. Imagine further that people understood and accepted the “biological” aspect of sexuality--that is, the drive to be fulfilled sexually or to experience the release of orgasm--and had tacit permission to go outside the marriage on occasion to seek that fulfillment. Imagine finally that these outside excursions in no way damaged the marriage.


All of what I describe is at play in many marriages--except the part where spouses have tacit permission to go outside. I read a book called Open Marriages back in the early seventies that made the case for relationships that were more open-minded when it came to sex. I don’t remember the details of the book--it may well have been proposing arrangements I might find objectionable--but the central notion of the book has stayed with me all these years. I also see around me the example of many successful gay relationships (and “marriages” by whatever name) in which there is less of an expectation that the partners will be exclusive all of the time. 


In my play, “Conquests and Migrations” (the latest working title for a work in progress), I envision a future in which spouses have a much more fluid notion about the role that sex plays in their marriage. This occurs after the characters in this fantasy play have “evolved” through other periods in which--in succession--wives are simply used sexually whenever their grunting husbands need to get off; the very notion that a wife has had thoughts about another man is enough to cause the husband to lash out violently; and the discovery of a wife’s (or husband’s) affair leads automatically to divorce. The more enlightened future I envision can’t possibly last, can it? Well, stay tuned--I’m in the process of sorting that out right now.


To see more of my blogs, go to:  http://williamfowkes.com/Site/JOURNAL/JOURNAL.html

Ciao

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

NaNoWriMo post-haste Election Marathon

I have fallen behind in my word count, I will admit that seeing the election in Times Square (surrounded by tourists speaking French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English with other colonial accents) and celebrating took up time and masses of sleep recovery. I will wend my way to a Starbucks, plug joe into me and juice into the laptop, and write for word count sake, quantity over quality. Full speed. Latte. Tap tap tap. Sip sip sip.

I really will have a (bad) first draft by December. 175 pages of raw material. To junk or save but nonetheless to be able to say I did it. This works. Next year all of you should do it with me. Really. www.nanowrimo.org

Monday, November 3, 2008

I Have Seen the Future - Part Deux

It turns out people in the 21st century really don’t want to hear from you unless you are someone they’ve given a nod to already – and if they know you through Facebook, or LinkedIn, or My Space, or Naymz, or any of the 3000 other social networks, you’re okay by them. There’s some thought that one reason Senator Obama, despite having just made the Boomer cutoff, is looking so likely as our next president right now is that all those young people on their social networks really together form one giant social network – and to them, he seems like one of them. Savvy about their world, committed to their ideas, and entering by invitation.

It seems to me our only choice – as writers and artists – is to jump in and join the network – at least as far as is comfortable and not too demanding of the attention we ought to be spending on our art. But it’s certainly an interesting dilemma, as well as opportunity, for the writer who develops his or her work alone, in solitude, to bring it out there to the rest of the world. I guess it’s the 21st century challenge, and only time will tell how well we meet it.