An inconvenient enemy of the people (why Ibsen supports Gore for president

[muriel_volestrangler]

The opening shot in a much anticipated presidential contest might just have been fired in the strangest of places: Washington's Shakespeare Theatre Company. This week the company begins its run of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. But as Washington's political set return from their summer vacations they will find that their city's most renowned venue is staging more than a revived classic. To the shrewder eye it is clear that the play was nothing less than a dress rehearsal for a Gore '08 presidential run.

The play, claims the Shakespeare Theatre, is merely a morality tale discussing how "society deliberately and ruthlessly ostracizes its truth-tellers". It is being run to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ibsen's death. Right? Wrong. Look a little closer and the true parallels are unmistakable. The play tells the story of Dr Thomas Stockman, a respectable but slightly unconventional idealist in a coastal town in southern Norway. The town is booming as tourists flock to the newly opened municipal health spa. This reputation for good health is seen by all residents as the area's chief asset. At least, that is, until mysterious illnesses among tourists begin to raise suspicions.

Realising something is not quite right with the town's environment, our bearded and environmentally conscious hero begins to examine what might be amiss. Having sifted the evidence, he seeks scientific help to confirm the cause as contamination of the spa water. The word comes back: pollution is indeed the culprit. Even worse, it is caused by the irresponsible actions of big business, in the form of a local tannery that allows effluent to run off upstream.

Having already suspected this inconvenient truth, Stockman/Gore decides something must be done. He writes a damning report full of irrefutable scientific evidence that the town's environment, and indeed its very longterm livelihood, are in peril. It seems as if this compelling mixture of hard science and honest truth cannot fail. With his thoughtful daughter Petra/Karina as a close advisor, Stockman/Gore pledges to go public.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/james_crabtree/2006/08/an_inconvenient_enemy_of_the_p.html

I've never seen the play, so I don't know if this is pushing the parallels of the play and the current situation further than really can be justified. But it's an interesting line of thought.

[NYCGirl]

1. That is absolutely fascinating. As an actor, I know me some Ibsen

;-) and I've never thought of the connection. I'll have to re-read it.

Here's a free version via The Gutenberg Project:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2446

[Lisa]

2. and as a non-actor, I know about the movie adaptations!

1966 (with James Daly -- the Arthur Miller version)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251072/

1978 (with Steve McQueen) -- I don't think it's out on DVD yet, though
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075993/




These more recent versions are probably not on DVD because they were made for TV. But arguably, over the past few decades, Ibsen's play helped spawn a wave of "environmental/legal thrillers", and even influenced some horror and thriller movies (the much-loved "scientists try to warn the town about a menace but are rebuffed by the establishment" plotline).


1980 (with Robert Urquhart)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496698/

1990 (with John Glover -- another go at the Arthur Miller version)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099503/



Weirdly enough, I'm scheduled to teach a few lectures on "media, culture, and how they both reflect and shape public perceptions of the environment" in someone's water management class next month -- and this was one of the works I was hoping to screen clips from (along with "Chinatown" and "Erin Brockovitch").


p.s. NYCGirl -- did you ever hear about a version of "Tartuffe" done in the 1980s (at the Neptune Theatre in Canada?) where they did the lead character as Ronald Reagan, and his unsuspecting host/victim as then-Canadian PM Mulroney? At the time I thought it was miscast, since most of us up here figured that Mulroney was the more slippery of the two ... and Reagan just didn't seem cunning enough to pull it off. But now, they'd have not just the President, but a whole pack of possibles (led by Rove and Cheney!) to choose from! And Rove's family is actually Norwegian, too.