Wednesday, November 14, 1984
Paga8
Daily Nebraskan
n
ks aim
'No Small Affair' fall
s prey to mo
ncy. sex
' By Chris Burbich
Daily Nebraskan Senior Editor
"No Small Affair" is making a
lot of money. So did "Porky's."
Neither movie deserves it.
A 16-year-old photography buff
(Jon Cryer) falls in love with an
older woman (Demi Moore),
spends his life savings in an effort
to save her floundering rock 'n'
roll career, then sees her fly away
Movie
.eview
on the wings of his aid. Tnat was a
nice tinge of irony, and could
have partially salvaged the sink
ing movie, had it net been tainted
in its making.
After a tempestuous scene be
tween Cryer and Moore during
which she tells him she's moving
on, the two know each other in
the Biblical sense. Once they've
had sex, the two are no longer in
torment, trivializing feelings we
had been lead to believe ran a
little deeper than lust. The trivial
ization is dramatized even more
when Cryer picks up the first girl
he runs into after seeing his lady
love onto a plane to LA
The story of "No Small Affair"
had some potential a youth
with troubles at home, first love
but it fell prey to what may be
the same syndrome we saw in
"Teachers," that is, a need to inter
ject sophomoric scenes and lan
guage Into a film to make it sell
However, unlike "Teachers," the
sophomoric spots on the "No Small
Affair" celluloid nearly blot out
any glimmer of good. It ends up
just another sexploitation film.
Cryer helps Moore in her career,
in reward she takes his virginity.
That's funny?
The film has its funny moments
Cryer wandering lovelorn
through the alleys of San Fran
cisco with nothing but a garbage
bag raincoat to protect him from
the cold, cruel world, Cryer mak
ing wise cracks to his "Uncle Ken"
in his mother's bathroom. But on
the whole, the humor in "No Small
Affair" relies on cheap, dirty jokes
and thinly disguised sexual in
neundo. In a sense, this film is an exer
cise in prostitution; that profes
sion's values run rampant through
the film the leading guy buys
the leading gal, and the whole
works is whored out to the pub
lic. It all comes down to money
and sex. No amount of sopho
moric humor and slapstick can
make that funny; but it sells.
M
i
s
T.iia Courissy of Cc.-riL-.a Heiur
'I Ime ycu es a fifted. "But I spent $8, 000 on you. "
Malls replace 'passion pits 9
Drive-in big screens leave fading memories
Uair.or by Hike Frost
SjHKid to the Daily Nebnskan ''
Drive-in theaters are becoming a thing of the past. In a
way, it's a shame that the "passion pits" soon will go the
way of such cherished institutions as Hula-hoops, Mickey
Mouse ears and McCarthyism. The once-sacred spots
where teenagers congregated to smoke, make out and
discover various aspects of life which were best left
undiscovered, are being replaced by impersonal, immoral
shopping malls, where teenagers will smoke, make out
and discover various aspects of life which are best left
undiscovered.
This isn't the first time the concept of drive-ins has
been threatened with extinction. After WW II, cities
experienced housing shortages. It was determined that
the giant lots used for a different type of drive-in would
be perfect for neighborhood living. Thus, drive-in theat
ers became a thing of the past.
Although the lasting contributions the "Orchestra
Passion Pits" have made to the world of theater are few,
many playwrights who would later dominate the legiti
mate stage first earned their reputation on the illegiti
mate stage. -
For example, Tennessee Williams, who would later
earn worldwide acclaim for his appearance es Lucy
Ricardo's hillbilly cousin on "I Love Lucy," wrote his first
play for the drive-in theater, a forgettable effort titled,
"A Cheerleader Named Desiree."
The play tells of Desiree Dubois, a former cheerleader
for New Orleans High School basketball team, The
Streetcars. Desiree is back in New Orleans visiting Stella,
her old sorority sister and Stanley Pulaski, Stela's beau.
US f double entendre won him world
wide acclaim. In this carry effort, the playwright was
trying to develop his style, yet could only muster single
entendre.
DESIEEE: My name is Desiree Dubois. You know, 3 in
"I like to 'do boys.' " Tee hee bee.
STANLEY: Wanna make out?
DESIEEE: Tee hee hee.
The play differs significantly from Williams' later work
in that it deals almost exclusively with drinking beer,
making out, driving fast cars and getting in trouble with
the local police, who are corrupt. "All that stuff was too
unpleasant " Williams was later quoted as saying, "and I
don't like to write about subjects people find un
pleasant." Young Arthur Miller also contributed to the B-grade
plays, with his "Death of a Stewardess." Because the play
was written so early in his career, Miller had not yet
perfected the style that would eventually bring him
fame. In fact, it isn't until the end of the third act before
anyone slaps his father. Although many try to compare
"Stewardess" with Miller's later, more respected work,
there are few similarities. They play in fact ends on a
relatively upbeat note, with the stewardess deciding
that instead of sinking into an abyss, she's going to drink
beer, make out, drive fast cars and get in trouble with
JOii-v A ' " I! 'I
,Jt RT :f riTT T3
the Iocs! police, who sre corrupt
Not all the plays thst grEced the drive-in stages were
sexploitation epics. A young Samuel Beckett achieved
early fame writing pkys for the horror genre. His land
mark "Waiting for Godiilla" was perhaps his most fam
ous work.
Madl delsst Iiss centered around the play
many believed Godzilla to be a metaphor for either God
or Frankenstein or both. Beckett, as always, remained
ambiguous cn the subject. Scenes like this helped per
petuate the enigma:
VLADIMIH: So what are we doing here?
ESTEAGON: We're waiting for Godzilla.
VLADIMIR: Why are we waiting?'
ESTRAGON: Why not wait? He wMl be he re soon.
VLADIMIR: We could be out drinking beer, making
out, driving fast cars and getting in trouble with the local
police who are corrupt.
ESTRAGON: We are waiting for Godzilla.
VLADIMIR: I think I see him!
ESTRAGON: That is not Godzilla.
VLADIMIR: How do you know? What does he look like?
ESTRAGON: I dont know, but he doesn't look like that.
Watch 111 ask him. Excuse me, you're not Godzilla are
you?
EODAN: No. He cent me. It is midnight. He mill ccms
tomorrow. '"'
VLADIMIR: He sent you?
RODAN: Weil, he contacted the company I work for.
; We specialize in delivering Ite messages.
. . ESTRAG ON: What kind of company do you work for?
'' RODAN: Ohjust your typical fiy by niM outfit. Now if
yem dont mind, I think 111 terrorize mankind and des
troy civilization for no apparent reason.
'VLADIMIR &. ESTRAGON: Aaauuuuughghghghghgh!
Besides being Beckett's finest monster play, Waiting
for Godzilla" also holds the distinction of being the only
state production with dubbed English. Despite this uni
que distinction, Beckett's play represented a last gasp
for the drive-in theater. Soon, it wss all a thing of a pas t
nothing more than a fading memory in America s col
lective mind.
And although drive-in theaters may be gone forever,
they have left an indelible mark on your culture. You still
can find a drive-in theater patron whose eyes still swell
with tears when he hears those immortal words, "Cmori
kids, let's put on a show! And then let's drink beer, make
out, drive fast cars and get in trouble with the local
police, who are corrupt."