Happy Endings: Why?

1
Happy Endings Why?

• 20 30 40
• "The Loveliness of the Long-Distance Runner"

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Outline

• Questions
• 20 30 40
• Problems
• Comic Form vs. the More Realistic
• Solution
• Happy Endings and Beyond
• "Long-Distance Runner"
• Introduction
• Problems
• Form
• Solution Happy Ending
• Context Stereotypes and the Author
• Reference

3
Questions

• How do you relate to the two texts, or either one
  of them? Are there moments in the texts which
  resonate with you? Any parts that you like or
  dont like?
• What do you think are their main messages (about
  love)? Are they conveyed successfully?

• Why are they comedies?
• What kinds of happy endings do they each have?

4
What I can relate to

• Forgetfulness

5
20 30 40 Emotional problems Instability and
Loneliness --Lily

• Lily husbands disloyalty busy, active but
  first neglected as a wife/mother and then lonely
  a divorced woman, ?

6
20 30 40 Emotional problems Instability and
Loneliness --??

• Against marriage ? unable to either commit or
  break up (with ???Brian?Jack) Pattern Fight ?
  Sex

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20 30 40 Emotional problems Instability and
Loneliness --Lily

• ??? ??? ?? unfulfilled dream of becoming a
  singer, or twin duo

8
Comic Form 20youthfulnesstoo much?

• Beating the traffic light
• Getting ?? to sign
• Singing, putting makeup, drawing (chap 8), etc.

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Comic Form 30 fighting for the gold fish
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Comic Form -- Lily

• The ways she tries to solve the problems asking
  for a date
• Dancing
• tennis teacher???too young
• Jerry Zhang Emmy ? Emily

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The More Realistic Their Problems

• Lily
• Gracefully makes up for her mistake another
  tactic ????
• Stays in ambiguities
• No more phone calls
• ?? sings but not heard, only Tong hears it and
  recorded it once.

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Solutions and Happy Endings Lily

• Takes care of a comatose patientWhat do you
  think?
• Well-intentioned
• Scenes of family happiness vs. lonely womenas
  trite as reality is.
• Doing facial, celebrating birthday one-way
  communication (self-expression) after all.

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Solutions and Happy Endings Lily

• Indulges herself

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Beyond the Happy Endings Womens Identities

• Independence?
• From one stereotype to
• another. (knifearmpit shaving)

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Happy Ending

• Still in the dating ritualthe most important
  good morning said to a man.

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Beyond the Happy Endings Individual Problems ??
(1)

• Believes in signs, but not her own judgment

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Beyond the Happy Endings Individual Problems ??
(2)

• (one cell phone one man) Has to throw off the
  cell phone to get rid of the influence

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Beyond the Happy Endings Womens Identities

• Mirror reflecting a dependent woman

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Beyond the Happy Endings Lesbianism or
Friendship?

• Tong confirms ??s love, gives the videotape to
  ?
• (More can be suggested by the cassette tape chap
  12 4700)
• ??a kiss and a smile

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Beyond the Happy Endings Social Context --

• Problems of Postmodern Society
• Family Fragmentation not only that of Lilys,
  but also ??s mother, Brians, ?s parents.
• Flows of people and information Flight
  Attendant cell phones (4300)

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Spaces of Flows, Fluidity of People and Language
Mixture

• Major scenes and careers suggest the fluidity of
  humans and information
• Scenes airport earthquake and TV report
• Career flight attendants (possibly Tong, too),
  music production (singers from Malaysia and Hong
  Kong?????????), Jerry as ?? Taiwanese
  businessman
• Language
• The use of English names

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Chance Encounters in some Spaces of Flows?

• Roads, Diners and Neighborhood
• Mere coincidence On the road, dumpling place
• ?? in front of the florist shop
• Lily has lunch on the side of ??

Communication Impossible?
23
Another Undeveloped Element Surveillance Camera

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"The Loveliness of the Long-Distance Runner

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Introduction

• The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Alan
  Sillitoes short story, also a 1962 film --
  presents a rebellious 17-yr-old young man who
  arrives at a reformatory, and then joins a race
  in which he chooses not to win. (ref. Leonardi)
• Class Issue
• ? Gender and love Jane running and Sally at home
  The Loveliness of the Long-Distance Runner

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Problems Conflicts between the Two Lovers

1. Jane on Marathon Running
2. likes running Space and good feeling (393)
   
3. Wants to break her 3.5 hour record.
4. Wants to run clear of the crowd and find
   someone to run her own pace with
5. Pace endurance deferment of pleasure
   patience.

• Sally Contradictory views on Marathon Running
• hates it it is dangerous (e.g. Pheidippides)
• Also jealous.
• Thinks her lover has the most beautiful body.
  Because she runs. (392)
• Marathon running is a goddamn competitive,
  sexist, lousy, thing to do.
• Her devouring her as a sex-object//competitive
  running.

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Problems What Jane is up against

• Jane contradictory herself
• To run for herself (393-94) once she beat a
  sexist before the finish line, hurt her neck and
  feel bad about it.
• Solidarity (394-95) experience that
  solidarity, of other people wanting you to do
  what you want to do. In the last few miles the
  crowd holds you togetherThis is not a noble hero
  against the world.
• Runs with a lady who reduces her pace to let
  her go ahead
• Pains
• More later sexist ideology

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Form Interior Monologues from Two Distinct
Perspectives

• Sallys emphasis on Janes body (393-94) yards
  and yards of leg miles and miles of tight,
  hard, thin muscle
• More contraditions
• she thinks about what she is not going to think
  about

• A joggers monologue
• Part of her meandering thought 396-97 Emma?
  her own teacher ? Sally? heart ? Zulu warrior ?
  Jane de Chantal? garbage collector? garbage
  person .
• physically concrete about pain and fatigue
  Something stabs my eyes with orange (a cramp in
  the upper thighs) (397)
• 297 divided by 9 ? A lady no. 297
• Alternative letters to show the struggle.

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Solution Happy Ending Sally

• Sallys gradual openness while she is in tension
  and inactivity
• admits that her love of Janes body can be
  possessive
• (395 -- ) Examines herself
• I dont want her to do what she wants to do.
• Mind vs. body -- I will not love her for those
  reasons most beautiful body but I will love
  her because she is tough and enduring and wryly
  ironic. (395) Her mind is clear, careful and
  still open to complexity.
• 3. Accepts the fact that she is involved in the
  race, though accepting not the same with liking.
  (398)

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Solution Happy Ending

• Love and Mutual Appreciation between Sally and
  Jane
• Sally likes both her body and mind
• Jane likes Sallys mind and worries about her
  heart beat her mind floats, green with
  sequinned points of fire (396), while her own
  wears Nike running shoes
• Compromise
• Jane Never, never again. not running again?
• Sally Rejoice, we conquer. conquering what?

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Between the Words Stereotyping or Breaking
Stereotypes

• Re. Phys. Ed teacher Emma and her fathers
  suspicion (395-96)
• Jane calls Sally stubborn bitch (394), my
  princess herself the younger son (say person)
  in the fairy story (396-97) on a quest where
  the princess should wait for her ? then admits
  that she hates the term princess. (398 still
  uses it)
• JANE DE CHANTALthe first jogger? Knows the
  slow, rich stroke Harassed almost to despair by
  their entreaties, she branded on her heart the
  name of Jesus, and in the end left her beloved
  home and children, to live for God alone.
  (source)
• Mary Magdalene stood at his feet behind him
  weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears,
  and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and
  kissed his feet, and anointed them with the
  ointment (Luke 73650.)

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Types and Stereotypes

• Used and Critiqued to show the two are just
  ordinary lovers with their limitations and
  genuine love for each other.
• To broaden and mix fields which were separate
  traditionally
• Christianity and Homosexuality
• sex-object and true love
• mind and body,
• marathon running and female runners.

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"The Loveliness of the Long-Distance Runner
--Context

• Sara Maitland (1950-)
• -- Daughters of Jerusalem
• -- A Big-Enough God A Feminist's Search for a
  Joyful Theology
• "I am a feminist, a socialist, a catholic
  Christian, a wife and a mother This seems to
  produce enough conflicts to give me writing
  material for years to come.
• -- Recently, she is exploring the issue of
  silence.

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Reference

• Leonardi, Susan J. The Long-Distance Runner
  (The Loneliness, Loveliness, Nunliness of).
  Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature13. 1 (Spring,
  1994) 57-85