Hope is the feeling of expectation and a strong desire for a certain thing to happen. It is a belief that a positive thing will happen out of the harsh situations and circumstances in someone’s life. Hope to me is looking for the light in amongst the darkness it is our ability to accept where we are and what led to this. Hope is finding acceptance within ourselves and within others as hope is necessary for change to occur.
As children we are taught by our parents that life will be exciting, something we can to look forward too, that life itself is like a Disney movie, never would you think that life could be so punishing. Life is full of loss, pain and so much more. Who would’ve thought it would be so much more complex than just a Disney movie? Even in the face of despair, when you think all is lost. Hope. It’s a simple word and yet can mean so much to anyone going through a difficult time. It can mean the difference between hanging on and giving up. It can mean a tiny smile in the face of a devastating diagnosis. It’s one word with no true definition.
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Regardless of whether you’re a diehard cop fanatic or just enjoy modern day literature depictions of Shakespeare, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the Australian play “Away” represent realistic examples of everyday people overcoming bad situations in search for brighter future. Just like them we all go through this. In order to be truly hopeful for the future, you must first find acceptance within yourself and your current situation. As acceptance is vital for transformation to occur. In Dan Goor’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” episode “Moo-Moo” and Michael Gow’s “Away” this is all to prevalent.
In 1986, Michael Gow released a book to make a case for hope as a bridge to finding acceptance. Away was in many ways, of its moment – it was written against the tremendous despair after the Vietnam war and during the height of the aid’s epidemic in Australia. Although that moment passed long ago the concepts and the depictions of hope are still reflective in today’s society. Away is a great depiction of making the most out of a bad situation. Throughout the novel themes of death, loss and family play an important role when considering the characters views and values, all in connection to show the underlying theme of hope as a bridge to acceptance.
Throughout Away Michael Gow has implicitly made reference to Shakespeare in many instances. Including such plays as A Midsummer Night's Dream and King Lear. The significance of Shakespeare’s King Lear is it has symbolic reference to “The storm” which is also evident in Away. A similar depiction of this event happens in Away. A great storm occurs during the play that causes the three families to come together on the campground. The storm created by Gow in the play creates imagery that shows us that each of the families is going through their own version of a storm. It also reveals that through the storms we are able to find one another and hold onto life together. The play is an allusion to the storms of life that we all face, and the necessity of community through the storms in order to continue to stand up to them. The ideas suggested by these quotations are at work in Gow’s play Away
“There’s an end to every storm, once all the trees have been uprooted, once all the houses have been ripped apart, the wind will hush, the clouds will part, the rain will stop. The sky will clear in an instant and only then, in those quiet moments after the storm, do we learn who was strong enough to survive it.”
As I was researching the thing that caught my attention the most was Gow’s representation of characters throughout the piece how they play a vital role in the development of key themes, the storyline and the overarching message from Gow’s play Away. When taking into consideration of character views and values. Context helps us as the reader/ listener to gain a greater understanding into the insights of the characters, in order to develop a greater relationship.
The play demonstrates the way these characters extend themselves physically, intellectually and emotionally. The storm is the physical change-agent. It destroys all of Gwen's representations of self-worth (her possessions). It acts as the catalyst for her emotional reconciliation with herself and her family. By the play's end she has extended herself way beyond the stereotyped parody of a suburban housewife. Logically, the play-within-the-play acts as an intellectual symbolic metaphor, Tom is able to demonstrate to his parents Vic and Harry that he knows about his imminent death and that he accepts his fate. That tom has found his hope through acceptance. His view of hope is different compared to other characters as Tom is hopeful for his family and the people around him. Tom has accepted his fate and now is trying to teach his family to cope after their storms finally comes. Coral's journey is about emotional recovery. She learns to symbolically 'walk again'. This enables her to reconnect with the living world and with Roy. She too accepts that there is life in death and hence is able to find her hope. She is able to find acceptance within herself through others in order to transform both physically and emotionally towards the ending of the play. Thus, it is clear that in order to be truly hopeful for a brighter future, we must first find acceptance with ourselves and within others in order for any transformation to occur.
To me and many others Maggie Carey’s Episode Moo-Moo is significant as it allows us to gain a better understanding of the events that were happening during the time of its release back in May 2nd, 2017. The tv series is a rather comical and entertaining series that at times like to poke fun at societal issues or events. But in this instance Dan Goor wanted to take it in a more serious tone for the episode. So, we as the audience can really understand how serious this issue is. Brooklyn Nine-Nine digs deep into the controversial issue of racial profiling via stop-and-frisk. While Terry Jeffords is out looking for his daughters’ blanket, he is stopped because of the colour of his skin. Irony is used as while he is suspected to be a dangerous Black Male, he is actually looking for his daughters’ blanket which is harmless as shown in the image above.
Throughout the episode the characterisation plays a significant role as each character symbolises different ideas and representations of hope based off their own past experiences and cultural background. The precinct in which they are based is very culturally diverse in the sense that Captain Holt identifies as a Gay Black male, Rosa is Mexican American, and Terry Jeffords is an American black male. Captain holt represents hope through change by rising through the ranks to a position of power where he can make a difference this is based off of his passed experiences with racial profiling and dealing with discrimination and criminalisation. As mentioned by Holt “when I was a young officer I wanted to report every…” His views are based off his experiences and wanting to make a difference from a place of power. Whereas in the case of Terry Jeffords within the Brooklyn Nine-Nine precinct he has little experience with this form of discrimination. Terry represents hope through action and wanting to make change in order for a brighter safer future for his daughters.
Throughout the episode we get to see the development and growth within the characters and what each of them symbolise. In the beginning of the episode Holt is very hesitant in wanting to help Terry based on what he supports and his views and values. By the end Holt comes to the realisation that he has the power to make change to make a difference. The final scene is symbolic as Terry and Holt come together to discuss what has happened. This scene leaves us guessing because although the complaint was submitted Terry was denied the role and as the audience, we are left to think whether or not terry was denied to role based off of systemic racism that exists within the system. It symbolises the bigger image that is in play as like racism nothing is tied into a neat little bow. Thus, it is clear that in order to be truly hopeful for a brighter future, we must first find acceptance within our own lives and within others in order for any transformation to occur.
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