Roxanne (movie)

"Roxanne"
Pros:

• It was quite a bit easier to follow because you had the visual aid of the characters instead of trying to keep them straight in your head. I find a play often hard to follow when being read.
• It was nice that this rendition was portrayed in a more modern way. It really targeted a more general audience and the emotions were more clearly shown.
• The comedy is more slapstick, which makes it easier to see the dramatic side of Charlie/ Cyrano.
• The relationship between Charlie and Roxanne is easier to comprehend ( damsel in distress and firefighter) than two cousins.

Cons:

• In the film, Roxanne is depicted as a really sweet and naive woman, whereas in the play she seems to be very artificial and shallow. I think the movie gives her way to much credit and innocence.
• The movie shows Chris/Christian as being in the wrong for leaving Roxanne with the cocktail waitress. I think that he was simply following his heart after realizing that Roxanne wanted more than he could give her.
• The ending is sort of cheesy in that Roxanne and Cyrano start a relationship immediately which is totally unrealistic. Even though the ending of the play is tragic, it's much more bound to happen in real life where the one you truly love cannot just wait around for you forever until you finally realize him.
• Steve Martin is a terrific actor. I do however think it's unjust to the movie to depict Charlie/ Cyrano as not only unfortunate looking with his humongous nose, but also as older looking with white hair.

Mike's Cyrano post #2 - "To make myself in all things admirable"

Cyrano tells is best friend that his plan is "to make myself in all things admirable." Does he succeed?

The answer to this is... well, yes and no.

In the way that he lives his life, yes. He fights for what he believes in. He is an inspiration to those around him. Even De Guiche, who was always resentful of Cyrano, admits by the end that he "should be proud to shake [Cyrano's] hand." De Guiche says correctly that Cyrano "lives his life, his own life, his own way - thought word and deed free!" This is really at the heart of Cyrano's character: he is pround, independent, and always does what he himself believes to be right. His honesty and integrity make him some enemies, which is eventually the cause of his death, but at the end of his life he still has his panache, and the respect of many.

However, in one essential case, I don't believe that he makes himself admirable. The way he deals with his and Christian's love for Roxane may have been very well-intentioned, but it was in a sense based on falsehood, fear and shame, ideals for which Cyrano certainly did not want to stand. In order to make Roxane happy, he makes Christian into someone he is not, and he props up their relationship even though in reality it shows no signs of being real or functional. If Cyrano really loved Roxane, he would have told her so, and he would have acted with the integrity and honour on which he based everything else in his life. We forgive Cyrano because he really meant for the best, and because we feel sorry for him, but if Cyrano had only refused to feel shame for his appearance, we wouldn't need to feel that way.

In the end, Cyrano finally tells Roxane the truth. A noble gesture, certainly, but it comes very much too little and too late. He does everything to make Roxane happy, but in the end she has to mourn twice for the loss of her love. Breaking Roxane's heart for a second time is by no definition admirable.

In his life, Cyrano succeeds in making himself admirable in all things except that which is most important to him.

Because this blog is about parking spots

If you are rude enough to drive a giant gas-guzzling monstrosity of a truck, don't be rude enough to park in five parking spaces at once, too.

Jillian's Cyrano poem

The Ice Box - we're doing this method in chemistry and since Roxanne always seems to ice Cyrano out, this title just sort of came to me.



Cyrano, Cyrano why are you so blue

Look what she has done to you

A man of many words and theatrical drama

She has put your heart through inexplicable trauma

Her long dark lashes carelessly block you out

Only for him that she practices her pout

While it is your heart that she truly loves

This fresh young cadet seems to rise above

He lacks intelligence, your deep thought

But it is of these flaws Roxanne thinks not

If only you could escape from behind your large nose

Who knows the situation that would then impose

If she would truly listen for just two moments

You could live selfishly sans the guilt that torments

But instead you live through anothers skin

And in this battle you will never win

For you Cyrano, possess gentle humility and passion

And these traits are always swallowed in an orderly fashion.

Mike's Cyrano post #1

When reading Cyrano de Bergerac and watching the movie, one of the main things I noticed was that I felt sorry for basically all of the characters (except for the little boy in the movie - things went pretty well for him). This makes it hard for me to say whether I would prefer to be in Cyrano's situation or Christian's - they both have it pretty rough. However, I would much prefer to be in Cyrano's position than Christian's.

Christian has the unfortunate position of being in a relationship that is artificially propped up by someone else's words and Roxane's superficial attraction and self-love. His relationship is real, and personally I wouldn't be able to live a lie like that. Even though Roxane's feelings were genuine, Christian was aware that they were not directed at him, except for his looks. The sad part of his relationship is that even when he comes to terms with it, he dies having been told a lie about Roxane's true affections. Arguably, this means that he dies contented, but contentment is not the same thing as the happiness that can be reached by living an honest life. Also, in Christian's position it is a lose-lose situation: he either accepts Roxane's love towards the words of another or he can reject Roxane entirely. Either way, he doesn't get what he wants.

Cyrano, on the other hand, is mostly just frustrating because he could have had Roxane's complete and real love if he had just been a little more honest. It's easy to see how in many places throughout the story, Cyrano could have forced the truth to come out in a tactful way so that he, Christian and Roxane could all be honest with their affections. Roxane was really in love with Cyrano's words much more than Christian's looks, so it would have been relatively easy for Cyrano to come out and tell her the truth. But of course he believes he is doing the right thing and making Roxane happy, so he would never do that. I don't think he really was making her happy. In order to maintain her belief in her love for Christian, he lets her mourn for fifteen years, which is not very conducive to happiness. Instead, it results in Roxane losing the man she loves twice. In his place, I'd like to think I would not have supported her and Christian's false relationship, and I'd like to think that I wouldn't have been able to be so dishonest about my true feelings for Roxane.

Unfortunately, Edmond Rostand obviously wasn't thinking of me when he wrote Cyrano's character.