Whose Tune is it Anyway?
Today we had to write an GSCE essay on the dreary play "Whose Life is it Anyway?"
Well, actually, it was yesterday, and I was so busy recovering that I didn't manage to get on the computer.
But anyway.
The examining board wasmean. It didn't ask the question I wanted to answer. Which was:
"Brian Clark drew his inspiration for his play (yes his PLAY not a book or a novel, a play has an AUDIENCE not a reader) from the prog album The Wall. Discuss."
See, it's obvious. Ken is like Pink - going through a crisis. While Pink can't move metaphorically, Ken actually can't move. This parallel is made more obvious by the similarity of the names - Floyd Pin-ker-ton and Ken Ha-rri-son.
Many scenes are inspired by songs. Ken’s reaction to Mrs Boyle mirrors “Don’t leave me now” at the end of the first disc. His banter to the young nurses was inspired by Young Lust. We learn about four of Ken’s formative influences, just as we know about the same six of Pink’s: his mother, father, girlfriend and his art. Ken is shaved by John in the first few pages of the play, and Pink shaves his entire body.
Even the art of the Wall is lovingly homaged. In “Empty Spaces”, a large black Sedan rolls towards screen; in Whose Life is it Anyway, this same car squishes Ken to virtual pulp.
No comparison of “The Wall and [blank]” can be complete without The Trial. Both items end with one - an obvious link. You’ll note the animated sequence shows Pink as a powerless doll, while Ken describes himself as a equally powerless “vegetable” (and also an ocarina, a skateboard, Frankenstein’s monster, part of the décor, compost and scrap. As I learnt it I may as well use it…).
At the end, Pink demolishes his wall, and Ken demolishes his body.
It’s, like, so totally obvious…
Well, actually, it was yesterday, and I was so busy recovering that I didn't manage to get on the computer.
But anyway.
The examining board wasmean. It didn't ask the question I wanted to answer. Which was:
"Brian Clark drew his inspiration for his play (yes his PLAY not a book or a novel, a play has an AUDIENCE not a reader) from the prog album The Wall. Discuss."
See, it's obvious. Ken is like Pink - going through a crisis. While Pink can't move metaphorically, Ken actually can't move. This parallel is made more obvious by the similarity of the names - Floyd Pin-ker-ton and Ken Ha-rri-son.
Many scenes are inspired by songs. Ken’s reaction to Mrs Boyle mirrors “Don’t leave me now” at the end of the first disc. His banter to the young nurses was inspired by Young Lust. We learn about four of Ken’s formative influences, just as we know about the same six of Pink’s: his mother, father, girlfriend and his art. Ken is shaved by John in the first few pages of the play, and Pink shaves his entire body.
Even the art of the Wall is lovingly homaged. In “Empty Spaces”, a large black Sedan rolls towards screen; in Whose Life is it Anyway, this same car squishes Ken to virtual pulp.
No comparison of “The Wall and [blank]” can be complete without The Trial. Both items end with one - an obvious link. You’ll note the animated sequence shows Pink as a powerless doll, while Ken describes himself as a equally powerless “vegetable” (and also an ocarina, a skateboard, Frankenstein’s monster, part of the décor, compost and scrap. As I learnt it I may as well use it…).
At the end, Pink demolishes his wall, and Ken demolishes his body.
It’s, like, so totally obvious…