Take 3! And…

Monday, February 8th, year 2010.
Briefly: We split up into our Task Force groups for the first time (except those people working on Problem Child, I suppose) and briefly outlined and discussed our plan of action. The task force for Problem Child presented their Wiki to the class that evening as well, giving the rest of the groups an idea of what ours will have to look like.

Outside of that, there isn’t all that much to reflect on from our three hours of class this week. I did take the time to read the script for Frost/Nixon outside of class, and can add more on that subject.

I will of course be expanding on these ideas in my reflection of the play that I will be posting on the forum soon enough, but just to give an idea – a sneak peek, if you will…

It came to my attention while reading the script that, much the same way as prior knowledge can influence your viewing or reading of a play one way or another, the opposite is true as well: reading a script may alter your opinion of what you think you already know. I’ve learnt a lot about Nixon as a President between Journalism and Politics classes taken in both high school and here at St. Thomas, mostly about his involvement with the Watergate case.

Truth be told, I’ve never been overly fond of him, a bias probably partially inherited from those who have taught me about his history – though he did, admittedly, do some good things during his career. Peter Morgan’s play succeeded in making me wonder about this opinion, and induced feelings of sympathy for the man that I hadn’t had before even though I knew I was reading about a character Nixon, and not necessarily the real guy. I think that it was those scenes with the loafers that got to me.

That’s all for this week. It’s that time of semester when everyone wants something handed in, and learning begins to come in bursts.