Monologues

This week our last performances before winter break begins are our individual monologues. Mrs. Morris told us to choose/write monologues that are very different to our own personalities so that we learn how to play a diversity of personalities and characters. Because one of my favorites movies is Clueless, I decided to recite a scene from this movie as my monologue, in which the main character (who is portrayed as a dumb blonde) is put on the spot to perform a speech in History class about Haitian immigration, but since she does not pay attention in class she decides to BS her entire speech and compare it to a party she threw her dad once. With many additions and changes so that it would fit into the two minutes given time. I created my final monologue with my own interpreted stage directions:

OK OK so I know like wait a sec[MJ1] , so uhm, Hiii guysss. [MJ2] I’m going to be telling you my views on Haitian immigration to US[MJ3] . So, OK, like right now, for example, the Haitians need to come to America. [MJ4] But some people are all "What about the strain on our resources?" [MJ5] But it's like, when I had this garden party for my father's birthday right? So I said R.S.V.P. because it was a sit-down dinner. [MJ6] But people came that like, did not R.S.V.P. so I was like, totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, squish in extra place settings,[MJ7] but by the end of the day it was like, the more the merrier! And so, if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. [MJ8] And in conclusion, may I please remind you that it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty.[MJ9]

[MJ1]Pushed by teacher in front of the class. Confused and startled.

[MJ2]I fake a smile and look around at the class and the teacher.

[MJ3]I fidget with my hands and talking slowly.

[MJ4]I build up in my tone of determination and look into the eyes of the audience.

[MJ5]I imitate a high pitched annoying voice and roll my eyes.

[MJ6]Talking in a sassy way, moving around on the stage

[MJ7]Count my jobs on my fingers, being really sassy

[MJ8]Sudden switch to optimistic tone and flash a smile to the audience

[MJ9]Talk slowly and look at all of the audience and smile while walking

(My favorite line was the last one about the Statue of Liberty.)

It was extremely interesting to perform the role of a dumb blonde, which is very different to my own personality, but I had fun molding myself into this character based on the stereotypes of dumb blondes I had seen in various movies such as Clueless and Mean Girls. It took many many times practicing this monologue in order to perfect the role, and each time I added another action to make my character more genuine. For example, I added chewing gum, slurring on my words, and staring out into the distance to make my role as a dumb blonde more believable. Overall, I enjoyed playing this very unique personality and I can proudly say I’ve mastered the stereotype of dumb blondes. I want to continue learning and practicing other stereotypes because they are so much fun to play, and they are very useful when improvising and acting.

The other monolgues were also very interesting: Abdul acting like Paula Deen and Alia kissing Alex from Target were my favorites and they had me dying of laughter.