Letters to the Editor

Vagina Monologues language questioned

I was surprised to see such a broad band of negative reaction to David Holman's critique of The Vagina Monologues. I had thought his remarks thoughtful, honest and rather mild. In fact I had considered scolding him for being so kind to such a bad piece of work.

I had already taken Sara Stolfi's advice by seeing the play myself and formulating my own opinion. It's not the only negative opinion around, as your online poll attests, that 36% of those questioned found the play empty of political value and offensive. But I have no objection to the campus performance, which I hear was quite good, the play's the thing here.

When several good questions are directed at the play and its author, the answers come up wanting. For one thing, what sort of image comes across? Well, it's the American woman generally, multicultural but still mostly American. Dominated by the author's line of questioning, that composite image is loud for the most part, funny but largely superficial, occasionally interesting but more often than not thoughtless. Ensler characterizes herself as crudely immature, with the interests and range, say, of a fourteen-year-old. To re-word this question: is that the sort of image that discerning American women want circulated here or abroad, especially in the light of the vastly superior images of American women that female novelists, poets, filmmakers and playwrights have offered us since the beginning of the Women's Liberation Movement in the 1960's? While fans of Ensler may recommend her play to their female friends, I would say forget her — catch up on Alice Walker, the best of Meryl Streep and the strongest poems of Sylvia Plath.

Another hard question for this play to answer is, how does language work? "Watch out for that movie," parents sometimes tell a daughter, "it has strong language." But does anyone with a little experience really think that a slew of Anglo-Saxon monosyllables is "strong"? Having spent four years in the U.S. Navy as a young man, I can attest that all of Ensler's obscenities and vulgarities mean little — and the more they're repeated the less they mean. Sailors who lack a vocabulary and want to sound as if they're saying a lot use obscenities as filler. Here is the question in another form: can a play that relies on so much vulgarity claim to have an interesting script? Well, it may be noisy— it may seem shocking at first—but the language is essentially dumb.

A final question I'd like to pose has to do with the truth of the matter. Granted, Ensler can exaggerate, poke outrageous fun, fictionalize and edit a monologuist's talk. It's another thing, after seeing the play, to say it carries a serious, profound or comprehensive message. For myself, the play has little new or profound to say about social and political reality. I've seen or read all this before, and in far more convincing form. Most of Ensler's truths turn out to be hackneyed. I'd much rather Adrienne Rich and June Jordan on the subjects of sisterhood, empowerment, gay love and male roles. Sometimes in fact Ensler simply lies. Not every adult, much as we regret it in Ensler's case, has been abused in early childhood.

Ah, but you have put your money down, you say, you saw the play on stage, you must have heard great things about it. I read the usual hype in the New York press. But none of my theater-going friends in New York recommended it. No, about three months ago a PC student asked me if I'd like to see a video that his mother had taped off HBO. So when a PC faculty friend told me how glad he was about seeing the PC production for only five dollars, I said, "Too bad—I saw it for nothing—a little more than it's worth."

Edward McCrorie Professor of English

Congress powerless on club baseball

Three years ago, PC witnessed the demise of one of its most beloved, successful, and longstanding sports—baseball. On April 22, 2002, an attempt was made to bring back baseball at the club level. Following a year of preparation and research, Adam Coppola'04 and Paul Sullivan '04 presented club baseball to Student Congress. After an hour of debate, Student Congress approved club baseball. However, PC won't see any baseball games next year. Fr McPhail, the moderator for Student Congress, vetoed the approval, despite strong support for the club, on the basis of lack of funds. My question is this: what voice does the student body have if the Congress is merely a puppet organization under the iron fist of McPhail?

Russell Jarem '04

Cowl fan sends summer wishes

Since The Cowl is likened to a bottle of old wine that improves with age, I wish to commend both Editor-in-Chief Ryan Ainscough '02 and Associate Editor Kristin DiQuollo '02 for doing a fabulous and diligent job. I also wish to commend all of the members of The Cowl for their sincere efforts in publishing Providence College's uncensored official newspaper. Thank you, Commentary Editor Dave Holman '03 and the incomparable Erin Simmeth '03 for reading and editing my letters to the Editor. I find Cowl commentary more enlightening than that of the Providence Journal. I also wish Dave Holman '03 success as Editor-in-Chief of The Cowl during 2002-2003.

In closing, I wish all members of the Cowl staff a happy and safe summer and good luck and health in the future. Watch your back as terrorism is still with us. I will remember all of you in my prayers and please pray for both the victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse that is prevalent in the media. Always remember that public opinion inside or outside the Providence College community is the cornerstone of democracy. Please continue "High Fives and Nose Dives" in The Cowl. God Bless America!

Russel P. Demoe '73

Swimmer asks for a little respect

Providence College hosted its Annual Student-Athlete Banquet Monday night. At this wonderful banquet, held in the majestic Peterson gymnasium and catered by fabulous Sodexho, the school recognizes all the sports with a slide show, some watches for the seniors, awards for athletes, and, of course, food. The evening starts out with opening comments by a dignitary of the athletic department. The next step is usually the food. When the eating winds down, a speaker will again step up to the podium and a slide show of the past sports year will follow. The show is not very well distributed in terms of PC sports represented. As a matter of fact, you would not know there was much else in the way of sports here besides basketball and hockey if you just came and saw the show. To complete the night, the seniors are given watches as a parting gift and then awards are handed out for best male and female athletes of the year, as well as some others.