Edward Albee

I found Edward Albee to be an interesting character. I can definitely see how he is such a controversial figure, as I started the documentary thinking he was very humorous, and by the end was slightly annoyed with him. I understand that he is a great writer, and had a rough upbringing, but I think that he is using that as a shield. I come from a small suburb similar to the one he grew up in and he made it seem that everyone there was desperately clinging to the stereotypical "American Dream". I know that this is not true, and there are definitely people living that lifestyle who may live geographically in an uppity suburb, but who do not live in the way he portrayed philosophically. I think that he is exploiting his situation and over-exaggerating it to advance himself and his writing. I have no problem with the fact that he had a bad childhood and is inspired by it, but it seemed to be that he is making it seem a lot worse than it is. After watching the scene from Three Tall Women, it felt to me like he also used his writing to forgive himself for leaving his adopted mother when she was ill. He had the woman’s character forgive the son for leaving, and in doing so gave himself closure. I think that Albee is a very funny guy, and I do like him except how he portrays himself as this lost soul who was so isolated from the world, when it appears, especially from his comments on not wanting to find his birth parents even to find out his medial history, that he is isolating himself.