Grey Gardens Question

I've only seen the show once so I'll try to answer this as best as possible. "Hominy Grits" is a song Big Edie is rehearsing in act one. "The House We Live In" is performed by Little Edie in act two to show Jerry how she likes to perform (or something of that nature) and "Choose to Be Happy" is a song on the radio in act two.

---

Thank You both soooooo much!!! I kind of guessed at a little of that, but this really cleared it up! I really NEED to see this show

Honestly? The most brilliant? Does that include Mr. Bouvier and Mr. Beale?

Everytime I say "absolutely" I now have to repeat after it "OB-solutely."

**SPOILERS**

Some further thoughts on "Choose to be Happy." On the heels of "Around the World," the Edies have their big climactic argument. Edie Storms out of the room leaving Big Edie listening to Norman Vincent Peele on the radio. "Choose to be Happy" begins. For the first half of the song we see Big Edie sitting in bed listening to it. This is meant to show her reflecting on the reality of her life and what's just happened. Then her bedroom rotates away and we watch Little Edie for the second half of the song as she packs her suitcase, working through her resolve to actually make the move to leave. Very effective.

This is connected to one of the most powerful moments in the documentary. In the documentary, the two Edies sit on their respective beds and listen to Mr. Peele's sermon on the radio. The sermon is similar to the theme of the song, try really try, etc. The scene closes out with a close-up of Big Edie as she listens. You can see the tears well up in her eyes as she relates the sermon to her own life/situation.

It's powerful because up until that point she mainly carries on as if she really believes she's still grand and at a tea party, acting regal and ordering people about. You have the impression she just thinks things are like they are because she has a servant problem. Then at the end of the sermon you see that moment where it all breaks through her denial and you see her recognition of what her life really is. It's probably not the first time this has broken through to her but it's powerful to see nonetheless.

While I love how the song is used in the play, I found myself wishing they had stayed with Big Edie throughout and been more true to that moment.

---

Updated On: 6/26/07 at 08:33 AM

Hominy Grits is supposed to show how 'outlandish' and inappropriate Big Edie was and the effects it had-alienating her family, etc.
It also shows how she likes the spotlight. And, it nicely sets up the argument with her father.

Choose to be Happy is actually effective because we see both women struggling internally with their own station in life at that point. (It's inspiring to Little Edie until the next scene.)

As for "The House We Live In," there is a comparable scene in the documentary and it gives us a hint of what Edie may actually have had in the way of talent. (not much of an indicator though) It also demonstrates her own longing for attention and her own desires to be on the stage. (as well as her outlandish behavior)

---

karen24 said: "I agree with most of your descriptions, but I'm not sure about "Hominy Grits." I thought it was supposed to illustrate that Big Edie *wants* to be progressive and avant-garde, but really doesn't have a clue about what that means, because that song (and the other one she's rehearsing, "Itty Bitty Geisha" are so incredibly racist. I don't think any real black person would ever have sung a song like "Hominy Grits." Or am I missing something?"

No, you are right. Big Edie CALLS those numbers her "freedom songs", but the other adults know they are an embarrassment. "Hominy Grits" is a pastiche of songs like "My Mammy" (which Liza Minnelli sang on TV as recently as 1972) and "Swanee": songs by and for white performers in imitation of imagined African-American minstrel songs.

And "Hominy Grits" seems to be a plot point in a relatively plotless show: Big Edie's father, Mr. Bouvier, appears to wash his hands of his daughter when he sees what she plans to sing at the big society engagement party. This--along with the abandonment by her husband, Mr. Beale--seems to explain the isolation and poverty in which the Edies live in later life.

***

Norman Vincent Peale's THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING was a best-seller for much of the 20th century and is the forerunner of movements such as today's "Prosperity Gospel", in which unfortunate people are told their troubles are due to a lack of right thinking, rather than ill health or social inequities.

His inclusion in GG, Act II, is heavily ironic. Whatever one thinks of the Edies, they are beyond the point of helping themselves with nothing but positive thinking.