Chapter sixty-four: The Seduction of Joe Tynan

Hi everybody! I hope you had a good week. Mine was busy, busy, busy. Auditions for the school musical were this week, and we are doing The Wizard of Oz on account of its smaller (COVID-friendly) sized cast, but it's also a classic. In the past, for the musicals and plays my Freshman year, I've been a stagehand. It has been so much fun. But, again, with COVID, the theater cut back on some of its stage crew necessities. That was when I became a spotlight operator for this year's play. It was a fun job that I was grateful to have, but I wanted something more fulfilling.

So, I had a couple of great friends who convinced me to audition. Before my audition, however, I gave the director a speech I practiced in front of my mirror the night before with the underlying message, "I know I'm no spring chicken, but I want to learn, and I will try so hard. This is the stuff that I love." I think she liked it because, at my audition, she had me repeat it for the choir director, who said that my singing made him "teary-eyed." I was so happy. The vocal audition was Tuesday, and Wednesday was the dance and scene reading auditions. I love singing because when I do it, I don't stutter. But I was more nervous for Wednesday than anything because talking and moving at a rapid pace are not my strong suits. At the audition, I sat next to my uncannily kind and optimistic friend for moral support.

I started doing the Jane Fonda workouts at the beginning of this year as a mechanism to get physically stronger because it sucks when my friends have to stop walking in the hallways so that I can catch up to them, or when I'm the one percussionist in band class who can't carry a drum. Now that I don't stutter so much, I notice those things more than I used to. But, let me tell you, the workouts paid off by Wednesday. The whole dance, I swear, was step-touch and heel digs, which is primarily what Jane does in the workouts. It felt like I had been training for it, and It was an accomplished moment when I did the entire routine without falling over.

When it was time to read scenes, I tapped into my inner-Meryl, remembering all I watched over quarantine. I took the character's persona, I yelled, I cried, but most importantly, I didn't stutter once. Quite frankly, that was a surprise to even me. Results came Friday, and I will be playing not only one of the three tots in Munchkinland but also a servant. As my English teacher would say, "Hazzah!" I'll have to practice my high voice to play a munchkin. (That was a long introduction that has nothing to do with this week's movie, but hey.)

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The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) was written by and stars Alan Alda. (I think he's known for these types of war/political movies since he seems to be featured in the ones I have seen.) Anyway, his character, Joe Tynan, is a senator from New York who has aspiring presidential ambitions, but who at the moment is considering the possibility of becoming a Supreme Court Justice. What's ironic is that Joe works with a guy who is retiring and has asked him to support his replacement nominee, but in fact, Joe has plans to oppose him.

So, Joe takes frequent work-related absences away from his home in Washington, his wife, Ellie (Barbara Harris), and their two teenage children, as he hopes to pick up some dirt on his opponent (like people do in any campaign.) This dynamic shakeup within the household definitely poses an inconvenience, especially for Ellie, who is making a career switch to become a therapist, but she makes do to support her husband.

Meanwhile, Joe's profession leads him to work with the new, young, and pretty attorney, Karen Traynor (Meryl.) It's no surprise that as they spend time working together, and Karen reveals that the nominee against Joe is unfit, they form a passionate relationship, which slowly and carefully develops into an affair as the movie documents. They get away with it for some time, but with each of them being married, they reach a mutual understanding that they can't run around like this anymore.

Joe is first to call it quits, but not quickly enough because when Ellie finds out, days before Joe is supposed to make his campaign announcement, all hell breaks loose. But, their marriage is saved when Joe delivers a heartfelt speech to his wife backstage at the convention. Unlike the scripted one he is about to give to all his supporters while announcing his campaign.

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It's a good movie that I think tells a story that is much too common these days. The desire for success makes some people do regrettable, out-of-character things. It was Meryl's third-ever film (though Manhattan and Kramer vs. Kramer would also come out later that year,) so I had to search in the "vault" to find it. By that, I mean I bought the CD on amazon from the Paramount Vault collection, and my dad searched in the basement for our CD player that hadn't been used since 2010 for the CareBear videos I used to watch in Kindergarten. It's amazing how dedicated quarantine boredom will make you want to do something.

Speaking of quarantine, yesterday marked one year since my school closed for the pandemic. Originally it was only for two weeks, but, as we all know, that did not age well. I posted a photo on Instagram from that day last year. My friend and I were sitting in English class, so excited for school to be closed. I had a big, open smile, and she had her tongue out. I laugh at that picture now, thinking we probably shouldn't have done that.

As always, thank you for the entertainment, Meryl.