What’s Behind the Red Curtain?
Posted by Brant Russell on 7/29/2009
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t yet seen Up, you may want to wait to read this post…
One topic that’s come up at nearly every post-show discussion for Up is the big red parasail that opens up right before the last scene. I’ve been asking you in these discussions about what you take that moment to mean, and I’d love for you to post your thoughts below.
Just to give you a little background, here’s how the moment appears in the written script:
PETIT:
You can do it. You need to do it. You’re ready!
WALTER:
I’m ready.
PETIT:
Don’t look down!
On three:
One.
Two.
Three.
Walter runs, the parasail strapped on his back. The enormous parasail expands, billowing out, covering everything: the house, the street, the sky.
While the text does not include something along the lines of “This means that Walter has taken his own life,” if you ask the playwright or the production team, they’ll tell you that this moment is the metaphor for Walter’s suicide.
But imbedded in the moment, as is the case with any metaphor, is ambiguity: the unfurling of the parasail is not meant to represent only Walter’s suicide, and the playwright, director, and designers want you to read your own interpretation into the moment.
Ultimately, what’s left when the play has ended is the relationship between the performers and the audience, and the audience’s impressions of what has just happened. So what’s more important than the production’s intent is your interpretation. The event is predicated on your presence: you are the arbiter, the target, and receiver of the performance.
So what did you think? Some of you have said that you got suicide right away. Some of you have said that suicide would have been the last thing you thought. One of you made reference to Richard N. Balles’ What Color is Your Parachute? But nearly all of you said that the moment contained a sense of release, relief, or freedom.
Please weigh in below - what does the moment mean to you?
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:22 am
I have seen the play twice and had I not talked to people about it before I don’t think suicide would have crossed my mind with that scene… somehow it was a beautiful moment (even now, knowing the playwright intent) and it signified more like a desperate attempt to recapture the best moment of his life to me, the color being the desperation, the dialogue before, Walter feeling spurred on by his hero to just take the plunge again, no matter what… and he goes for it, no matter what the consequences which on the one hand is admirable and on the other hand pretty selfish considering the situation he’s leaving behind that was mostly created by his own (lack of) actions. This for me was enhanced by the following scene… showing us the best moment of his life until now… I was pretty stunned with the dialogue there: (young Helen) We’re getting a little nervous, Walter. Maybe you should come down now! (Walter) I dreamed about it up here, but I had no idea it would be this beautiful. If I didn’t ever have to come down, I wouldn’t! This is… this is something else.
This from a guy that just left his very pregnant but very supportive wife to embark on a pretty dangerous adventure…
For me Walter is too much of a dreamer and living in his own world to actually set out to commit suicide… that said he would definitely not look beyond the moment when embarking on a great adventure as suggested by Petit… if recapturing that great feeling of that day will get him killed, he would gladly pay that price if he ever considered that possibility at all.