What do you think?
Rate this book
Beautiful Man & Other Short Plays
An eviscerating satire of gender roles in popular culture, Beautiful Man imagines a world in which women are the subjects and men the objects. As three women dissect the latest Hollywood blockbuster, narrative after narrative of strong female characters fold into each other, fusing into a brutally recognizable story.
In Unit B-1717, a woman is trying to clean out her storage locker and say goodbye to the past, but an overwhelming feeling of dread forces her to confront the way she has historically subjugated herself to the needs of others.
In And then there was you, a mother addresses her child as they both visit milestones that offered them each independence, and in the process explores how the profound connection between mother and child evolves.
In Unit B-1717, a woman is trying to clean out her storage locker and say goodbye to the past, but an overwhelming feeling of dread forces her to confront the way she has historically subjugated herself to the needs of others.
In And then there was you, a mother addresses her child as they both visit milestones that offered them each independence, and in the process explores how the profound connection between mother and child evolves.
- GenresPlays
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
32 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 18, 2024
ERIN SHIELDS IS A GENIUS I'M FROTHING AT THE FUCKING MOUTH
beautiful man: three women discussing a recent movie they saw, and the wonderful male characters that the director took such care to represent with ~depth~ and ~importance~ and, of course, sex appeal. flipped-oppression stories don't usually work for me, but erin shields' cutting sense of humor makes it work--this goes way beyond "what if... women... were mean to MEN instead" to offer up a searingly ironic look at how women are depicted in media and how that reflects onto real life. so many lines that made me suck in my breath, or laugh but with a tint of bitterness. (my one criticism of this one is that there were a few lines that seemed to tilt into bioessentialism--blah blah men are naturally stronger than women etc etc in a way that left a weird taste in my mouth.)
JENNIFER
The director wants us to wait a few episodes
to get to know the importance of the male characters.
SOPHIE
The director, I hear, I hear she did a lot of research.
JENNIFER
Yes, a lot of historical research.
SOPHIE
And scientific too.
PAM
She also talked to a psychologist who's an expert in these types of things.
JENNIFER
They're making a documentary about all the research she did.
SOPHIE
And she travelled too.
She had interns all over.
PAM
Oh, I heard about the interns.
JENNIFER
Why didn't they speak out sooner,
that's my only question.
unit b-1717: a woman tries to clean out her storage locker and is swept up in memories. this one took a little while to work on me, but when i got into it, man, was i into it. deeply concerned with embodiment and physicality and the ways people disappear when they take others' feelings upon their shoulders.
I was taught to be scared of the night.
That women disappear at night.
Women go missing at night.
Women don't make it home when they walk alone at night,
but that assumes all women want to appear.
That all women intend to be found.
and then there was you: a monologue from a mother to her growing child. can't talk about this because despite my communist transsexual anti-nuclear family leanings stuff about parent/child relationships will reliably make me bawl like a baby and if i think too hard about this one i'll lose it
anyway i need to read every erin shields play ever written
beautiful man: three women discussing a recent movie they saw, and the wonderful male characters that the director took such care to represent with ~depth~ and ~importance~ and, of course, sex appeal. flipped-oppression stories don't usually work for me, but erin shields' cutting sense of humor makes it work--this goes way beyond "what if... women... were mean to MEN instead" to offer up a searingly ironic look at how women are depicted in media and how that reflects onto real life. so many lines that made me suck in my breath, or laugh but with a tint of bitterness. (my one criticism of this one is that there were a few lines that seemed to tilt into bioessentialism--blah blah men are naturally stronger than women etc etc in a way that left a weird taste in my mouth.)
JENNIFER
The director wants us to wait a few episodes
to get to know the importance of the male characters.
SOPHIE
The director, I hear, I hear she did a lot of research.
JENNIFER
Yes, a lot of historical research.
SOPHIE
And scientific too.
PAM
She also talked to a psychologist who's an expert in these types of things.
JENNIFER
They're making a documentary about all the research she did.
SOPHIE
And she travelled too.
She had interns all over.
PAM
Oh, I heard about the interns.
JENNIFER
Why didn't they speak out sooner,
that's my only question.
unit b-1717: a woman tries to clean out her storage locker and is swept up in memories. this one took a little while to work on me, but when i got into it, man, was i into it. deeply concerned with embodiment and physicality and the ways people disappear when they take others' feelings upon their shoulders.
I was taught to be scared of the night.
That women disappear at night.
Women go missing at night.
Women don't make it home when they walk alone at night,
but that assumes all women want to appear.
That all women intend to be found.
and then there was you: a monologue from a mother to her growing child. can't talk about this because despite my communist transsexual anti-nuclear family leanings stuff about parent/child relationships will reliably make me bawl like a baby and if i think too hard about this one i'll lose it
anyway i need to read every erin shields play ever written
August 3, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — 4
Play #3 done! Technically there were three plays in total but somehow that feels like cheating. Thanks for lending me this play Abby! I am definitely loving this Erin Sheilds kick I’m on.
Play #3 done! Technically there were three plays in total but somehow that feels like cheating. Thanks for lending me this play Abby! I am definitely loving this Erin Sheilds kick I’m on.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews