Xanax-
A drug used to treat mental imbalances such as stress disorders and depression. The drug can cause drowsiness, but if taken excessively, one may experience loss of muscle control.
“Xanax is a tranquilizer used in the short-term relief of symptoms of anxiety or the treatment of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorder is marked by unrealistic worry or excessive fears and concerns. Anxiety associated with depression is also responsive to Xanax.”
http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/xan1491.htm
Marlon Brando-
“Marlon Brando is widely considered the greatest movie actor of all time, rivaled only by the more theatrically oriented Laurence Olivier in terms of esteem. Unlike Olivier, who preferred the stage to the screen, Brando concentrated his talents on movies after bidding the Broadway stage adieu in 1949, a decision for which he was severely criticized when his star began to dim in the 1960s and he was excoriated for squandering his talents. No actor ever exerted such a profound influence on succeeding generations of actors as did Brando. More than 50 years after he first scorched the screen as Stanley Kowalski in the movie version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and a quarter-century after his last great performance as Col. Kurtz in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), all American actors are still being measured by the yardstick that was Brando. It was if the shadow of John Barrymore, the great American actor closest to Brando in terms of talent and stardom, dominated the acting field up until the 1970s. He did not, nor did any other actor so dominate the public's consciousness of what WAS an actor before or since Brando's 1951 on-screen portrayal of Stanley made him a cultural icon. Brando eclipsed the reputation of other great actors circa 1950, such as Paul Muni and Fredric March. Only the luster of Spencer Tracy's reputation hasn't dimmed when seen in the starlight thrown off by Brando. However, neither Tracy nor Olivier created an entire school of acting just by the force of his personality. Brando did.”
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000008/bio
James Dean-
“James Dean was raised on a farm by his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. He received rave reviews for his work as the blackmailing Arab boy in the New York production of Gide's "The Immoralist", good enough to earn him a trip to Hollywood. His early film efforts were strictly bit parts: a sailor in the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis overly frantic musical comedy Sailor Beware (1952); a GI in Samuel Fuller's moody study of a platoon in the Korean War, Fixed Bayonets! (1951) and a youth in the Piper Laurie-Rock Hudson comedy Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952). He had major roles in only three movies. In the Elia Kazan production of John Steinbeck's East of Eden (1955) he played Caleb, the "bad" brother who couldn't force affection from his stiff-necked father. His true starring role, the one which fixed his image forever in American culture, was that of the brooding red-jacketed teenager Jim Stark in Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955). George Stevens' filming of Edna Ferber's Giant (1956), in which he played the non-conforming cowhand Jett Rink, was just coming to a close when Dean, driving his Porsche Spyder, collided with another car in Cholame, California. He had received a speeding ticket just two hours before. His very brief career, violent death and highly publicized funeral transformed him into a cult object of apparently timeless fascination.”
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000015/bio
Rebel Without a Cause-
A 1955 film staring James Dean.
“Jim Stark is the new kid in town. He has been in trouble elsewhere; that's why his family has had to move before. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn't get from his middle-class family. Though he finds some of this in his relation with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's real concern for him, Jim must still prove himself to his peers in switchblade knife fights and "chickie" games in which cars race toward a seaside cliff.”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/plotsummary
“Clinically Depressed”-
“It involves a noticeable change in functioning that persists for two weeks or longer. Imagine that for the last three months you've slept more than 10 hours a day and still feel tired, you have stomach problems, you're unable to cope with life, and you wonder if dying would solve all your problems. Or, imagine not being able to sleep more than four hours a night, not wanting to spend time with family or friends, and constantly feeling irritable. And when friends try to reach out to you, you get even more upset and bothered. You lose perspective, and you don't realize that what you're experiencing is abnormal. You want to just "wait it out," and you don't get help because you think it's weak to ask for help or you don't want to burden your friends.”
http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/lookforthesigns/clinicaldepression.shtml
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-
"An anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat."
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml
Faulkner-
Born: 25 September 1897
Birthplace: New Albany, Mississippi
Died: 6 July 1962 (heart attack)
Best Known As: American author of As I Lay Dying
Name at birth: William Cuthbert Falkner
"William Faulkner wrote As I Lay Dying (1930) and other novels, short stories and plays. Many of his stories took place in fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, and Faulkner's writings gave an almost mythological status to the culture of the southeastern United States. He also wrote screenplays for Hollywood, including the 1944 adaptation of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. His most famous novels include The Sound and the Fury (1929), Light in August (1932), Absalom! Absalom! (1936), and The Reivers (1962). In 1949 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature 'for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.'"
http://www.answers.com/topic/william-faulkner
PTSD-
An abbreviation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Special Forces-
"In most countries special forces (SF) is a generic term for highly-trained military units that conduct specialized operations such as reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism actions. (In the United States, the term Special Operations Forces (SOF) is used instead of special forces to refer to the aforementioned units because Special Forces refers to a specific unit, the United States Army Special Forces aka 'Green Berets'."
"Some special forces operations, such as counter-terrorism actions, may be carried out domestically under certain circumstances. Special forces units are typically composed of relatively small groups of highly-trained personnel equipped with specialist equipment and armament, operating under principles of self-sufficiency, stealth, speed, and close teamwork, often transported by helicopter, small boats or submarines, parachuting from aircraft, or stealthy infiltration by land. Special forces are sometimes considered a force multiplier, as when they train indigenous forces to fight guerrilla warfare."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Forces
Covert Operations-
"A covert operation is a military or political activity carried out in such a way that the parties responsible for the action can be an open secret, but cannot be proved. Covert and clandestine are related terms, but not interchangeable. According to a United States Department of Defense definition, a covert operation is:
' An operation that is so planned and executed as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor. A covert operation differs from a clandestine operation in that emphasis is placed on concealment of identity of sponsor rather than on concealment of the operation.[1]' "
"Covert operations are generally illegal in the target state and are frequently in violation of the laws of the enacting country. Therefore covert operations are typically performed in secrecy because they break specific laws or compromise policy in another country."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_operation
Titanic-
In the context of the play, this movie is referenced because of its popularity. Kelly uses this film as an example of the kind of film that Marlon Brando would not be any good in. She is pointing out how much movies have changed. Titanic is still the highest grossing film of all time.
http://www.movieweb.com/movies/boxoffice/alltime.php
Lord of the Rings-
This film is another reference to a popular film. This is used as an example of a film that could not star James Dean.
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
22nd highest grossing film of all time.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
13th highest grossing film of all time.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
9th highest grossing film of all time.
http://www.movieweb.com/movies/boxoffice/alltime.php
Tony Blair-
"Anthony Charles Lynton 'Tony' Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007, Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007 and Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007. On the day he stood down as Prime Minister and MP, he was appointed official Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East on behalf of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Blair
Paxil-
"Paxil is an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. It works by restoring the balance of serotonin which helps to improve certain mood problems."
"Paxil is used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder."
http://www.drugs.com/paxil.html
Evangelicals-
"Evangelicalism is a theological perspective, most closely associated with Protestant Christianity, which identifies with the gospel. Although evangelicalism has been defined in a number of ways,[1] most adherents consider belief in the need for personal conversion (or being "born again"), some expression of the gospel through evangelism, a high regard for Biblical authority, and an emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus to be key characteristics"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism
Ann Arbor-
"Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. It is the state's seventh largest city with a population of 114,024 as of the 2000 census, of which 36,892 (32%) are college or graduate students.[3] Believed to be named for the spouses of the city's founders and for the stands of trees in the area,[4] Ann Arbor is best known as the location of the main campus of the University of Michigan, which moved from Detroit in 1837."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Arbor,_Michigan
Valium (Diazepam)-
"Diazepam is an anti-anxiety medication in the benzodiazepine family, the same family that includes alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), flurazepam (Dalmane), and others. Diazepam and other benzodiazepines act by enhancing the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain. GABA is a neurotransmitter (a chemical that nerve cells use to communicate with each other) that inhibits activity in the brain. It is believed that excessive activity in the brain may lead to anxiety or other psychiatric disorders. "
http://www.medicinenet.com/diazepam/article.htm
Long Day's Journey to the Hamptons-
This is a name, used in the play, as the name of a play. This is not in fact the title of a real play.
Abu Ghraib-
"The Abu Ghraib prison (Arabic: سجن أبو غريب; also Abu Ghurayb) is in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city 32 km (20 mi) west of Baghdad. It became internationally known as a place where Saddam Hussein's government tortured and executed dissidents, and later as the site of Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal where the United States military's torture of Iraqi detainees was revealed in a series of photographs published in worldwide news media."
"Under Saddam's Ba'ath government, it was known as Abu Ghraib Prison and had a reputation as a place of torture and some of the worst cases of torture in the modern world. It was sometimes referred to in the Western media as "Saddam's Torture Central". The prison was renamed after United States forces expelled the former Iraqi government, which had called it the Baghdad Central Confinement Facility (BCCF) or Baghdad Central Correctional Facility. In May of 2004, Camp Avalanche, a tent camp on the grounds of Abu Ghraib for security detainees, changed its name to Camp Redemption at the request of a governing council member."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_prison
A Farewell to Arms-
"a semi-autobiographical novel written by Ernest Hemingway, first published in 1929. Much of the novel was written at the home of Hemingway's in-laws in Piggott, Arkansas.[1] Considered by some critics to be the greatest war novel of all time,[citation needed] the novel is told through the point of view of Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian army during World War I. The title is taken from a poem by 16th century English dramatist George Peele."
"The novel is divided into five books. In the first book, Henry meets Catherine Barkley and their relationship begins. While on the Italian front, Henry is wounded in the knee by a mortar shell and sent to a hospital in Milan. The second book shows the growth of Henry and Catherine's relationship as they spend time together in Milan over the summer. Henry falls in love with Catherine, and by the time he is healed, Catherine is three months pregnant. In the third book, Henry returns to his unit, but not long after, the Austro-Germans break through the Italian lines, and the Italians retreat. After falling behind and catching up again, Henry is taken to a place where officers are being interrogated and executed for the "treachery" that supposedly led to the Italian defeat. However, Henry escapes by jumping into a river. In the fourth book, Catherine and Henry reunite and flee to Switzerland in a rowboat. In the final book, Henry and Catherine live a quiet life in the mountains until she goes into labour. After a long and painful labor, their son is stillborn. Catherine begins to hemorrhage and soon dies, leaving Henry to return to their hotel in the rain."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Farewell_to_Arms
