Reckless Eyeballing: Analysis of Major Characters
"Reckless Eyeballing" is a play that delves into complex themes of identity, race, and gender within the backdrop of the theater industry. The central character, Ian Ball, is a young black playwright grappling with the pressures of creating a politically correct narrative after the tragic murder of his friend and director, Jim Minsk. Ian's journey is marked by an identity crisis that challenges his previous views on talent and the dynamics of male-female relationships.
Tremonisha Smarts, a black feminist playwright, initially becomes a victim of a mysterious figure targeting feminists and later assists Ian in rewriting his play, navigating her own conflicts with the demands of a white feminist producer, Becky French. Becky represents the challenges and expectations imposed on artists, often pushing for mainstream acceptance at the cost of authenticity.
The narrative also introduces other characters like Jake Brashford, who warns Ian against conforming to fleeting theatrical trends, and Lawrence O'Reedy, a controversial detective whose violent tendencies and eventual downfall add layers to the story. Randy Shank, another playwright with a contentious history, symbolizes the struggles of black artists within a predominantly white industry. Together, these characters illuminate the tensions surrounding race, feminism, and artistic integrity in contemporary society.
Reckless Eyeballing: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Ishmael Reed
First published: 1986
Genre: Novel
Locale: New York City and the fictional Caribbean island of New Oyo
Plot: Satire
Time: The 1980's
Ian Ball, a black playwright in his late twenties or early thirties. Ian was born and reared by his mother on the fictional Caribbean island of New Oyo. Ian misses the easy lifestyle and predictable character of what he calls the South. Ian's first play produced in Manhattan, Suzanna, was a great success, but it was heavily criticized as sexist by feminist critics. Ian is staging his second play, Reckless Eyeballing. After Ian's friend and director, Jim Minsk, is viciously killed by a group of white racists and anti-Semites, Ian weathers the complex adversities of rewriting and restaging his play; in the process, he undergoes an identity crisis. The conflicting demands of the theater world complicate Ian's initial impressions of his talent and his fellow writers. Antagonistic male and female relations force Ball to re-examine some of his sexual attitudes. He changes his play drastically to make it conform to politically correct criteria, and his honesty is questioned.
Tremonisha Smarts, a playwright and a black feminist. Tremonisha is the first victim of the Flower Phantom, a mysterious masked man who attacks prominent feminists and shaves their heads. Tremonisha is enlisted to help Ian rewrite his play, although she balks at certain arch revisions insisted on by the white feminist producer, Becky French. Tremonisha undergoes a last-minute anticonversion from feminism to rehabilitated black mother figure after successfully changing and directing Ian's play.
Becky French, a director and white feminist. Becky refuses to produce Ian's play after the death of Jim Minsk, Ian's supporter. Finally, she enlists Tremonisha to rewrite the play and gets Ian to agree to having it staged in a much smaller venue.
Jake Brashford, a black playwright. Jake's first and only play, The Man Who Was an Enigma, caused a sensation when it was produced many years before. Since that time, Jake has lived off gifts and prizes and has been unable to complete his second play. Jake cautions Ian against giving in to whatever theatrical philosophy is prevalent at the time.
Lawrence O'Reedy, a white detective with the New York police force. O'Reedy is known as “Loathsome Larry” for his violent attacks on criminals, particularly Hispanics and blacks. O'Reedy is put on the case of the Flower Phantom, which he believes he solves. It proves to be his last case, as he dies giving a speech during his police retirement party.
Randy Shank, a black playwright. His play The Rise and Fall of Mighty Joe Young is described as satire. Because of its premise that American women crave to be raped by a beast, he was put on a feminist blacklist in the 1960's. Randy now works as a doorman at Tremonisha's apartment complex. Rabidly anti-Semitic, Randy also criticizes Ian for changing his play and working with women. Randy is killed by O'Reedy, who believes he is the Flower Phantom.