AIBU to hate An Inspector Calls?

[Evasmithsghost]

English teacher so have to teach this dirge every year.

I hate the superior, haughty, lecturing tone taken throughout.

Hate Gerald and the way he’s partially let off the hook.

Hate the way Mrs Birling is given such harsh treatment by the playwright when in fact she is quite right and Eva did lie.

Really can’t stand this play!

@borogovia

I've only seen the recent TV version with Remus Lupin as the mysterious inspector, and I thought that was really great.

Oh, I loathe it!

This is probably TMI, but until comparatively recently birth assistants had to learn how to dismember a dead baby stuck in the birth canal, to save the mother’s life. (I learnt this fact during my degree; archaeologists had found a skeleton from Roman Britain showing evidence of this.) Must have been very traumatic, even if it worked.

Ditch it and do The Curious incident instead......

Are you my dc's teacher OP?
They are doing it this year.
I remember doing it decades ago when I was at school.

Why, evasmith?

LOVE An Inspector Calls

saw it in Theatre in London a few years ago.. I could watch it over and over .. all versions..

wonderful 🎉

@borogovia - I find the character of Eva smith incredibly sanctimonious and irritating. I know we are supposed to admire her morals in comparison to the shady Birlings, but I just found it grating and unconvincing.

I hated the portrayal of Eric as a sweet, harmless boy. He raped her!

I didn’t find any of the characters particularly convincing, except possibly Sheila.

I could have written @FartnissEverbeans post... I competely agree. I'm an (ex) English teacher and I enjoyed teaching the text a lot... Largely because the majority of kids across all ability levels could get something out of it. This meant they were enthusiastic and engaged in lessons and, as a teacher, I always found that very rewarding.

I also really liked the way it made the students think about the concept of community and social responsibility. I liked to kid myself that the text made students more kind and thoughtful 😊. Although, I often found that some students over-simplified the issues and ideas to basically capitalists = bad, socialists = good... And then I'd feel bad that I'd sort of unfairly influenced them politically 😁 (to be fair, one boy I taught took a copy of the Communist Manifesto out of his pocket to quote from during a discussion, so I possibly wasn't far wrong!).

We're no longer allowed to teach lord of the flies because it's too long. I'm teaching this unbearable shite under duress and I hate it.

@Evasmithsghost... Apologies if I'm miss-remembering the text (haven't taught it in a good few years) but how can Eva be sanctimonious when she never actually speaks in the play... You only hear her reported by the other characters.

I'd agree that the inspector is dripping with sanctimony, though... Especially in his last speech.

@MrsHamlet

We're no longer allowed to teach lord of the flies because it's too long. I'm teaching this unbearable shite under duress and I hate it.

It's too long???

@Evasmithsghost

I know - it is a bit daft although compared to Shakespeare I suppose it is!

There are so many good potential texts, too.

I think that's my issue with it - that there must be other, equally good texts to study now.
Crikey, it was being taught when I did my GCSEs - way back in 1987!

@DrSbaitso

It's not as bad as A View From the Bridge, aka A Sympathetic Portrayal of an Abusive, Homophobic, Controlling Arsehole Who Blames Everyone Else Then Gets Exactly What He Deserves And I Wish I'd Done It.

Totally agree. Eddie Bloody Carbone - the original sweaty, Pervy uncle 🤢

@ShiningGonnaShine, she does in the 2015 film, and she’s extremely irritating

Eddie Bloody Carbone - the original sweaty, Pervy uncle

Team Marco!

@DrSbaitso yes. Too long. As if that was ever a good reason not to teach something.

I really like the fact that at the start Sheila gets excited about the ring when she asks Gerald, “Is it the one you wanted me to have?” and then at the end doesn’t take it back from him. She’s grown so much and realises he isn’t good enough for her.

I’ve seen various performances - the one with the mini house on stage (was that the national’s version?) is very good.

@Wishihadanalgorithm

I really like the fact that at the start Sheila gets excited about the ring when she asks Gerald, “Is it the one you wanted me to have?” and then at the end doesn’t take it back from him. She’s grown so much and realises he isn’t good enough for her.

I’ve seen various performances - the one with the mini house on stage (was that the national’s version?) is very good.

Yes!! the mini house was phenomenal 🎉

[quote MrsHamlet]@DrSbaitso yes. Too long. As if that was ever a good reason not to teach something.[/quote]
But....but....my copy is 223 pages! It's a SHORT novel!

We learned Great Expectations! And To Kill A Mockingbird!

We learned Great Expectations! And To Kill A Mockingbird!
Too long. Too not dead white man.

ITS CRAP

finally the truth is out there. My teacher obviously hated it too. It was like pulling teeth. Can’t believe it’s still in the menu, I was taught it 20 years ago!

Dickens is practically the definition of dead white man, so I’m not entirely sure that works, @MrsHamlet!

I have a soft spot for it as I once played the role of Inspector for my drama GCSE!

Do you have to teach it? Can you not teach another play? Are there only three plays in the English language? Inspector Calls, Macbeth and I can't even remember the third?

@IdblowJonSnow

I have a soft spot for it as I once played the role of Inspector for my drama GCSE!

hahaa Brilliant