Filthy Talk for Troubled Times - Neil Labute

This was a collection of short works that Labute wrote pretty early in his career. None of them blew me away, but they were interesting for a few reasons. ​

1. He says in the intro that he cannibalizes his work, and it was really interesting to read all of these back to back and see his patterns/ how he improved certain stories or jokes over time. Really valuable insight. Labute also said these works were where he learned how he likes to write monologues (his particular style of monologue) etc.
2. None of the characters are named, for the most part, so a lot of the times it just feels like Neil is figuring out his voice and his perspectives, and the other side of his perspectives. It also gives him this permission to say really offensive things with a certain like, anonymity. Like, the voices aren't attached to real people, so he gets to say these awful things in a way that's clearly meant to be satirical but also like, by not naming the characters, he's kind of like... anyone is capable of these terrible, racist, misogynist thoughts.
3. The most interesting little vignette to me in here (maybe for obvious reasons) is one about a producer, a writer and an actor. The actor was hired by the producer to play Jesus in the writer's play, but the writer is trying to fire the actor because he's Asian and the writer insists that Jesus just wasn't "yellow." This was great, because it did a good job of presenting multiple sides of an ethical argument. And like, the writer is obviously being discriminatory but he's not stupid. He makes a smart argument and it's compelling to watch because it's just clear right vs. wrong. That's something Labute is good at generally. Putting objectionable thoughts in the mouths of smart people who don't just fall in an easy category. It's way more interesting than just watching an idiot spout off Trump-ian ideas while a smart liberal stands by in disbelief.