Blue Jasmine/Streetcar

Named Desire
Film Study: Class Discussion and Personal Response
 Compare and Contrast
Jasmine French Blanche Dubois
What does a comparison of the
two female protagonists reveal
about either work?
What has the updated, modern
Blanche added to this re-
imagined version of the 1947 play?
Compare and Contrast
Ginger Stella
 Compare and contrast the supporting
female roles in each workGinger and
Stella.
Which of the two characters garners
more sympathy from the audience?
Which is more likeable? Which is
judged more favorably at the end?
Compilation #1: Stanley becomes
Augie and Chili
 What does Woody Allen achieve by creating two
characters to fill the role of Stanley? How does the
addition of a second Stanley increase the complexity
of the conflict?
Compilation #2: Mitch becomes
Dr. Flicker and and Dwight
 Mitch
Dr. Flicker and Dwight are very different
characters, and yet each of
them represents something of the Mitch
role in Streetcar Named Desire. What does
Woody Allen achieve in Blue Jasmine by
spreading the role of
Mitch over two characters?
Replacing Allan Grey with HAL
Response assignment for those who read
Streetcar last year
Option 1 Option 2
Contemporary Relevance Feminist Criticism
How has Woody Allen How are the female
brought the 1947 play into
the 21st century through characters in Blue Jasmine
changes to the original more or less empowered
Streetcar concept? than those in A Streetcar
Named Desire?
Think about omissions and
additions to the plot, Is the outcome for the
conflicts, character female characters in the
development or themes?
How has Allen modernized a film markedly different
mid-20th century classic? than it is for Blanche and
Stella in Streetcar?
For those who did not read Streetcar
last year
Option 1 Option 2
Sympathizing with a character Theme Study
How does Allen create sympathy
for Jasmine? Select one of the following
themes and discuss the
Every character in this film is treatment of this theme:
flawed, no one is perfect. And
yet, there are characters we Madness
sympathize with. Which Loneliness
characters did you feel
sympathy for? Why did you Illusion v. reality
sympathize for them? How did
the writing of the film (or the
choices made by the actor,) lend
itself to that sympathy?