As the title Scenes from an Impending Marriage suggests, the theme of this particular short graphic memoir by Adrian Tomine, is a reflection upon the prenuptial craziness that Adrian and his wife Sarah endured while planning for their wedding. There are 12 short scenes revolving several different situations that the couple encountered during the planning of their nuptials. There are also 3 extra scenes in the epilogue which Tomine included later on about the experience he had with Sarah right after their wedding, including their wedding night. As mentioned before in my previous post, the graphic memoir was created upon request from his fiancé, to be a favor to give to their guests at their wedding (Tomine, 2011).
Tomine’s graphic memoir starts off with the wedding guest list – both Adrian and Sarah try to decide who to invite on their own guest list, and recall their parent’s guest list. Like with other couples, I am sure, issues arise in the memoir about who is and is not to included on the list. They also realize that their parents guest list happened to be longer than the both of theirs combined. I have always considered weddings to be something that is more for the family and friends of the couple getting married than for the couple themselves. While reading Tomine’s work, it really put a big emphasis upon my views about weddings in the depictions of their judgments or choices, as well as the influences and pressures that they felt.
Tomine’s graphic memoir starts off with the wedding guest list – both Adrian and Sarah try to decide who to invite on their own guest list, and recall their parent’s guest list. Like with other couples, I am sure, issues arise in the memoir about who is and is not to included on the list. They also realize that their parents guest list happened to be longer than the both of theirs combined. I have always considered weddings to be something that is more for the family and friends of the couple getting married than for the couple themselves. While reading Tomine’s work, it really put a big emphasis upon my views about weddings in the depictions of their judgments or choices, as well as the influences and pressures that they felt.
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| Excerpt from "Scenes"; Tomine and Sarah attempt to make a guest list. |
The memoir continues on with their experience in choosing venues, creating invitations, and choosing the right DJ who would play the songs that they wanted. Each little story and situation captured the stress and conflicts that the couple went through in deciding something that would fit their ideal image, without going over budget for their wedding. I found that each story was definitely in line with the theme of wedding preparations, providing entertaining (to us) content with the people they interacted within the memoir, and the things that they had to deal with.
Another recurring theme I found within the book was the phrase, “This nonsense stops the minute we’re married!” which was depicted in the single panel drawings that were found in between the other short stories (Tomine, 2011). Each panel showed various events that they partook in, in preparation for the wedding. One panel depicted dance lessons, another one showed them running to lose weight for the wedding, and yet another showed Sarah plucking Adrian’s eyebrows. This link leads to an interview that was taken of both Sarah and Adrian about Scenes from an Impending Marriage where they both answered questions related to the scenes depicted within the graphic memoir.
| Excerpt from "Scenes"; Tomine is forced to practice dancing with Sarah. |
Although
reading this memoir did give me a few laughs, it also made me pause and give
kudos to all couples preparing for their weddings, and the stress that they go
under. I loved how Adrian and Sarah stepped away from the “black hole of
nuptial narcissism” by volunteering to help cook and serve at a charity for
people with H.I.V. and AIDS (Tomine, 2011). I really enjoyed reading about all that went into
planning for their wedding and the decisions, arguments and satisfaction that
they went through to achieve a wedding that everyone enjoyed attending.
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| Excerpt from "Scenes"; the couple get overwhelmed with the amount of work they have left to do. |
Christina, I really enjoyed reading this post. I thoroughly agree with your statements and what you found the theme to be for "Scenes". Of course, as you mention the most prominent theme is weddings, and the grand amount of preparation that is needed for them. It is what the memoir revolves around as Tommie recalls all the events that he and his wife went through to have a successful wedding. I also think that the phrase you mention, "This nonsense stops the minute we’re married!" is defiantly a message Tomine seems to be sending to the readers. He tries to convey the theme of frustration and all the bizarre decisions/events that needed to be done before a wedding; really showing how much he wanted the big day to come quickly. The quote you mentioned, was the direct way of saying it, however this aspect is also accessible indirectly within the whole memoir. The quote also has a good relation to the recurring theme of comedy/humor in the memoir through Tomine's drawings and loose writing style.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed your link with the interview; Sarah and Adrian had some pretty interesting answers about "Scenes". On that note here is another video where Tomine discloses more "behind the scenes" about his memoir. One of the aspects that come up is the "nuptial narcissism" you mentioned, and how easy one can get caught up in it. I hope you enjoy it. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddmreOMyN10