Fences

Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in. -- August Wilson


August Wilson's powerful play.  Denzel Washington's masterful movie.  A story line driven by characters and conflict.

Set in 1950's Pittsburgh, the story revolves around Troy, a middle aged African-American man, and his struggles to earn a living and provide for his family -- his wife Rose and their son teenage son Cory.  Others in his life include his adult son Lyons, his brother Gabriel and his best friend Bono.

At the beginning of the movie, Troy and Cory are building a fence in the back yard.  The fence becomes symbolic, a metaphor for all the twists and turns of the story, all the conflicts, those that can be resolved, and those that cannot.

Troy can be lively and engaging, he can be selfish and cruel and rigid.  His failures and disappointments shape how he interacts with his wife and sons.

Rose is a strong woman, looking for peace and dignity, trying to construct a n identity and life for herself while married to a man who sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

I think the audience rests its hopes on Cory, that he can break the cycle, that he can escape the confinement of life in that neighborhood, that he can become something better, even as we watch Troy crush Cory's dreams.

It's a powerful drama about the human condition, about taking the good with the bad, about trying to move ahead when life beats you down.