History Theatre / AStreetcarNamedDesire

Note: The title of the movie refers to old buses used for public transit, streetcars, what we now call "light rail" or "trams." They were usually named for the street they ran on, and one of New Orleans' streetcars ran along a street named "Desire." It probably sounds more exciting than "A Streetcar Named Broadway," "A Streetcar Named 42nd Street," or, for that matter, "A Tram in New Orleans."

* AdaptationalKarma: In the play, Stanley wins Stella over Blanche, despite being an abusive husband and [[spoiler:raping Blanche and getting her sent to a mental institution.]] In the film, it cuts to the credits after he keeps crying "Stella," heavily implying that she was finally going to leave him. This was, of course, only done so as the [[UsefulNotes/HaysCode Hay's Code]] active at the time required an evil character receive karma.

* AdaptionalKarma: In the play, Stanley wins Stella over Blanche, despite being an abusive husband and [[spoiler:raping Blanche and getting her sent to a mental institution.]] In the film, it cuts to the credits after he keeps crying "Stella," heavily implying that she was finally going to leave him. This was, of course, only done so as the [[UsefulNotes/HaysCode Hay's Code]] active at the time required an evil character receive karma.

* ApplianceDefenstration: Stanley does this when he drunkenly throws a radio playing Blanche's music out the window. Apparently, it was still salvagable.

* HaveAGayOldTime: Some current viewers might have raised an eyebrow at Mitch's line; "I thought you were straight!"

** Blanche's closeted husband was named Allen Grey. [[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray Like a certain Oscar Wilde protagonist.]]

-->'''Blanche:''' Yes, I flirted with your husband, Stella![...] He's just not the sort that goes for jasmine perfume!

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Stella, who stays with her husband despite his bad behavior, [[spoiler:to the point where she denies that his rape of Blanche ever happened]].
* AuthorAppeal: An entire paragraph devoted to Stanley's handsome looks, great physique and animalistic drive? Young gay man struggling with his sexual identity in a repressive society that maligned any sign of cultural or sexual diversity to the point where it was taboo? [[spoiler:Young woman with mental illness issues who finally had to go to a mental institution?]] So we've got wish fulfillment, personal projection, and taking inspiration directly from your family. Yep, it's a Tennessee Williams play, all right.

%% * OldMaid: Blanche is terrified of being this.

* ANounReferredToAsX: ''A Streetcar Named Desire''.

%% * ChristmasCake: Blanche is terrified of being this.

Most people are familiar with the 1951 film version directed by Creator/EliaKazan and starring Creator/VivienLeigh, Creator/MarlonBrando, Kim Hunter, and Creator/KarlMalden, which was of course [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]]-tacular.[[note]]Although the best remembered performance -- Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski -- was passed over on Oscar night in favour of Creator/HumphreyBogart in ''Film/TheAfricanQueen''.[[/note]] But there have been many other adaptations, including a 1995 MadeForTVMovie starring Creator/AlecBaldwin and Creator/JessicaLange, an opera, and even a ballet. Stuffed full of imagery and complex characters, ''Streetcar'' is often considered Williams' greatest work, and the character of Blanche is regarded by many as the most difficult female role in all of English literature.

* RapeDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:The last scene we see of Blanche before her complete nervous breakdown and regression is Stanley hitting her and dragging her into the bedroom. In the film, it's Stanley striking her, causing a mirror to shatter and broken pieces reflecting Blanche's unconscious form]]

* HotForStudent: [[spoiler:Blanche, in the backstory, had a fling with a student in her class. He reminded her of Allen.]]

-->'''Stanley:''' ''[drunk]'' And when he gets home he'll deposit [the five dollar bills] one by one in a piggy bank his mother gave him for Christmas.

* BigWordShout: ''STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!''

-->'''Blanche:''' Yes, I flirted with your husband, Stella! ''[...]'' He's just not the sort that goes for jasmine perfume!

* SkywardScream: Oh, what the hell! '''SSTTTEEELLLAAA!!!!'''

-->''"JUST CUT THE REBOP!"''

* AuthorAppeal: An entire paragraph devoted to Stanley's handsome looks, great physique and animalistic drive? Tick. Young gay man struggling with his sexual identity in a repressive society that maligned any sign of cultural or sexual diversity to the point where it was taboo? Tick. [[spoiler:Young woman with mental illness issues who finally had to go to a mental institution? Tick.]] So we've got wish fulfillment, personal projection, and taking inspiration directly from your family. Yep, it's a Tennessee Williams play, all right.

%%* TheIngenue: How Blanche tries to present herself. She ''likes'' to delude herself into being pure and naive to trick people into taking care of her, but it get slowly revealed to be the opposite as her DarkAndTroubled is revealed.

%% * ReallyGetsAround: [[spoiler:Blanche, that's why she lost her job.]]

%% * SouthernBelle: Blanche is a SouthernBelle in the 20th century, a fading relic of a bygone age.

* InLoveWithYourCarnage: The reason Stella doesn't leave Stanley, as she quite clearly enjoys the thrill Stanley presents in their relationship, though violence toward other people crosses the line for her. [[spoiler: ot enough to side with her sister after Stanley rapes her in the play, [[DownerEnding unfortunately]]. [[AdaptationalAlternateEnding In the movie, however...]]]]

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: [[spoiler:Blanche is reprimanded and fired for her fling with her underage student(s),]] but doesn't serve a proper legal punishment.

%% * {{Ephebophile}}: [[spoiler:Blanche. This is why she was fired.]]

Note: The title of the movie refers to old buses used for public transit, streetcars, what we now call "light rail" or "trams." They were usually named for the street they ran on, and one of New Orleans' streetcars ran along a street named "Desire." It probably sounds more exciting than "A Streetcar Named Broadway," "A Streetcar Named 42nd Street," or, definitely, "A Tram in New Orleans."

The plot revolves around Blanche [=DuBois=] -- a beauty in her youth who has now begun to fade -- coming to stay with her pregnant sister Stella in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans. Blanche has lost the women's ancestral home, Belle Reve, due to the financial strain of caring for their dying relatives, and has quit her job as a school teacher due to her nerves. Blanche meets Stella's husband Stanley Kowalski, and the two develop an almost instant mutual dislike; Blanche finds Stanley vulgar and common, while Stanley hates Blanche's continual snobbery, despite the fact she is now just as poor as them. He is also suspicious of his sister-in-law, thinking that Blanche may have cheated Stella out of her share of the inheritance.

The plot revolves around Blanche [=DuBois=] -- a beauty in her youth who has now begun to fade -- coming to stay with her pregnant sister Stella in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans. Blanche has lost the women's ancestral home, Belle Reve, due to the financial strain of caring for their dying relatives, and has quit her job as a school teacher due to her nerves. Blanche meets Stella's husband Stanley and the two develop an almost instant disliking. Blanche finds Stanley vulgar and common, while Stanley hates Blanche's continual snobbery, despite the fact she is now just as poor as them. He is also suspicious of his sister-in-law, thinking that Blanche may have cheated Stella out of her share of the inheritance.

Creator/TennesseeWilliams' ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1947 play about a hundred different things: reality versus the imaginary, the old U.S. versus the new, social class, insanity, abuse, violence, appearances, purity, etc.

Most people are familiar with the 1951 movie directed by Creator/EliaKazan and starring Creator/VivienLeigh, Creator/MarlonBrando, Kim Hunter, and Creator/KarlMalden, which was of course Oscar-tacular.[[note]]Although the best remembered performance -- Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski -- was passed over on Oscar night in favour of Creator/HumphreyBogart in ''Film/TheAfricanQueen''.[[/note]] But there have been many other adaptations, including a 1995 MadeForTVMovie starring Creator/AlecBaldwin and Creator/JessicaLange, an opera, and even a ballet. Stuffed full of imagery and complex characters, it may be considered Williams' best known work, and the character of Blanche has been considered the most difficult female role in all of English literature.

The plot revolves around Blanche [=DuBois=] -- a beauty in her youth who has now begun to fade -- coming to stay with her pregnant sister Stella in New Orleans. Blanche has lost the women's ancestral home, Belle Reve, due to the financial strain of caring for their dying relatives, and has quit her job as a school teacher due to her nerves. Blanche meets Stella's husband Stanley and the two develop an almost instant disliking. Blanche finds Stanley vulgar and common, while Stanley hates Blanche's continual snobbery, despite the fact she is now just as poor as them. He is also suspicious of his sister-in-law, thinking that Blanche may have cheated Stella out of her share of the inheritance.

->''"In 1947, when Creator/MarlonBrando appeared on stage in a torn, sweaty T-shirt, there was an earthquake; and the male as sex object is still at our culture's center stage. In the age of Calvin Klein steaming hunks, it must be hard for'' [kids today] ''to realize that there was ever a time when a man was nothing but a suit of clothes, a shirt and tie, shined leather shoes, and a gray, felt hat."''

[-[[caption-width-right:350:Blanche disapproves of Stanley's manly shirt sweat.]]-]

* ItsAllAboutMe: Stanley's whole investigation into Blanche's past (and general dislike of her) is provoked because, due to New Orleans being run under the "Napoleonic Code", he ''might'' have ''indirectly'' lost a little bit of money if Blanche made a bad deal when selling her childhood home.

Most people are familiar with the 1951 movie directed by Creator/EliaKazan and starring Creator/VivienLeigh, Creator/MarlonBrando, and Kim Hunter, which was of course Oscar-tacular.[[note]]Although the best remembered performance -- Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski -- was passed over on Oscar night in favour of Creator/HumphreyBogart in ''Film/TheAfricanQueen''.[[/note]] But there have been many other adaptations, including a 1995 MadeForTVMovie starring Creator/AlecBaldwin and Creator/JessicaLange, an opera, and even a ballet. Stuffed full of imagery and complex characters, it may be considered Williams' best known work, and the character of Blanche has been considered the most difficult female role in all of English literature.

* EverybodyHasStandards: While Pablo and Steve have no problems being friends with JerkAss Stanley, they do express disgust with some of his more heinous actions, such as hitting Stella or [[spoiler: having Blanche sent away to the insane asylum without any warning or notice.]] [[ApatheticCitizens However, it's never enough for them to break off their friendship with Stan.]]

%% * FreakOut: The permanent kind.

%% * HappilyMarried: Stella insists she and Stanley are this. Blanche (and the audience) beg to differ.

%% * TheIngenue: How Blanche tries to present herself.
%% * InLoveWithYourCarnage: The reason Stella doesn't leave Stanley, though violence toward other people crosses the line for her. [[spoiler: Not enough to side with her sister after Stanley rapes her in the play, [[DownerEnding unfortunately]]. [[AdaptationalAlternateEnding In the movie, however...]]]]

%% * {{Jerkass}}: Stanley fits the bill; he's definitely worse than a Jerkass by the end of the play.

** At the end, [[spoiler: Mitch is the only one who looks angry about and refuses to look at Blanche as the asylum doctors come to take her away, implying that he feels at least partially responsible for the [[BreakTheHaughty chain]] [[BreakTheCutie of]] [[RapeLeadsToInsanity events]] that led to this.]]

%% * RapeLeadsToInsanity: [[spoiler:Blanche after Stanley rapes her (though she was pretty unstable already)]].