Killer Joe is a play by Tracy Lett, and it was released in 1993 in New York. The story revolves around the trouble and despair in the family of Chris Smith, who lived in Texas. The family had a strained relationship with Joe Cooper, the main character in the play. Chris Smith was a drug smuggler and he owed money to other criminals, instilling fear in his life. Therefore, he conspired to kill his mother, Adele, because he did not want his younger sibling, Dottie, to inherit the insurance funds for which the mother had planned (Matheou par.2-5). They agreed with other family members and hired Joe Cooper to kill his mother. The criminal is a corrupt, violent, and menacing police officer who commits murder on a contract basis. The group that conspired for the mother’s suicide is afraid when Chris does not pay the killer some money. Thus, Joe takes Dottie instead to act as a bond in their contract. Later on, Joe kills Adele and they discovered that Dottie was not the actual insurance beneficiary but Rex, their mother’s boyfriend. Rex also duped Chris to plan the murder and he was later unable to resolve the consequence. This essay presents a critical analysis of the play, Killer Joe, covering characterization, themes, and literary devices.
Tracy Letts presents the theme of murder and brutality through the character of Killer Joe. He identifies himself as a commercial murderer, and Chris Smith knows his services as he looks for money to pay drug traffickers. Chris says, “You ever hear of Joe Killer Cooper? He is a cop, a detective, actually. He is a killer. He kills people (Letts 15).” The father replies, “Look, after you pay this person, you are only talking about clearing. …she gets a cut. We are talking about my ex-wife; I am the one who found her (Letts 16-17).” Moreover, Joe later notes that Chris under the influence of Rex killed his mother. Chris’s father and sister conspired together to hire Joe to commit murder for the collection of the insurance policy (Billington, par. 4). Chris said, “We never meet the intended person but she will obviously not be missed (Letts 12-18).” Upon hearing this message, Dottie comments that it is a good idea. Therefore, these characters present the theme of betrayal by conspiring to kill a member of their family to pay for drugs.
The author presents the theme of violence and immorality through various characters. Almost all characters face violent treatment in the play. For example, Chris suffers more than once in the hands of drug dealers while his mother loses her life for the same course. The movie also shows many broken body parts, including swollen cheekbones, bloody faces, and broken noses. Adele suffers the acts of his ex-husband and his son.
Moreover, it presents too much nudity and sex, Dottie is the youngest actor but she is being used in the eerie power of men to fulfill sexual desires. The characters also perform fellatio on chicken drumsticks. In act one, Chris knocks on the door consistently and Sharla, her stepmother, opens it before dressing up. She stands only in a t-shirt, exposing her nudity before his stepson. The lack of privacy and the presence of careless freedom instill discomfort in Chris. He says, “Will you put up something please? (Letts 10).” Sharla replies, “My God, I never heard so much.” Chris responds, “I am sorry, it is just distracting having to see your stepmother with her bush staring at you right in the face (Letts 10).” In the same act, Ansel is also seen wearing his underwear and turning on lights as he enters the hallway. These acts demonstrate what sexuality and violent films require to gain high ratings. The characters devalue life by participating in homicidal scenes. Although the audience witnesses actual attacks of bloody blows, they are desensitized to the cruelty and coarseness of innocent actors’ persecuted lives.
Drug addiction is evident in this film through the character of Chris, drug dealers and his father. Although Dottie’s father and Chris struggle to get income, they prioritize drugs such as cigarettes, and beer before buying groceries. The author states, “The furnishings and decorations in the trailer are seedy and cheap; walls covered with ugly wood paneling; tattered, smoke-stained plastic shades covering the windows (Letts 1).” “The kitchen is filled with dirty utensils, many of them fast-food giveaways; …burned with cigarettes; a coffee table covered with fast-food debris, empty beer cans…grimy refrigerator, filled almost solely with beer (Letts 1).” Drug dealers also appear in the scene, tempting Chris to ruthlessly, persecute his biological mother. These acts depict poverty and a world with illegal businesses that cost lives.
Dottie, the youngest character in the play, exists in a very spectacular place and she portrays childlike innocence and cosmic intuitiveness. Moreover, she is seen locked in an immobile trailer, having a few escapes. The trainer attracts an audience and it portrays war and struggle in a film. Dottie’s hardships in life manifest themselves in the trailer and other encounters in the movie. For instance, she seems to come from a poor background, where the father struggles to find food for them.
Letts presents Chris as a traitor who does not care about other people’s lives. He is concerned with fulfilling his selfish desires by betraying his mother to murderers and leaving his sister in the hands of a killer, who ends up cohabiting with her (Clements par.7). Dottie would narrate that she is only 20 years old and her father and brother treat her with dishonesty. The father is also a traitor preparing her daughter to be a killer and selling the life of his matrimonial wife. At one point, he is seen pleasing her by telling her that she looks like a movie star in her black dress. She feels that her father is appreciating her beauty but the truth of the matter is that her dad was preparing a gift for Killer Joe.
Letts presents a rude and disrespectful character through the actions of Chris. At one point, he is seen conversing with his half-naked stepmother. When Dottie enters the room wearing a nightgown, she asks what Chris is doing and he responds, “I got in a fight with mom…What? Sure, I did. Brick by brick (Letts 17).” He is a futile son to Adele, who is always regretful for having him. Chris’s rebellious character manifests itself when Dottie tells him that his mother is enraged with him. Moreover, the movie uses great tactics that minimize fantasies. It uses imitative fallacy because it makes the audience insensitive to the abjection and squalor it presents. Viewers experience the immediacy of surprising scenes, including fights and car crashes. The play writer knew what to leave to present imaginative provocation.
Dottie’s sleepwalking scenario raises questions and provokes witty decision-making. The question that the audience could ask includes whether she is pretending to be asleep when others are conspiring to kill her mother. If she is aware and acting oblivious, she is inventive, imaginative, and brilliant. Another question is whether the plans around her are beyond her capabilities and she just has to act unconsciously about them. Sleepwalking is Letts’s tool used to depict how children’s innocence involves defensive mechanisms, such as denial and imagination to avoid critical situations (Billington par. 5). This act and reluctance to open the door when Chris was knocking consistently reveal that Dottie is witty.
Ansel is another character portraying irony in the play because he is grounded in a moveable home, which is not actually mobile. He seems locked in a house, loving television because it comforts and takes him to a world of fantasy. His most horrific experience that needs comfort is his wife’s rape and beating. Therefore, he is traumatized and he has to watch his television to find comfort. It is ironic that he finds violent scenes on television as he tries to seek consolation. This encounter depicts his potential violent character. The struggle was not apparent at the beginning of the play, explaining why he was not eager to subject his daughter to sexual immorality and kill his son, Chris, and his wife, Adele. If the audience initially notices these plans, the effect of suspense would not be meaningful.
Conclusively, Tracy Letts’s play revolves around murder and violence, betrayal, sexuality, and drug addiction. The author presented these themes through the main characters, Chris, Ansel, Dottie, and Killer Joe Cooper. The author also presents a child’s innocence through Dottie, who uses silence to avoid critical scenarios. The irony arises when Ansel is trying to find comfort in television scenes but experiences violent actions that remind him of his life struggles.
Works Cited
Billington, Michael. “Killer Joe Review – Orlando Bloom’s hitman-cop is Queasily Gripping.”The Guardian, 2018.
Clements, Carly-Ann. “First Look: Orlando Bloom and the cast in Killer Joe.” Official London Theatre, 2018.
Letts, Tracy. Killer Joe. Samuel French Publishers, 1999.
Matheou, Demetrios. “Killer Joe: Theatre Review.”The Hollywood Reporter, 2018.