Dear Readers,
After opening night of Assassins a parent voiced concern over the content of the show, specifically the violence. At our show last night a news crew from Krem2 came to film the first part of the performance. After some deliberation with the administration, the n word was struck from the show. While the initial scare of cancellation has died down, this controversy brings to light many important issues.
The first concern underlying this parent's, and other people's, sentiments is that teenagers should not and can't deal with obscenity, political complexities, psychopathy, and violence. This is simply not true. High schoolers are capable of dealing with sophisticated material. Assassins is a controversial show by nature but this uproar was rooted in doubts of "appropriateness". While many teenagers don't exhibit their finer qualities to the adults in their life, most kids have the intellectual and emotional prowess to not only understand darker issues, but have meaningful discourse on them as well.
You are laboring under delusions if you think teens are blissfully unaware of the atrocities committed by humanity. You are also mistaken in thinking that teens don't discuss sexuality, frustrations with the government, and all things obscene. Conversely, they tend to be major topics of discussion because during these formative years is when we gain enough knowledge and confidence to discover and form opinions on these matters. Just as English and History classes have to tackle the darkness of humanity, so too must theater. We would be denying parts of ourselves and our world if we didn't read books like Huckleberry Finn and Crime and Punishment (which are required reading and are centered on issues of racism and murder respectively), study the foundation of our nation or World War Two, and put on theater like Sweeney Todd and Assassins. All are essential for our growth as people and censoring them will potentially make our new generation socially stagnant.
I think much of the offense to this show stems from not understanding its message. This shows questions the negative effects of our nation's spirit on our citizens. But Assassins does not condone, support, or promote the use of violence to achieve what you want. It simply shows what happens upon the unfortunate marriage of falling short of the American Dream with psychopathy. In fact, through the assassins' examples, the audience gets to see that radical acts are only good for infamy and not effecting social change. At the end of the show none of the characters find fulfillment or assuage their discontent. Some people rise to glory and others must learn to live simply, but the beauty of our nation is that "EVERYONE is free to fail" which inversely means that everyone can succeed.
Assassins is more relevant to our lives than any other show I've been in. A new film was just released about John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators. This year, another desperate man tried to change his world by shooting our US Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Now, just as ever, we need to challenge ourselves to tread morally murky waters IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM to quell ignorance and radicalism.
Finally, a high school theater, and any theater for that matter, should be allowed to put on shows that are meaningful to them and true to historical context without censorship. If we don't stand up for our art we don't truly believe in free speech. When our teacher sets out to do pieces like this, she does so to provide our communities with something more than run-of-the-mill frivolous entertainment. She has taught us that art is often the best way to ponder some of the harsher aspects of ourselves and society. Together, we set out to educate and shape our world. But ultimately, art IS meant to entertain and we hope we've delivered a quality production that can do just that. If you as audience member don't like the content, don't go to the show.
Thank you for your time. I hope you will show your support by coming to Assassins at University High School!
Very well put. We had similar issues when my high school did "Footloose". FOOTLOOSE!! of all things! a certain group of people affiliated with a certain church (which I also happen to belong to) expressed concern over the language in the show. I find it quite entertaining that a show about oppression by a pastor was being oppressed by a "church group". To be fair, the actual church leaders never said anything, but these people used the church guidelines as a weapon.
ReplyDeleteIf people, young people especially, are not allowed to explore "controversial" subjects in a safe and healthy way (i.e. theatre, art, etc.) then what are the other options?
Good Lord, Ben. Keep writing. You have important things to say to the world.
ReplyDeleteAs alumni from a high school arts show that often had some controversial shows going on... I applaud this post. It's good to see such a well-written explanation of things.
ReplyDeleteI remember my high school did Cabaret and after a few weeks of rehearsal they cut the part about abortion -- because some parents would get angry and didn't want their kids to see something that included it. As if we weren't already surrounded by a world that has to make those decisions every day.