Monday, February 18, 2008
More schools shy away from controversial play
TheStar.com: "The controversy continues around Joseph Jomo Pierre’s play Born Ready, now playing at Theatre Passe Muraille. The show deals realistically with ghetto life in Toronto and the gun culture that young people are drawn into."
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5 comments:
School claim they want to educated children, but all they really do is protect and censor them. Yes, there is a point when someone is too young, but coming from a Catholic education background, I wasn't exposed to anything moderately risky in the classroom until college. Thankfully, I was less than sheltered back with my family. If you want kids to be exposed to the world and study it, they need to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. You can't just cut that out of life except no one would notice!
Not surprising coming from a Catholic School.. I went to public school in NJ in a pretty liberal town.. Parents became outraged when they heard that Lysistrata was potentially one of the plays my school was going to perform when I was a freshman. It kinda makes sense.. 14 year olds in a play about sex (or the lack there of), well, that's just damn awkward.
It's not the school's job to expose kids to what their parents should be covering at home. School has to be a pretty conservative place, as there's many backgrounds to consider. However, this doesn't mean that students can't see this play under their own volition. It's not the school's responsibility to raise kids, it's the parents.
The fact that the schools censor plays is to be expected, there are just certain things that we will not bring ourselves to allow children to experience. My problem is that I am not overly familiar with the play but. If the only problem with it is the use of the N-word then this might be something that is more appropriate than it sounds. I would like to have faith that this is more than the age old idea that if kids hear profanity then they will immediately think that that is appropriate, however, the use of words such as the n-word can be used to explain to children the gravity of terms and phrases like that and the historical and cultural connotations that are tied to that word.
The fact that this school has a religious affiliation was definitely not surprising. I do see what the one instructor says about not seeing the play due to the controversy, not to because of the content, but I think if anything it should be up to the parents of the students. And individually in particular. Obviously a group consensus would never be possible, but I think that if the teacher is personally alright with seeing the performance, then any students wishing to attend should accompany their instructor. It is encouraging that they are thinking about waiving fees; that shows a clear dedication to the art, not focusing on the profits.
high schools don't have the same freedom of speech that regional theatres and universities have. if a play is too risky or taboo for a high school to allow its performance, then they have every right to not put it on.
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