Los Angeles - Arts - Public Spectacle: Earlier this month the L.A. Weekly broke a troubling story that starkly illustrates the growing chasm between the haves and the have-nots in today's society. The article brought to light the callous actions of Ronnie Teasdale, owner of L.A.'s Crossfit Mean Streets gym, who plastered his gym's Facebook page with supposedly "hilarious" photos that demeaned several unfortunates of the homeless community from the neighboring Skid Row district.
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This article is a little disturbing, mostly at the beginning but the results of the many compassionless moments is productive and creative. The most strikingly upsetting part is the inspiration for the show, Ronnie and his gym fan club. I didn't know that it was popular to find less fortunate people and harass them when they are obviously at a low point in their lives. If you ever live in any kind of city you know that there are homeless people everywhere. They each have a whole scope of problems, some that exceed being homeless or without money. People have beaten these people up, simply harassed them, but I think that they are mostly ignored by the general populace.
Creating a show out of the mistreatment of the homeless is a great idea and definitely a popular one. "Rent", is a good example of this and this group of 10 min shows is a refreshing continuation. I think that this new show is particularly intriguing because of the way that it is run, especially how it begins. Learning and observing the way people act and avoid a person asking for money (at the start of the show), is quite brilliant. Some people will ignore them, stay closer to their family, reluctantly toss some change their way. I would be interested to see the reaction of that very same person making their way up onto the stage. I think I would be witnessing certain degrees of shame and discomfort which is an interesting way to start off the series. It would definitely be eye opening for the audience.
I, first of all, find the behavior of those gym members not just disturbing, DISGUSTING. Why would one feel it necessary to showcase themselves by making a comparison to someone who is out on the street, without home, food, obviously in a much worse situation? I actually find it grossly humorous that these guys are trying to make themselves look that much better by standing next to someone who has a whole slew of survival problems they might never even have to deal with. They are just making themselves look like idiots.
With that being said- I get really upset when I hear about people harassing the homeless, or any group of people. Harrassment makes no sense, accomplishes nothing, but is still such a large problem- probably because it is ignored so greatly. Homelessness itself is ignored. I live in New York and used to commute to school in the city, and alot of the time I would see the same people, without a home, asking for food and money. I've never known what the best thing to do was, give money, food, or ignore it out of fear/ any other reason. And I still wonder what the best way to help that person would be. All I know is that homelessness is such a large problem because we often times don't know how to react to it. I find it interesting that the show mentioned begins outside of the stage doors, in a real life scenerio. I think it would really question audience members to ponder the choices they make, not just the obvious ones- how physical harrassment is a problem, but would call to light the more difficult dilemas, realizing that sometimes innaction is a larger issue aswell.
It is absolutely deplorable that these members of this gym not only find these sorts of actions entertaining but are proud enough to put them out there for everyone to see. Sadly though, it isnt surprising that they are doing it. The human condition feels like it keeps getting lower and lower, and as the article dictates ,'starkly illustrates the growing chasm between the haves and the have-nots in today's society'. If you click on the link, to the original article you can see one of the photos, whats more sad is that this photo was taken during the middle of the day and one can assume that no one did anything to call these degenerates out on their idiocy and try to stop it.
However, it is interesting to create theatre out of situations like this. JS144 has a good example with "RENT" but what comes to my mind is "In the Blood", another heartbreaking story of those that are less fortunate. For this 10 minute piece though I appreciate how the actor is panhandling before the show, it adds a bit of a reality check to all those people who probably passed by him pretending they didnt see him and then have him come right onto the stage. I like theatre like this because, as a community more people should make an effort, myself included, to help those less fortunate. I know that a lot of people say 'well its their fault', or 'they could help themselves'. While that may be true in some cases, there are still the children of those people who have no choice in the matter. Also, how would some of us feel if we happened to get down on our luck and everything started snowballing, and before we knew it we had no where to turn? Just some food for thought.
While it is good that attention is being drawn to the problems of homelessness and the harassment of the less fortunate, I feel like this should send an overall broader message. This kind of stuff happens EVERY DAY. Not just to the homeless, but to everyday "normal" people in society. The "haves vs. the have-nots" is so much more prevalent than a lot of people think. Even people that are fully functional in society and trying to improve their circumstances often times have very low self confidence and have trouble because others that are more fortunate put them down day after day, when really, they should feel good about themselves because they are actively trying to improve and make an impact. It's a really sad reality that is often just overlooked.
I can't even sort of understand the thought process of these people. There is absolutely no benefit of going out, taking, and publishing these pictures, only a whole long list of reasons of why it is completely wrong and sheds a terrible, terrible light on everyone involved. Those photos impress nobody, and I am embarrassed for the kinds of people who see publicity like this and are actually encouraged to ever attend this gym. And though the play seems to be a much more sophisticated way of raising questions about how homeless people should be/are treated, the question that the article provides ("the play asks to what extent can the "disposable" people in society be used for the amusement of others.") has a really obvious answer, which is not at all. I also think it is terrible to refer to homeless people as disposable at all, it gives absolutely no hope to the people who are usually trying to find some way to escape their situation.
One of the things I love about theatre is that it is a window to humanity. In real life, not many of us look at our surroundings and focus on little things. In theatre, we are able to focus on every detail, and performance itself becomes a mirror to our lives. Those little details we see in theatre are the surroundings we tend to ignore. I am very pleased with this production, especially how it begins with the homeless man outside of the theater begging for money. It physically shows that people do not pay attention to society. Yet when that man came into the theater, everyone's attention was focused on him. Perhaps the audience will now begin to realize what happens when they turn their heads away from situations. This production not only opens the audiences' eyes to the outside world, but also to their own humanity; the audience now sees reality on stage.
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