NoPassport: The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut this December 2012 prefigured by gun-related tragedies sustained in Aurora, Colorado may be viewed (perhaps by some) as tragic, isolated incidents, but it is important to consider how stricter gun control laws may have prevented their occurrence. How do we as a nation in the US reconcile incidents of senseless violence against our citizens, be they young or old? Since the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007, and the shooting that targeted Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson in 2011, (to name only three gun-related events in recent US history), national discussion in the arts and media, and halls of law and governance has turned toward how to cope with increased violence in our society and “easy” access to guns. Calls for gun control arise in our culture every time devastating tragedies of this nature occur. Fourteen years after the Columbine massacre, we still ask ourselves what to do?
4 comments:
This seems to be a really interesting festival. Of course, theatre can easily go hand in hand with politics. There are countless plays which serve to send a political message, no matter what it may be. I think having a conference like this is interesting, as it invites artists and audience members alike to express and view opinions on gun control in a controlled and artistic environment. Very often, conversations can get very heated between two people with conflicting political views. However, in a theatrical setting, an audience member is unlikely to stand up in the middle of a play and start fighting with the actor on stage. That would be a bit ridiculous. With that said, plays produced in this festival may not appeal to more conservative audience members, and turn away people from coming to view the plays and readings in the first place. Whether politics has a place in theatre or not is a different argument, but I respect the producers behind this festival for reaching out to the artistic community to voice and fight for their opinions.
I am thoroughly sick of hearing about gun control. Guns don't kill people. Someone is there pulling the trigger. I'd love to reference Jamila's point in one of her comments last week. When are people going to figure out that parenting is the real issue here??? Out of all of the people in this world who watch violent movies, play violent video games, and shoot guns for sport, how many of them are going around shooting people? An infinitely small percentage of them. Don't blame the media for parents not having responsibility for their children's actions. A huge majority of guns used in these incidences are obtained illegally. Stricter gun control isn't going to change that. If someone is going to steal a gun they're not going to be obtaining it the legal way by going through background checks. If a person wants to hurt another person, he or she will find a way to do it. Right around the time of the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary there was an incident in China where a man beat his parents and children, stabbed an old woman, and then walked into a elementary school and stabbed 23 children. Not having a gun didn't seem to stop him. These incidences are the fault of the people who perform the violent acts, not the fault of guns.
That being said, what is a theater festival going to do to influence gun control? Did plays help to repeal the decision of prohibition in the early 1900s? While plays can be used as a tool for political change, they can also be quite useless in some instances. I am interested to see what kind of audiences come to the festival, and how many people are in the audience. The festival certainly won't attract people who are against stricter gun control, so who are these plays going to affect?
Jess Bertollo, why so much hatred for your chosen art form? I'm not going to say a word about your political position, but you are dead wrong on your assessment of the potential impact of theater performance. I don't know where to begin: the calculable effect of Ibsen's plays on advancing women's rights in the Europe and the US; UNCLE TOM'S CABIN as a rallying point for the abolitionist movement; the use of MASTER HAROLD...AND THE BOYS to ignite a world-wide boycott of South Africa that resulted in the ouster of apartheid and a Mandela Presidency (and for his participation, John Kani was stabbed by government agents 11 times and left for dead in a ditch - you think THEY weren't afraid of his power?); the underground network of productions of LARGO DESOLATO and other plays that resulted in the ouster of the soviets in the Czech Republic and a Havel Presidency; the use of LYSISTRATA in world-wide anti-war movements. These are just the more obvious and recent examples. I can demonstrate to you thousands of years of more subtle influences, or stark ones in centuries past. Brecht, Boal, Hallie Flanagan, Tony Kushner, August Wilson. Jess, I'm a fan of yours, but I really feel that when theater artists denigrate or degrade their own art's ability to produce real, significant change in the world, they are trying to abdicate their own responsibility to social justice. "I'm just a designer, what can I do?" You can change the world, Jess, and because you CAN, you MUST. -Doc Chemers
I think three disastrous events might be enough for them to make an action on gun control. Therefore, this festival seems interesting and I hope this can affect to political decision. I agree with what Jess Bergson said about how Theatre has been producing many plays that contain political messages. I, too, wish that this time, it can bring another big influence, so that people can realize the seriousness of issues on Gun control. Because allowance of holding gun is definitely influencing what triggered the disaster, I like the idea this festival tries to deliver. I hope that this action receives full of attention to our society.
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