www.dailydot.com: For every group that seeks to boycott a book for bigoted reasons, there's another group happy to step in and encourage others to freely read.
Last week, the Daily Dot reported that some incoming freshmen at Duke University are refusing to read Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home, citing their moral opposition to the book’s frank depiction of lesbian sexuality.
8 comments:
It's great that the producers of Fun Home decided to do this. Not only is this show making history in its content, but the creators are standing by the original work that inspired the musical in the first place. I love that the producers of Fun Home are not just standing by, running their show and bringing in profits. Instead, they are actively getting involved in the LGBT issues that arise due to the content of the musical. In this way, I think this show is really transforming what we usually think of as a "Broadway musical." Broadway musicals do not just have to be shows with flashy costumes and bright lights. They can also be inspired from a graphic novel about hat it's like to grow up as a LGBT kid. It's these types of shows and these types of producers I hope to see more of on Broadway in the years to come.
I want one!!
But really, I am so happy to see a show responding to its audience in such a way. It's one thing for us a a theatre going community to discuss and react to a play, but it is another thing for a show itself to respond, and in such a wonderfully passive aggressive way. This is the way theatre should be, interactive and active within the community.
There is nothing I love more than when a company or organization recognizes and uses the power that it has. The producers of Fun Home are absolutely brilliant, because they have fought back against anti-LGBT+ groups, or individuals in a way that is so simple and passive. There was no big publicity, or aggressive social media response *see every famous person of the past 5 years*, they just put themselves out there. It is so comforting that they understand their responsibility to society, and to the theater community which has a large percentage of LGBT+ members. I hope that the producers of Fun Home continue to participate i social action, and encourage the groups around them to do the same. Also, I'm a first year college student, where do I sign up!?
Okay, so well I completely agree that the boycott of Fun Home is way off base this article is bias to the point of making up what happened. So for clarification: The guy who is refusing to read it said that he has absolutely no problem with the LGBT connotations, the only thing he objects to is drawing of naked ladies which he is claiming are pornographic and his religion prevents him from looking at pornography. So this article is a great example of someone misconstruing the facts to fit the political agenda of the article.
So why do I still think the boycott is off base? Because the images are not pornographic.
After reading what Brian Grasso wrote (https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/08/25/im-a-duke-freshman-heres-why-i-refused-to-read-fun-home/)
and looking at the images (http://www.vox.com/2015/8/26/9211327/duke-fun-home)
If these images are pornographic than so are 90% of the old statues you can find in a museum. Art does not become pornography just because you show someone naked.
The purpose the passage that Grasso refers to is that you should not tempt yourself with such things. There is nothing in there that would cause that (unless he has some deeper issues). The images are not intended to arouse they are intended to tell a story.
To me the protest mentioned at the beginning of the article is less of a big deal than some of the other things they bring up, specifically the College of Charleston being threatened with budget cuts for assigning the book. If some people don't want to read the book because it goes against their beliefs that's fine, a state government threatening to cut a schools budget for assigning a book on the other hand is not so okay. Its a schools job to expose people to new ideas, and these ideas may make people uncomfortable. If someone wants to opt out of that then that's their choice as it should be. But what the legislature in South Carolina did is more like punishing a college for doing its job.
I think it is so, so cool that the producers are responding to homophobia and prejudice by giving away free copies of the book. I first heard about Fun Home when my friend, who is currently a sophomore at Vassar, was assigned it as her summer reading. This summer, after all of the Tony buzz, I saw the show in New York and thought it was amazing. Quickly after I bought the graphic memoir, and I think the way that they structured the musical around the book is so brilliant. Watching the show, I couldn't believe that it had won for best musical (not because it wasn't amazing, but because it was so progressive and innovative, entirely different from every other musical I'd seen). I think it is these kinds of emotional, raw, real- life coming of age stories that need to be told more in theater. As far as the comments of the book being “pornographic” go, I think many people are quick to say that about images/ representations of LGBTQ+ sex, because it is seen as obscene or inappropriate, as opposed to heterosexual sex which is seen as normal. The book also depicts a dead naked man on Allison’s dad’s work table, but it doesn’t seem that people are bothered by that as much as they are the brief and, in my opinion, not very graphic moments showing the female body. Like another commenter said, it’s nothing you wouldn’t see in an art museum. Also, I don’t think that it’s necessarily up to the school to decide what is and isn’t appropriate for its students. In addition, I’m so happy to see the work of female artists (Allison Bechdel, Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron) be more widely spread. Yay Fun Home!
By doing this, not only are the producers standing up for Fun Home and what it stands for, but they are also setting an admirable example for the rest of the show producers out there. By fighting the boycott through giving out free copies of the book, the producers have a true understanding of the meaning and purpose of the piece that goes beyond the stage. Whether if it’s through the stage or not, they want to communicate the purpose of the book to the world.
The ignorance needed to ban a book due to it’s “frank depiction of lesbian sexuality” is astonishing to me. I am so happy to see that courageous people, like the authors of the musical and graphic novel, Alison Bechdel, Jeanine Tesori, and Lisa Kron, are supported by other courageous people. Their action and dedication is what is going to make huge strides in our society. The decision to response positively to their opposition, giving out free copies and special performances, is what makes their mission so great. It proves that they are fighting for love and not hate, and that in the end, their positivity will overrule. I have to say, though it was a small part of the article itself, I loved the mention of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron being the first all-female writing team in Tony history to win for Best Original Score. There is so much depth to their cause, and all of it is rooted in making art.
Post a Comment