Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Yes, Theatre Is Supposed To Be A Safe Space
Bitter Gertrude: Vice President Elect Mike Pence attended a production of Hamilton on Friday and was booed by the audience. At the end of the show, the actor playing Aaron Burr, Brandon Victor Dixon, gave a very polite speech from the stage urging the audience to stop booing and telling Pence that they were grateful for his presence and that the diverse cast and crew were understandably anxious about whether they would be protected under a Trump/Pence administration, urging Pence to support “all Americans.”
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6 comments:
When I first saw the video of the statement the Hamilton cast made to Mike Pence, I was relieved that it was as well thought out and polite as it was. The cast did their best to subdue boos and to make the thing about a valid and respectful expression of concern to a person who both expresses and supports others expression of values that have the potential to pose a serious harm to many Americans. As a cast composed of many Americans that might feel that harm directly, and as a cast of a show that celebrates American history, it’s pretty hard to construct an argument for how this is inappropriate. Even Mike Pence received the criticism well, and responded respectfully.
But if there’s one thing that Trump does well, it’s spinning stories so that he and those close to him appear as the victim. I’m sorry Mr. Trump, but I don’t see that there was a victim in this incident. This was, at it’s very core, an honest attempt to politely exercise first amendment rights. And it will soon be your job to protect that right for all citizens of the country you chose to serve, even if some of the things people have to say are critical or challenging towards you or your administration. Obama had his share of criticism too.
Theater needs free speech, so it’s understandable why the Hamilton cast (like a lot of the country) are concerned. In my opinion, they handled it very politely, trying to calm the crowd, one person speaking so it wasn’t ganging up on him, waiting until the performance was over. Not only has Hamilton made headlines for the diverse cast, it’s a show about American history. It’s not like Pence went to see Cats and one of the actors made a political statement at the end. Which is still fine as a citizen talking to the future government, but it’s not relevant to the show. It’s not just a single actor, he checked with Lin-Manuel Miranda, and had permission. The statement just emphasized the importance of diversity, which was in the production already. If that was enough to offend, he wouldn’t have gone. I don’t want this kind of statement to become a trend (I’d rather clap and leave), but if there were ever a time for to speak to a specific audience member, this was it.
Without regard for weather to not the cast of Hamilton should or should not have singled out Mike Pence at the show, they could not have done a better job of it. They could have garnered support as it is if they had been vulgar and booed him from the stage, but what the did was far more effective than that. No one but Donald Trump himself, who is I assuming hoping that all of his supporters did not watch the actual video of what the cast did, could call what they did harassment. If the statement “When they go low, we go high” was a tagline for the Hillary campaign, this act was actually the embodiment of that philosophy. A particularly effective way of making someone look like a monster is to say “We are scared, please help us” and wait for them to attack you back. Although we all want Trump to grow up, his response could not have been better for garnering support from those that didn’t vote for him, and unfortunately perfect at garnering support for him from those that did.
When I saw the title of this article I was fully prepared for the worst, for it to somehow be arguing that a polite call for all Americans to be protected somehow counts as harassment. Thankfully I was wrong and this article illustrated one of Trump’s dangerous habits. Personally while I appreciate the parts about the importance of freedom of speech in theater I don’t think those are the most interesting or important parts of the article. I would say that title goes to the part about Trump’s efforts to curtail freedom of speech in other areas. The idea that the soon to be President would try and do away with such an integral part of our country seems crazy to me but it is impossible to deny that it certainly looks like Trump will try to do just that. Before this election when people from other countries (particularly oppressive ones) talked about America it was normally about the freedom we enjoy here, particular our ability to speak out and citizen our government and not suffer repercussions for it. The idea of a future where that is no longer the case is not something I particularly want to imagen.
I truly thought I was going to have to use my comment on this article refuting the title. However, it seems we are on the same page. I cannot stress enough how proud I am that the cast used this opportunity to call attention to the diverse america. In the first lines of his speech to the Vice-President Elect, Brandon Victor Dixon exclaims "There is nothing to boo here ladies and gentlemen we are telling a story of love" he also invites audience members to pull out their phones and tweet about this pivotal event in American theatre. He used his voice as an artist to express his, and many of ours, concerns about what is to come with the Trump Administration- which according to the the First Amendment, is well within his rights to do so.
Donald Trump has done an excellent job at displacing blame on everyone but himself. For example, he has accused the media of construing information and encouraging violent protests. I am here to set the record straight. These so-called violent protests of which he turns to twitter about are nothing compared to the ones that occurred not four years ago for his predecessor. You don’t see anyone lynching a dummy of his body. Rather, we the protestors (THE ARTISTS) are spreading the messages of love and compassion. Both of which are far stronger than the words of any politician.
I applaud the cast of Hamilton and encourage more casts to follow.
When I first heard the speech that Brandon Victor Dixon gave, I was so relieved and grateful that the cast decided to do that. The speech was by no means disrespectful, as Dixon did not use slurs or criticize Pence. The speech was a simply a call to action for the Vice President to protect the people who are not straight, white men, but everyone, including the people on the stage. I have talked to people who are in the Republican party, and I still do not understand how they think that it was attacking in any way. Pence went to a show, one that is known for diversity, shortly after the election results when tensions are still rather high, what else could have been expected. I think it is amazing that the Hamilton cast asked the audience not to boo at him, because they kept it centered around love. I also think that Trump's reaction was too much, especially since Pence himself did not feel attacked or that an apology was due. If Trump wants to be a good leader of the United States, he needs to realize that free speech is a right that everyone has. I am not trying to compare him to Hitler or Stalin, but the minute someone in charge restricts what people can say, it becomes a dictatorship and history shows that they do not typically work. I think that this speech was blown out of proportion, and that people need to realize that Hamilton cannot be boycotted and that free speech is a key factor in this society.
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