Soon plays with heterosexuals will be offensive.
Via Boston Globe
When the movie starring Julie Andrews premiered in 1967, it was proclaimed “thoroughly delightful” by The New York Times and praised for its flapper costumes, dancing, humor, and singing.
Forty-seven years later, a stage version of “Thoroughly Modern Millie” performed at Newton North High School is triggering a backlash from some Asian-Americans who say the musical’s racial stereotypes are hurtful and unacceptable.
“We would never do anything anti-Jewish, or anti-African-American. Blackface is unthinkable, but yellowface is utterly fine,” said Newton resident Mia Wenjen, whose Pragmatic Mom blog brought attention to the debate.
At a community meeting in Newton Monday night, the theater director apologized. “I’m sorry, I am so, so sorry you are feeling the anger you are feeling,” said Adam Brown, director of Theatre Ink, which staged the play over the weekend. “We blew it. I’m sorry.”
Though the play’s brief run is over, the controversy raises questions about whether certain American musicals conceived during a different era — “West Side Story” often comes to mind — have any place in today’s theaters.
It’s a difficult question that is the subject of much current debate, said Carol J. Oja, the William Powell Mason professor of music and American studies at Harvard University, who said there are no easy answers.
“Being sensitive is really important,” she said, noting that several Broadway classics such as “Show Boat,” “The King and I,” and “Flower Drum Song” also contain racial stereotypes that are troubling to today’s audiences.
Oja said directors can take a number of steps to help actors and the community understand the context in which these works were written, and to lessen the negative implications. “If the stereotypes are kept intact, they have to be done with a lot of teaching,” Oja said.
Another option would be to go through and rewrite parts that are offensive, as Brookline High did in its production of the play.
But that approach, Oja said, runs the risk of eliminating an entire generation of American history.
“If the shows are all sanitized, then you lose track of our history,” she said. “If we start erasing every troubling part of history, we run the risk of repeating it.”