Opinion: How should we handle antiquated art?
Lots of older art — specifically musicals — contain racially insensitive content, but that doesn’t mean we have to get rid of them in their entirety.
August 28, 2019
I escaped the heat of a sweltering August day by sitting in a dark, cool auditorium. There, my hometown’s community theater put on its first ever performance, aptly choosing The Music Man. While watching the show and humming along to some of my childhood classics, I couldn’t help but notice a scene that should have been cut from the musical in its entirety.
A line of women marched onto the stage dressed as Native Americans, all of whom were white. Following their entrance, the leader of the group began chanting “wa tan ye” while the other women echoed her chant. From what I gathered, the women were putting on a performance and were not deliberately trying to disrespect anyone. After all, The Music Man débuted on Broadway in 1957 and is set in 1912 Iowa.
But does the musical elderly state constitute an automatic waver for questionable scenes?
I think not. I’m white, and despite the innate privilege that comes with my skin color, I can’t help but feel uneasy about art that is dubbed as a timeless classic. Unfortunately, the realm in which the word “timeless” is used does not qualify in all forms of art, because a part of writing and creating pieces such as The Music Man requires someone to analyze the time in which they are conscious.
Even musicals such as Les Misérables — which, in my opinion, is superior to all others — have kept sing-songy jokes about certain identities — for example, about men being gay or saying “this one’s a Jew.” My dad, a 60-year-old Jewish man who has seen Les Misérables eight times in his life, leaned over and whispered to me to say, “I can’t believe they kept the Jew joke.”
Unfortunately, the realm in which the word “timeless” is used does not qualify in all forms of art, because a part of writing and creating pieces like The Music Man requires someone to analyze the time in which they are conscious.
Some other shows have taken the measure to change the script or cut scenes that simply are not acceptable for 2019. For example, Show Boat débuted on Broadway in 1927. The show covers controversial topics on race, and in the original script, the N-word appears in the opening line. When it was revived in 1946, the line was removed, along with several songs. New words were written, making Show Boat acceptable for more inclusive audiences.
This example reminds us — the audience, playwrights, directors, producers — that revising antiquated shows can still bring about the story’s main idea while yielding whichever emotions creators hope to evoke in the audience once the curtains close. Nothing is timeless, and it’s time that we revisit our beloved classics.
Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.
