Missing the point…
A while back I was stage managing a performance where the dancers briefly flirted with the idea of being nude for the finale. It would have fit well with the direction of the piece, and the leotards they wore were actually more distracting than anything else because of their obvious 21st century bias (in a piece that was all about ancient cultures, tribalism, and primitive instincts).
At first I thought they were going to do it, and I silently applauded their bravery, their maturity in looking beyond the sexual connotations of nudity towards the authentic form of the human body.
Then one single dancer said "I’m not really comfortable…" and that led to others saying "Well, if she’s not, I’m not" and pretty soon it was decided that they would keep the leotards. It was a victory for puerile Puritan values.
I think a similar problem has faced Banksy in his new piece, which features an elaborately painted elephant. There’s quite an uproar over what is perceived as "abuse" of the elephant, with the city refusing to grant any similar permits, and much discussion about whether the animal (an accomplished actor, in fact) was really being hurt (it wasn’t).
Lost in all the hullabaloo was the fact that the piece was supposed to be about poverty in the world. But hey, making sure a pachyderm is comfortable is much easier to confront than actual human problems.
Sad.
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