Posted on 03/01/2005 12:16:00 PM PST by NYer
"What kind of deranged and demented perverts actually would pay to see such cultural garbage?"
Obviously my sort of demented pervert. I've seen it, and as a matter of fact it was excellent- not for everyone or the easily offended, but both very funny and very sad in places and thought provoking. The music was very good as well.
It really is an excellent satire- far from glorifying the show it exposes it for the manipulative voyerism that it really is. There's been a lot of manufactured outrage about this in the UK when few people had actually seen it; I for one am glad that it's going to get a wide audience in the US. At the end of the day, if you don't like it (and many will not as there is rather a lot of swearing, albeit essential as far as I'm concerned) don't go- nobody's forcing you to.
"The show features "a semi-naked 'gay' Jesus" who is "being fondled by a dishevelled Eve, as the Devil looks gleefully on with an inebriated Adam." Also, "the Virgin Mary turns up to talk about her trials as the mother of a wayward saviour, amid a blitz of four-letter words." The show ends with Springer telling Jesus to "grow up for Christ's sake and put some f---ing clothes on." (Sunday Telegraph, 1-9-05)
Context, as always, is all. There was a reivew of the opera in the Daily Telegraph that sums up my opinions almost perfectly- I'd suggest you read it. It was posted as a thread several weeks ago, at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1318269/posts
To quote a post of my own in that thread;
"it is important not to confuse biting satire with glorification of what it's critiquing.
Yes, Jerry Springer is appalling, unpleasant television that puts very disturbed, often ill people on show for viewers to laugh at and mock- But that's exactly the point that the opera's making. The one person who comes out of the whole thing very badly is Springer himself, which is why I was suprised that the production didn't have a libel writ slapped on it by the show's producers. You're not invited to laugh at the 'guests' but instead empathise with them and see them as what they are- sick people exploited in the name of entertainment who nontheless yearn to be on the show to be laughed at.
That's not where the humour is in it, at least for me- personally I found the juxtaposition of proper, well written opera with the imagery of Jerry Springer very amusing; a grown man dressed as a baby singing an aria is entertaining in a surreal way. It's all the more satisfying when you realise that it's not just a cheap gimmick- Opera and Jerry Springer share a lot of similarities, both being after all fat people in considerable emotional distress shouting at each other!
As for the swearing, some of it is done for cheap laughs and shock value- and certainly having a chorus line singing swear-words plays into the intention of juxtaposing opera with Jerry Springer, especially when the line they're singing is often rather lyrical. Having said that, in this production it does work in context as well- any accurate portrayal of Jerry Springer in all it's unsightliness needs to have swearing, and bleeping out words doesn't really work with Opera"
YMMV, of course.
How's the skinhead and Commie bugger situation in East Anglia? Any good satirical comedies making press on that?
A musical version might work.
Well, we don't really have skinheads or communists around here (the latter is more of a King's college thing). We do have plenty of gay people though, as is somewhat traditional- and yes, some excellent satirical comedy too; http://www.srcf.ucam.org/pet-jcr/thesex/mich04.php . You might find it slightly in-jokey for your taste though.
As for a satirical comedy targeting the bugger/secret society element in the International Communist Conspiracy. It could combine Kubrickian irony with the farcical zest of Monty Python. The Grail Knights arrive at Castle Anthrax but instead of finding the submissive grail maidens, they stumble upon a hideous ritual initiating members of The Apostles into the KGB. Diapers would work well for Commie buggers toting Kalashnikovs and singing like cherubs from King's.
'Butts Wide Shut' might work as a title.
Hmmm... I detect issues here.
Help us out here... Maybe there is some exotic twist to the hermeneutics (or the water?) on your side of the ontological safari. Jerry Springer is a liberal quasi-socialist Jew, yes? What are the Christian figures doing in this...ahem...play? What is there allegorical function here? What...ahem...issues are the writers wrestling with?
Is Springer Jewish? Interesting, I never realised that. Not sure what relevence it has though, or indeed the relevence of his politics. You also seem to be unaware that the opera doesn't paint the man in a very good light at all, and was not written with Springer's involvement; I'm very surprised that his laywers alowed his likeness to be imitated so closely actually, although I'm glad they did.
What are Christian figures doing in the Opera? Quite simple. Firstly, figures such as Christ, the Devil and so on are simple archetypes, easily understood by the audience. In this sense they are symbols- the viewer automatically knows what they are meant to represent and allows the satire to have more impact.
Secondly, it makes sense for thematic reasons; the Opera revolves around themes of redemption, individual pathos and voyeurism. Springer tries to play God in his shows, dispensing wisdom from on high to the poor unfortunates before him- but who is he to make such decisions?
In the Opera the fate of existence is placed in Springer's hands- but isn't this the case for the deluded and often ill people who appear on his shows only to be laughed at? By raising the stakes to the divine level, the Opera attempts to show a family drama that has consequences for all humanity, something which is not to be laughed at.
That's the serious message of the whole production, to make the viewer uncomfortable with the Jerry Springer phenomenon even as they chuckle at it; while the first half is merely an effective parody of the show, the second and more arguably blasphemous bit deals with much deeper issues then might be first though. More importantly, it stands up as an Opera as well- the music is excellent and in parts rather moving.
That one rarely ever sees intelligent, educated, American Christians on our television programs is...well...a deep mystery worth looking into. The deliberate dumbing down tends to add an absurd element of confusion in the cultural dialogue.
As for the issues, if you are indeed an undergraduate, I was employed professionally in the struggles against both anti-Christian liberals and Communists before you were born. We tend to take a less humorous view of the deranged Bolshy pranksters and secret society cabals that seem to find a puerile thrill in the Malthusian social engineering that has overtaken our late civilisation. Whether they are raping choir boys or dreaming up new plans to raise our taxes, they are still villains of a low, trashy sort. Springer is a little out-dated here. No serious person I know spends much time paying attention to whatever it is that strange man is obsessed with. Crossdresser freakshows, Halloween kids off their Ritalin, etc.
Likewise, I suppose Tim Curry strutting around in monster goth drag is not exactly packing in cheering audiences in London these days. Or maybe it is... If there is a fashionable Jungian or Frazerian Anthropology School explanation for these, perhaps you could enlighten us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.