Posted on 04/23/2005 8:49:27 AM PDT by ViLaLuz
School officials thumb their noses at California parents who object to a highly controversial musical being performed by students.
You might expect to find musicals containing depictions of rape, incest and bestiality somewhere off-Broadway—not in a high school production. But at La Canada High School in La Canada Flintridge, Calif., this year's spring musical is the highly controversial "Bat Boy."
The main character is a pointy-eared half-human boy with fangs who's discovered living in a cave in Hope Falls, W.V. While exploring the world, Bat Boy and the rest of the cast use drugs, alcohol and sex as tools for acceptance.
"It's great that this stuff is gonna be put on stage," said Daniel Barber, who plays Bat Boy. "We can all identify with the music."
At a recent school board meeting, cast members and mostly supportive parents tried to convince everyone that "Bat Boy: The Musical" is a good show. But when parent Otis Page read the script, he pulled his daughter from the audition and began the legal process of filing a formal complaint against the school.
"At the end of the play they say, 'Let the beast come out,' (but the) problem is, high school kids are letting the beast come out," Page said. "We've seen that at Columbine (High School, site of a 1999 school shooting), we've seen that all across the country.
"The law does say you can't hand out harmful material to . . . minors; they did that (with this play.) They also did this without notification against school policy and procedure."
So far, the La Canada school board has only decided to modify the play—and run a disclaimer on advertisements. But for 52-year-old Hal Thomas, who had four kids graduate from the school, "Bat Boy" won't be a hot ticket.
"It's s-i-c-k," Thomas said. "I wouldn't go if you gave me 10 free tickets."
The school's drama teacher is retiring at the end of this school year.
There's no nudity in Bat Boy, that I remember. Am I wrong?
Not that I know of.
Then why are you so angry about it. You say you haven't seen it ... how do you know it's so offensive?
Is that the best argument you can come up with to promote "Bat Boy" for high school kids?
It's better than any argument you have against it. You haven't seen it, have you read it? What do you have against it? I'm really curious.
For example, are you against pedophilia?
Give me a break. All I'm asking is why you're so against this if you haven't seen it or read it, how do you know it's so bad. That's a legitimate question. I'll ignore your analogy to pedophilia.
Wow, I hope Otis never glances at a copy of The Weekly World News in the checkout line. He might have a stroke.
Do you think it's appropriate for a high school to allow its kids to put on a play that promotes sex, drug and alcohol abuse?
That question summarizes all objections to this play.
What is it in The Weekly World News that would give Otis a stroke?
It doesn't promote it. That's just silly. Believe me, I've seen it. Everyone's making way too much out this. There were lots of teenagers in the theater the night I was there. And the pedophilia analogy really was innapropriate in this discussion.
"Do you think it's appropriate for a high school to allow its kids to put on a play that promotes sex, drug and alcohol abuse?"
Second, what was so inappropriate about the pedophilia question? You were the one implying that one has to experience something directly in order to know that it's wrong. I'm still waiting for your answer.
Are you against pedophilia?
Guess they don't do stuff like "Our Town" any more.
It's the home of Bat-Boy. He's made the cover numerous times.
So now that teens are already corrupted, further efforts to bring decency into their lives is naive?
Why not, if there were others in the play that did?
I see. It's amazing how that paper's Bat Boy has become an American cultural icon. Do a google image search on Bat Boy, it's pretty entertaining. Someone even made a little statue of Bat Boy.
Some of the cover stories about him are very amusing. He's had all kinds of adventures. My favorite was when he went to Afganistan with the Rangers to capture Bin Laden. Of course, the WWN is my favorite tabloid. They don't do celebs, bust totally wild made-up stuff. One of my favs was a few years ago: "Nazi sub surfaces in NY harbor, wants to know if war's still on". I'd love to work there.
I wonder what happen if high school (or college) students wanted to put on "The Passion of Christ."
You just really like to argue, don't you? If you don't like that kind of thing, don't go.
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