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Who do you believe in the “Rent” controversy? Why?
A high-school production of Rent has been shut down over concerns with the show’s “adult content.”
Corona Del Mar High School students found out last week from their drama teacher that after a meeting with the school’s principal Fal Asrani and a union representative, the play was canceled due to objections about the ‘gay characters.’
via High School Production of Rent Cancelled for Gay Content? | News | Advocate.com.
Agreed facts: The script was requested for review. The decision to cancel the play was made by the teacher (however, they disagree about why).
Rent Script
The principal says (paraphrasing): “I wanted to review the script, something that is my responsibility. When I asked for it, the teacher canceled the play.”
The teacher says (again paraphrasing): “I was asked to provide a script because of gay characters. But I haven’t ordered scripts yet and they wont be here for two weeks. The principal told me we won’t have time to revise the scripts before the show starts April 23, and that she won’t like gay characters, so I’m canceling the play and doing something safe instead.”
I dunno, I don’t think it is a smart idea to start crying “homophobia” here. “Rent” has an implied group sex scene, lots of shown adult sexuality, and plenty of cursing. It seems perfectly responsible that a principal would request to see the revised script as offered by the licensing company. I”m not convinced bigotry is at play here.
This is one person’s word against another’s. And I’ve learned in the world of blogging to never make a homophobia judgment based on a stranger’s word. (I’ll call it the “Die fags” theory, based on the douchebag homos who vandalized their own place with “Die Fags” graffiti, blamed homophobia, and reported a hate crime.) The principal’s story seems lacking detail, but the teacher’s story seems hysterical.
The writers at Queerty, who automatically assumes homophobia, point to the students for help but the students only repeat what the teacher told them. That’s just hearsay.
So who do you believe? The teacher, or the principal? Why? Are you sure your opinion is objective? Or are you just instinctively crying homophobia?
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Posted on February 19th, 2009 - 1:02 pm
Tags: Corona Del Mar High School, Die Fags Theory, Fal Asrani, Rent, Ron Martin
3 Responses to “Who do you believe in the “Rent” controversy? Why?”
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Bill Parker February 19th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Revising an already published script that is being rented from a publishing house is illegal and against the copyright of the piece, and, a violation of the author’s intellectual property rights. The author intended to use gay, transgendered, drug-addicted and other “unsavory” characters to reflect his interpretation of the story (funny enough, “adapted” from La Boheme, another seemingly subversive piece of art) in this modern age. A principal, teacher, director or anyone can not rewrite a piece to meet their needs, be they creative, social, political or otherwise.
I stand with the teacher who removed the piece in time before having to be fully committed to the piece, including financially, and go with something else. There’s no reason a teacher or artist should have to submit their work for approval, that just shows students that we are not in a free-thinking society.
Mind you, this comes from the one that believes that intellectual property rights are overblown Capitalist hogwash. I hold the Native American philosophy that there is no such thing as unique thought or creativity: all ideas, songs, paintings, writings, formulas, inventions etc. have been thought and are in the aether, free to pass through your head, and out, or into another head: it is how it is used that matters. How can one claim ownership on an electrical impulse, or a divinely granted vision?
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'( '-' )' Bearnaked Joe February 19th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Well as a photographer I will say I disagree with you about intellectual property rights and am at a complete loss to understand how my work is a divinely granted vision. As an atheist, I believe if I create a photograph, I did it with my expertise based on years of experience, technical knowledge, my ability to visualize, and practiced motor skills. If I were a playwright or songwriter, my work would be made from my years of experience, and my understanding of music, the written word, and human nature. Just as I don’t want my rights as a gay person to be decided by another’s religious beliefs, I wouldn’t want my rights as an artist decided the same way. If everything I create belong to the aether, why bother? How do I survive as an artist?
The problem with students is that although we are in a free-thinking society, unfortunately schools are not. It is the responsibility of the educators to know what is going on. If it was a play about hate and murder, encouraging people to bash gays, we’d be in an uproar: “Why didn’t the principal know what was going on?” The principal has a responsibility to know what is happening in her school.
I’m not so sure who is telling the truth about revisions here either. Quite frankly, I don’t think either of them are telling the whole story, and I don’t fully believe either of them.
Interesting point about removing “the piece in time before having to be fully committed to the piece, including financially, and go with something else.” You have a good point. The teacher may have seen a protracted fight coming along and decided to just cave in right away. But if he was so sure of his being in the right, why didn’t he press the publishing house to rush a singular script for preview? Why didn’t he fight harder? Why did he just throw his hands in the air and say “Well she doesn’t like gay characters so we aren’t going to do it?” It just seems odd to me, like he’s passing the buck. Something is missing here.
Thanks for writing!
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Your post about the “Rent” controversy at the Corona del Mar high school is a very interesting way to look at the various arguments. It’s great to see someone attempting to take a neutral view in the discussion over who was in the wrong. However, I think there’s a big issue that is rarely addressed in articles and blogs, including your own. According to the Los Angeles Times, the principal had never asked to review a script before this production, regardless of “adult content,” which is what she seems to be trying to push as the reason for the analysis. Shows portraying controversial themes, like prostitution in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and alcoholism in “A Streetcar Named Desire”, were approved “without raising administrator’s eyebrows.” Though I agree that perhaps “crying homophobia” was not the best solution for those involved in the cancellation, I understand the school’s reluctance at expressing that as a concern. As one of the producers of the national tour, Jeffery Seller, said, “Like it or not, we’re right smack in the middle of an enormous cultural shift right now, and that shift will give way to acceptance of homosexuality and acceptance of gay characters… but it’s a process, it’s a messy process, and it makes sense to me that we’ll take steps forward and hit a pothole and take a step backward.” This shift has many people in power walking on egg shells when it comes to controversial topics; however, it also makes groups look weak when they are divided. The inability for the school administrators and the drama teacher to come to an agreement between their statements is possibly the biggest rift within this controversy. As you suggested, the principal’s statement is lacking detail, which I think causes many people, including myself to question: What does the administration of Corona del Mar have to hide from their community?
