John Ostrander: Siddown and Shut Up!
There has been a bit of tension since the surprise victory of Donald Trump on election night. There are many on the Left who are vociferous in not liking or accepting the outcome, and there are plenty (not all) on the Right whose attitude appears to be “We won, you lost, get over it.”
A couple of incidents stand out. Vice-President Elect Pence attended a performance of the musical Hamilton on Broadway. Some of the audience booed him and, during curtain call, the cast read a (I thought) polite letter explaining their concerns about the upcoming Trump/Pence Administration. I’ve seen objections that doing so was rude, out of place, and (in the opinion of the President–Elect) it needed an apology. There are those on the Internetverse who evidently believe that politics have no place at a Broadway musical; Pence was there to be entertained, not lectured, and the cast should just sing their little ditties and behave themselves.
Some Trump supporters declared they were going to boycott Hamilton, a feeble threat in that a) it’s theater and they wouldn’t be caught dead in a live show, b) it’s sold-out for the next two years, and c) Hamilton is already a political statement, using a variety of musical styles (including hip-hop) and color-blind casting.
I’ve seen different artists have also made statements either on Facebook or Twitter, including Sarah McLaughlin and Bruce Springsteen, and have been verbally pummeled by trolls. I saw one posting regarding Springsteen that said he should just sing his little songs and shut up. Did this person ever listen to Springsteen? There are those who think that the song Born In The U.S.A. was a nationalistic or even jingoistic anthem. They might have listened to the chorus, but they ignored the verses.
Art is not merely there to entertain you. Art is meant to challenge, to show different perspectives, to introduce new ways of thinking and feeling. The best way to open a mind is through the heart and art is the best way to do that. A closed mind comes from a closed heart.
A song, a drawing, a story, a dance, a touch of theater – these can all open heart and mind. It’s why authoritarian regimes always look to control and dictate the arts, to turn it into propaganda; the arts are dangerous. They should be. That’s part of their value to society. They can challenge established notions and perceptions, in small ways as well as large.
Some of the more virulent responses to artists dissent on Trump that I’ve seen are disdainful. They denigrate the artist and the work. “Siddown and shut up!” they seem to say. “Our side won and we don’t want to hear it! We don’t want to put up with whining little babies!” Some even go misogynistic suggesting those that don’t support the manly Trump are bitchy little girls. (Yes, I’ve seen that, too.)
These are all examples of cyber-bullying. They seem to believe they can make others shut up. They’re predictable, they’re pathetic, and it won’t work. The bullies don’t get it; this is what artists do – they speak up, they challenge, they question. It’s in the DNA. Donald Trump will need to grow a thicker skin and not get into Twitter wars with musicals, Saturday Night Live, and stand-up comics. He won’t win and he won’t look good losing.
The next four years are going to be interesting.
“Some Trump supporters declared they were going to boycott Hamilton, a feeble threat in that a) it’s theater and they wouldn’t be caught dead in a live show,…”
This a presumption on your part that has NO basis in fact. I’d bet that are Trump supporters who attend live theater. To presume otherwise is to say that Trump supporters are stupid which exactly the kind of superior, smug attitude that caused the victory of Trump to such a surprise in the first place. Keep on under-estimating them. I will admit that Trump was my last choice of all the Republicans and my second-last choice of the two main candidates running for president.
I live in the red state of Missouri, about 30 miles from St. Louis, very rural actually. I have been a subscriber to the Repertory Theater of St. Louis and attended numerous live theater productions. Every year my wife and I go to New York for vacation and see Broadway and Off-Broadway plays while we are there. We have been doing this for about ten years.
Since 2006 we have seen:
The Drowsy Chaperone
Chicago
Spamalot
The Addams Family, (with Brooke Shields)
Freud’s Last Session, Off-Broadway and one of the best plays I’ve ever seen. We saw it again in St. Louis at the Rep.
The Columnist (with John Lithgow)
Channeling Kevin Spacey, Off-Broadway, a hilarious two-man show.
Harvey (with Jim Parsons)
Glengarry Glen Ross (with Al Pacino)
Old Jews Telling Jokes, Off-Broadway and on of the funniest evenings I’ve ever had
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (with Emilia Clarke)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (with Scarlett Johansson)
The World of Extreme Happiness, Off-Broadway. A very moving play about China’s two-child policy
Churchill, Off Broadway. A one-man show.
Bright Starr, a great new play from Edie Brickell and Steve Martin.
School of Rock
Something Rotten
We are going again next week in fact and while we don’t have tickets for Hamilton, we do have tickets for the Off-Broadway spoof, Spamilton.
I think Mike Pence’s response to the lecture he received was gracious and diplomatic. He enjoyed the play, he said the performers were talented and in response to the boos, said, “This is what freedom sounds like.”
I agree that Trump should have just let it go.
And since that lecture, the actor, Brandon Dixon, has had some of his own Tweets revealed that people have said he could be lectured about.
You saw that the first word in that line was “Some” right?
“You saw that the first word in that line was ‘Some’ right?”
Yes, I quoted it in my post.
My impression was that the “some” John referred to were the people who would boycott Hamilton but they were a subset of the larger set of people who “wouldn’t be caught dead in a live show,” and that group was intended to mean all Trump voters.
It’s a fair cop, as they say. I could’ve also said there are some Hilary supporters who wouldn’t be caught in a live theater either but, yeah, even if i did qualify my statement with “some”, it was an overbroad generalization. I suspect, George, that you’ve been to more live theater lately than i have from that list.
John, thanks for the acknowledgment. It is appreciated. I had to dig out all the playbills which we save from the shows we’ve seen. The first time we went to NYC was ten years ago on our 20th anniversary. Next week will be another trip in celebration of our 30th.
“The next four years are going to be interesting.”
I think, John, that they are going to “vociferously” SUCK.