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IdiotomeneoI read the news today, and I was struck by this story which CNN.com had (as of this morning) headlined "Muslim Anger Fear Stops Opera."
The opera in question is Mozart's "Idomeneo." And it was canceled over fears related to a scene in which "King Idomeneo presents the severed heads not only of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon, but also of Mohammed, Jesus and Buddha."
Now, anyone who knows me, knows I'm all for artistic freedom. After all, this blog's historical transformations included one fairly lengthy iteration under an unprintable name. No, what I'm objecting to is the headline and the general tenor of the story, which are misleading in two ways.
First, the headline (which may well change during the course of the day) makes it look like Mozart's the problem. But -- in case you hadn't guessed -- the severed heads were not Mozart's idea. They are an addition by the director of the opera, Hans Neuenfels, and not a very subtle or clever one at that. So let's just be clear -- Mozart's opera is not the problem. "Halts opera" is not accurate. Neuenfels threw a snit and refused to stage the opera without the scene. In other words, the battle here is not over Mozart, but over some hack's revision of Mozart.
Second, no one demanded or pressured the opera house to cut the scene. The opera house made the call, on its own, in response to the current social and political climate. The move did not come in response to demands by German Muslims. It did not come in response to a government edict. The opera house management decided the scene was not appropriate.
Was there an element of fear involved? Yeah, it sure sounds like it. Is there an overarching issue here that deserves to be the center of a massive controversy? I'm not so sure.
The fact is that every art outlet -- from network television to SoHo galleries to the local pottery studio -- is constantly faced with the same repeating decision -- where to draw the line. In my opinion, the vast majority of those decisions are craven and cowardly. Whether it's skewering Scientology on the Comedy Channel, or releasing a movie about assassinating the president, the eternal question is not what artistic integrity demands, but what commerce will support.
I loathe the cowardice that pervades virtually all of these outlets. It's easy to do parodies about Jesus and Christianity these days. Why? Because the Christian church is weak and it doesn't have the clout it once did. If they could strap Madonna into a Judas Chair, they would. They can't, and that's the only reason they don't.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Script's use of the word "reacharound" this week was far more daring than the "controversial" nature of the skit at the center of the show's drama, mocking Christians.
If the Christians inspired the same fear currently surrounding all things Islamic, they would cancel everything from Studio 60 to The Skeptical Inquirer to Nova.
Here's the bottom line: I don't want to be preached at about fear and self-censorship by a news media that censors the word "shit" out of news coverage of a disaster, or a government that covers the right breast of a statue of Justice.
Opera houses voluntarily caving in to religious pressures? I'm shocked and appalled, but come back to me with your outrage after the Nightly News finds the balls to report -- without obfuscation or evasion -- that the "Intelligent Design" movement wants to teach fairy stories in public schools.
In a city of glass houses, we need to be a bit more careful with the stones.
Posted by J.M. Berger || Permalink
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