Are The Lunatics Taking Over The Asylum?

[Theblip]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8727849/RADA-students-demand-George-Bernard-Shaws-dropped-drama-schools-theatre.html Is there any human being alive or dead with a spotless existence, including those protesting in such cases? Should nobody be revered anymore in case they are found to have a blemish on their records?

[Mamyalynne]

They're entitled to air their views, however as you say if we start to sweep aside anything remotely uncomfortable or controversial we will be very short on creativity.

I hope deep consideration is taken before any actual action occurs.

[naomi24]

They're all barking mad!

[youngmafbog]

Totally Radio the lot of them.

[douglas9401]

Maybe invite the offended to go and play dressing up somewhere else.

[naomi24]

With theatres closing at a rate of knots they might find they have something worthwhile to worry about shortly.

[youngmafbog]

Yes, it's a sad time for theatre. It may never recover I fear.

[Theblip]

I’m now going to put my head above the parapet, ready to get shot down in flames. I think such demands are mainly made by attention-seekers who don’t really care about such issues - they are more interested in making a name for themselves as someone who helped to enforce change. I very much doubt any of them will make as meaningful a contribution to this world as GBS himself

[calmck]

Would they be willing to payback all they have received from his estate. This whole BLM is totally out of control

[burlyshirley]

So sad about theatres, always my favourite form of entertainment. Not been for so long now.

[Theland]

Even worse, to qualify at the Oscars, films must be made with at least 30% actors, technical support staff, cameramen, directors etc etc etc who are from unrepresentative minorities, including race, LGBTQXYZ, physical and mental impairment and more!!!

Can you imagine it?

I hope their stupid films are boycotted by everybody except the minority victimhood groups.

[Old_Geezer]

But if their views are so foolish, are they capable of higher learning ? Has the schools selected the right, capable, students.

[Theland]

Would you trust some of them with an expensive camera?
Accidents on set will explode - literally!!!

[webbo3]

Probably the same students that wear a Che Guevara t shirt thinking its cool.

[jourdain2]

Seems to be a prime example of the reason that they are students and grown-ups with rather more knowledge guide their studies.

How many of them know that GBS did more than most for women by campaigning for public toilets for ladies? Until then women were very restricted in their lives away from the home.

How many of them know that Restoration Literature was a rebellion against the Puritan ethos and brought back theatre and music after years of banishment - or do they think that Puritanism is the way to go? I have a horrible feeling that they do, as long as it is their version.

If you remember Dicken's 'Christmas Carol', the ghost of Christmas present opens his robe to display two dreadful children. I don't have it to hand but the girl is 'want' and the boy is 'ignorance'. 'Of the two beware the boy more' is a paraphrase of Dicken's point.

[jourdain2]

^^^ Sorry, aberrant apostrophe fingeritis ...Dickens', not Dicken's.

[Theland]

Its not just ignorance though is it?
It seems like also a proclivity to wear some kind of victimhood like a hat, and then create mayhem if they are not given privileged treatment.

[jourdain2]

I think you have just defined 'spoiled brats', Theland. :)

[andy-hughes]

As long as this concept has been discussed on this site, I have always argued from the same position - you should separate the art from the artist.

Some of the greatest art in its field has been created by deeply reprehensible human beings, in music. that ranges from Wagner to Gary Glitter - but the thoughts of the individual do not, and should not, be used to minimize, and certainly never to censor, the art they have produced.

This is just another example of that nonsense in action.

The correct way to present GBS to a class of students is with some context - Yes he wrote wonderful plays, yes he voiced some odious views that we may not agree with but in a free society, he was given the freedom to express them, and to silence his voice for them now is to take a giant step backward from all the freedoms we enjoy, that generations have fought and died for.

Enjoying art is not the same as embracing every single thought and word uttered by the artist, and that is the assumption being made here.

It's illogical, it's destructive, and, as usual, it is being pedaled in the interest of self-aggrandizement and attention seeking at the expense of valuable art and culture.

It's time to shut these idiots up.

[andy-hughes]

I think we'd better ensure that no-one ever provides music ever again using a two-turntable DJ system anywhere in the world.

The idea was invented by Jimmy Savile, so obviously it must be obliterated forthwith and anyone using two decks for entertainment should be flogged within an inch of their lives.

[jourdain2]

andy-hughes --- I couldn't agree more! There are genuine fears of the equivalent of 'book-burning' throughout our culture - and it is the same in other countries. I once witnessed a 'book-burning' (Rushdi - it was in Manningham, Bradford) it was terrible to see.