Audra McDonal;d's rape comment

[perpetualanticipatio]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 8:55am

Nothing funny about making light of getting raped "every night" be it onstage or off, even it is wins you a Tony. An unfortunate choice of words and it demonstrates just how far we have to go to really understanding of how casual use of the word can impact society's views on women. Ask anyone who has been the victim of on-going rape or sexual abuse and they will tell you there is nothing light about it.

[tazber]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 9:04am

please keep opinions on the thread already devoted to this subject


The Audra rape comment thread

Updated On: 6/11/12 at 09:04 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 9:05am

Already a thread on this with many comments....not too far down the page.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 9:22am

"There was rape down by the harbor, little Susie caused a stir, claiming that she'd been assaulted, wonder what got into her?" Mack the Knife, Threepenny Opera.

Was Brecht (here Blitzstein's translation) misogynistic? Was he dehumanizing? Should rape have been excluded as a theme in a work as comically revelatory about the cruelty and immorality of modern life as Threepenny Opera?

Was rape an inappropriate subject for vaudeville? For serious, but nonetheless comic, musical theater? Or was Brecht transformatively addressing cruelty and immorality, both in the demimonde and in the greater world which encompasses all of us and rationalizes exploitation and victimization of others?

The same can be said about "Evita" which makes light of the Perons and "The Producers" which makes light of Hitler. Hopefully, no one thinks that fascism, oppression and genocide should be trivialized. Why should rape be singled out for exclusion as an appropriate subject matter for theater which pushes us to examine life and criminality in jarring, challenging but revolutionarilly provocative terms through the exercise of humor? Or do the humanities provide for a variety of mind-expanding and illuminating ways to address serious subject matters, some of which push us to the limits of our expectations of what is acceptable?

Provocative theater which chooses musical comedy as its medium sometimes "make light" of provocative subjects. By doing so it far from trivializes or legitimizes evil. To the contrary, it shakes us to the core by forcing us to take a raw and uncompromising look at our world at its most oppressive.









Updated On: 6/11/12 at 09:22 AM

[DEClarke]

Posted: 6/11/12 at 11:45am

I really don't feel that McDonald was trying to trivialize rape. I think she was just noting how demanding the role was and her sense of being overwhelmed for winning an award for her portrayal of a character that undergoes such a demanding journey, including being raped on stage, eight times a week.