Controversy over Ragtime...Opinions? — Page 3

"Germans have no recollection of the 1940s...Everyone was on vacation!"

That comment is ridiculous, bearing in mind how reluctant Germany is to participate in present-day wars, precisely because they are trying to move on from their historical association with the start of WWI and WWII.

The whole thing is absurd. What's next............are we going to cancel the National Tour of "Ave Q" because someone "might" be offended by the songs? It's so stupid.

"A private (or public) institution choosing not to do the show BECAUSE IT CAN BE DEEMED AS OFFENSIVE ***IS***censorship."

Nope, it isn't. They are exercising their right not to produce the show. It doesn't matter what the reason is for not producing it.

I might find "Spring Awakening" offensive. However, if I choose not to go see a production of it. It doesn't mean I'm censoring the show, it simply means I'm exercising my options of seeing it or not seeing it. The show will still exist in it's uncensored form.

They would be censoring the production, if they chose to produce the production and cut or changed the words that they found offensive. That's censorship.

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Updated On: 6/28/08 at 03:09 PM

That Groovy Guy,

I disagree. If they find the material of Ragtime or any show for that matter offensive then they can choose not to produce it for that reason alone. That is their right as an institution public or private and they are practicing that right. Now, if they were to decide to do the show but they would edit the scrip so it didn't contain any "offensive" language. Then that would be considered censorship. They would be censoring the script of the show so that it didn't have any language that could offend anyone.

NYC_or_Bust. The German's have not forgotten the 1940's. They know damn well what happened. Then. However, they are so embarrassed and ashamed that that is part of their culture. They don't deny it though. Using the term Nazi in germany today is considered a big insult and rightly so. Due to what happened in the 1940's they literally have been choosing their battles because they know what happened during the last two major wars they have fought in.

Like I said, saying that the racially offensive stuff never happened is just as bad as denying that it is a part of our history. The German's never said that the whole anti semitic Nazi movement wasn't a part of their history. They are just ashamed and embarrassed as hell that it is part of their history.

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I don't know if NYC or bust was or wasn't. But, I don't think I am the only one to get the impression that he wasn't joking with what he said based upon the other reactions his comments stirred.

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