Joe, I don't think that's right. By the early 70s, most Americans (at least the only Americans that count, the New Yorkers) had been trough so much tumult in the 60s with the specter of the war, the sexual and cultural revolution, as well as the lesser known "Monarchy Revolution" in which men and women were feeling compelled to adorn themselves with jewels in the manner of a royal, whilst simultaneously proclaiming their love for the represenative democracy of the United States. A strange and heady dichtomy to be sure, but it's
because of this very dichomatey that the mere suggestion that the "diadem moment" in Follies (as it as has famously come to be called) would be even remotely shocking to the learned and distinguished audiences that poured into the theatre on a nightly basis.
When you also consider the fact that in just five years we'd be celebrating the 200 hundredth anniversary of our independence from England (and more specifically, England's diadem-adorned monarch), I think it's foolish - even reckless - to suggest that the good people of the United States (I mean, the good people of New York City) would have been ignorant to the myriad negativities associated with the crown and with the word "diadem" itself. In fact, the still-popular slogan, "Long Live the Diademocracy!" was already well known and oft repeated by this time.
It should be also noted that 1970 (the year the lyrics to Beautiful Girls were written) was the year that Dana Owens was born. Dana would eventually be coronated under the moniker Queen Latifah. This cannot be coincidence.
Updated On: 10/28/11 at 11:32 AM
