Miss Saigon vs. M. Butterfly

[dhiraj86]

Posted: 2/28/06 at 3:11am

For those of you who do not know, M. Butterfly is a Tony Award winning play (1986?) that flips the Madam Butterfly Opera inside out and examines stereotypes and gender/racial issues. It is, in many ways, the anti-Madam Butterfly and fills viewers with a new perspective on an old story (stereotype.) It forever changed my life...

A few years later, Miss Saigon took the story of Madam Butterfly and retold it in a contemporary setting. It did further the stereotype of Asian Women and was, in many ways, the Anti-M.Butterfly. This was my favorite musical until I saw M. Butterfly. Now my whole idea behind the "beauty" in Miss Saigon is deconstructed and I only see racial and sexual disparity in the story.

This leads my to my post... Which one of the two do you like better? I am going to go with the life changing M. Butterfly, although I do like the music in Miss Saigon.