Offensive? — Page 2

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#26

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 5:35pm

I think If You Were Gay is sort of affirming, and it's one of the least offensive moments of the show. I agree, too, that Christmas Eve as an Asian stereotype is not very funny. Then again, what makes the show REALLY funny is how it subverts Sesame Street so effectively. I grew up on the show and can remember some pretty stereotyped characters. The creators were mocking those artifacts, as well as those that seem to pop up from time to time in other shows and movies, not Asian Americans.

#27

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 5:39pm

SO many of my friends think that Avenue Q is offensive. Seriously, nothing is truly meant by the writers or actors, it's just to help the character!

My dad and teacher feel the exact same way. How silly.

-Grace

#28

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 5:44pm

Thank you Blue Wizard for posting that...
I think the whole thing is hilarous. My immediate thought is that your friend isn't comfortable with being gay. If he's under 25-ish, that can be very normal. I think it's a riot. And I'm gay and almost 30.
And regarding the asian jokes, I was at a sushi place in Brooklyn last night and our waitress sounded just like Christmas Eve. When we ordered Merlot, she responded with "Oh, two Mer-rows".
They don't pronounce "L" sounds because their mouths are not used to it in their language. The creators of Avenue Q took that fact and made it funny. Be offended if you will, but also live a little!

#29

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 5:54pm

The only show I've ever been offended at was a show in a workshop I went to that was overtly political and attempted to shove a viewpoint not my own down my throat. I would have walked out smack dab in the middle of it (as rude as that would be) if I hadn't had to write a paper on it.

Q doesn't offend me at all.

artistic dominion

Updated On: 6/24/05 at 05:54 PM

#30

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 6:51pm

I think it is easy to take things out of context and be offended because you don't see the whole picture. There were people posting about how 'offensive' Assassins was during its revival (who just didn't get what Sondheim was trying to say because they weren't paying attention). There were also people offended by the humor in The Producers...so...you need to know the show before you judge a small snippet of it.

And if you are easily offended, by all means, don't pay $100 and then stomp out of the show in indignation after 10 min. There are enough reviews and public critiques to find out about the show BEFORE you spend the money and complain.

Just as I often tell my mother about what she finds to be offensive TV. If you don't like it, turn it off...if you don't think you will like the subject matter of a play or musical and you don't take the time to investigate it...then the only choice you have is to get up and walk out. And it's YOUR money.

"Life is a lesson in humility"

#31

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 7:04pm

I found Good Vibrations offensive.

...to my health.

awkward.

"I think it was the Korean tour or something. They were all frickin' asian!" -Zoran912

#32

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 7:18pm

Some people seriously need to get a sense of humor ASAP ! Avenue Q is in my opinion one of the most pro gay shows ever ! And even if it wasn't, do you think that John T., one of the most out and proud gay actors, would agree to sing something offensive to his own way of life ? People who are offended by any form of art are the true enemies of art !

#33

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 8:27pm

somewhat OT, but ... i have a teaching colleague who's latino and still has a thick mexican accent. we find entertainment in making fun of her speech, and so does she. she'll even lay it on really thick sometimes just to get us laughing. i am HONORED by the few people who make cracks about me being gay. i take it as complimentary that they feel comfortable enough around me to do so.

RIP glebby <3

Updated On: 6/24/05 at 08:27 PM

#34

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 8:30pm

You need to tell your friend that "If You were Gay" was written by a homo, and if he still feels it's insensitive, then you need to tell your friend to confront the issues on homosexuality that he doesn't like, because that's the part that makes him sensitive. Also, tell him to get a sense of humor. They sell them really cheap these days.

"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive. "Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot." "No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one." Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.

#35

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 8:39pm

"I'm not "Mr. PC" but I think the R/L jokes about asian pronounciation are about 40 years too old to still be funny to most people."

Ann Harada, who is Asian, had no problem portraying a Japanese immigrant. And living in NYC, I personally have met MANY Japanese, Chinese, Korean immigrants, and they still sound this way after 40 years. It would be a different story had Mickey Rooney gotten up and played Christmas Eve, but that wasn't the case. Ann Harada did a GREAT job in the show. And it's not about the pronunciation - but what makes it funny are the phrasings, like "I coming to this country for opportunity" I say they're funny because that is EXACTLY how Asian immigrants phrase things. That's where the humor is, is that the writing is so dead on. "I know you are no intending to be, but calling me Oriental, offensive to me".
And another thing, her "impression" is accurate and not overdone, nor is she playing stupid (again, like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast At Tiffany's - a movie to this day I will not watch). She is a therapist who maintains a household with a lazy white American husband. Surprisingly, no one finds the character of Brian offensive.

#36

.

Posted: 6/24/05 at 8:51pm

Avatar - Isaac, my blue-fronted Amazon parrot. Adopted 9/7/07. Age 30 (my pet is older than me!)

Updated On: 2/7/06 at 08:51 PM

#37

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 9:10pm

I think If You Were Gay is sort of affirming, and it's one of the least offensive moments of the show.

I agree with OurTime. I'm gay and maybe I'm hopelessly naive, but I think If You Were Gay is one of the cutest, sweetest songs I've ever heard. I can't imagine a gay person taking offense. Maybe I didn't "get" the scene, but it appears to me that:
1. Rod is (maybe) gay and closeted.
2. Nicky, his friend, is perceptive enough to guess that this (maybe) is the case.
3. Nicky is also perceptive enough to observe that, if Nicky is gay, Nicky is not comfortable with admitting it.
4. Nicky makes a point to let Rod know that he is not the least bit bothered by gay people and that he hopes Rod would be comfortable being himself in front of him (Nicky). HOW SWEET!!

I'm serious, guys. As someone who literally had anxiety attacks wondering if my friends would hate me if I came out to them, I would have given anything for a friend like Nicky. I almost cried at Nicky's sweet, if somewhat awkward, attempt to let Nicky know that he would always be his friend, sexual orientation be damned. I think it is one of most tender songs in Q or any show and I LOVE it!

Now, in conclusion, let me leave you with the wise words of Rod's friend Nicky:

I'M HAPPY JUST BEING WITH YOU.
SO WHAT SHOULD IT
MATTER TO ME
WHAT YOU DO IN BED
WITH GUYS!

IF YOU WERE GAY
I'D SHOUT HOORAY!
AND HERE I'D STAY,
BUT I WOULDN'T GET
IN YOUR WAY.
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
TO ALWAYS BE
BESIDE YOU EVERY DAY
TO TELL YOU IT'S OKAY,
YOU WERE JUST BORN
THAT WAY,
AND, AS THEY SAY
IT'S IN YOUR DNA
YOU'RE GAY!

"Do you know ChrisLovesShows?" "Yes. Why, yes he does!"

Updated On: 6/24/05 at 09:10 PM

#38

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 9:35pm

I'm not sure if this falls under the same category, but some deemed The Frogs offensive because, as they say, it tried to shove a political viewpoint down your throat.

And while they are doing that, it's not to get you to agree with them. The first line of Final Instructions to the Audience is "No please, don't nod, agreeing with me just 'cause I'm a god". The Frogs made people think, which was one of the purposes. Don't be a sloth and agree with (or worse, be indifferent to) whatever is going on. Voice your opinion.

Back on the topic of offensive stereotypes! I'm a lesbian and I don't find "If You Were Gay" or "Keep it Gay" the least bit offensive. I love those songs. One of my drama friends (who knows I'm gay) always sings "If You Were Gay" to me, which always boosts my mood. It reminds me that even though some people in my school (and in the world) don't accept me, I have friends who always will. And I think the character of Shirley in The Producers is hilarious.

#39

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/24/05 at 10:06pm

"If You Were Gay" is not only one of the tamest, but one of the sweetest songs in the entire show
The song is ABOUT acceptance

#40

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 3:14pm

sorry i have to agree with your friend..the song is offensive..i find the whole show to be offensive and that fact that the gay community latched on to it with such vigor because it had gay themes rather than artistic value undercuts the validity of our opinion...Avenue Q is for me..just tasteless.
sorry..

#41

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 3:16pm

I'll sell you my sense of humor...but it won't be cheap...and it tastes good, too.

#42

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 3:58pm

"that fact that the community latched on to it with such vigor because it had themes rather than artistic value undercuts the validity of our opinion...Avenue Q is for me..just .
sorry.."

I agree. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm offended by the show -- and it DOES have it's moments -- but, on the whole, I think it's . It goes a little to overboard, I think. Had they toned it down slightly, it would have been a fabulous satire, but writers these days seem to have forgotten how to be satirical withouth being crude.

artistic dominion

#43

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 4:12pm

"It goes a little to overboard"

Why? Because the show has a lot of truth and honesty to it?

#44

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 4:39pm

You know, there are going to be people who will flay me alive for saying this, but stereotypes aren't created in a vacuum. There's at least a grain of truth to them. In my local mall, for example, there is a nail salon that is staffed entirely by Asians. The janitorial crew is entirely Hispanic. The guys who work the Benefit counter at Foley's are about as gay as it gets. Stereotypical? You bet, but true. Hand to God, people.

http://community.livejournal.com/ltd_brands_suck/

#45

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 4:43pm

Political correctness has made people far too sensitive.

#46

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 5:13pm

I agree...if anything I think Avenue Q is educational. For example you end up thinking "ya everyone is a little bit racist". I think there is a lot of truth to that statement in a world where we attempt to be so politically correct...you still think it sometimes. I agree that If you were gay is one of the least offensive songs. It supports Rod being gay...what is more accepting than that? If everyone in the world was as accepting as Nikky, we'd have a lot less problems...ha ha ha. While some find avenue q offensive, there's a lot of truth there...and it's absolutely hilarious.

#47

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 6:35pm

Regarding Avenue Q, I have to say that the "jokes might be uncouth, but you laugh because they're based on truth. Don't take them as personal attacks. Everyone enjoys them- so RELAX."

"I mean, how many of us could honestly say that at one time or another he hasn't set fire to some great public building?"

Updated On: 6/25/05 at 06:35 PM

#48

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/25/05 at 11:18pm

"I personally adore anything offensive and not PC. I'm actually offended by how easily people are offended these days. "

Oh thank god there's someone else too!! Bravo

#49

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/26/05 at 1:26am

I have to agree 100% with Rose. Stereotypes are based ona morsel of truth. Yes often they are embellished (spelling's off but its almst 1:30 am) but at their core they have a bit of truth. That said I am a white, straight, football playing male, who writes plays, hangs out with gays, dated outside my race, and ... flew to outer spa... nevermind. My point is I am not a stereotype, but the "typical jock" stereo type is and is legit because for the majority of people traditionally that is true. Lighten up and accept the fact that political correctness is insulting to everyone's ability to think logically. It's offensive because society tells you its offensive. Listen to Avenue Q and think about it. Take it for what it is, nothing more.

#50

re: Offensive?

Posted: 6/26/05 at 1:47am

I don't know if this has been stated because I didn't take the time to read the entire thread because... I didn't want to... but I think that the only two ways in which anyone could be altogether offended by Avenue Q or Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is if, A: they do not understand the humor or B: they have absolutly no SENSE of humor (I think there is a difference between those two things). I think that the humor is obvious in both shows and that the notion of taking anything in them seriously is ridiculous.

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