Thursday, February 08, 2007

It's Not Like the Name of the Play is, "The Cunt Soliloquies"


A modified marquee in which 'Hoohaa' replaced a word in the title of a play after a driver complained about finding the previous wording offensive continues to draw attention. . . .

"We got a complaint about this play The Vagina Monologues," said Bryce Pfanenstiel, of the Atlantic Theater. . . .

"We decided we would just use child slang for it. That's how we decided on Hoohah Monologues," Pfanenstiel said.

They did this after a driver who saw it complained to the theater, saying she was upset that her niece saw it.

"I'm on the phone and asked 'What did you tell her?' She's like, 'I'm offended I had to answer the question,'" Pfanenstiel said.

Some parents said they applaud the title change.


I'm sure they did. That's what people do when you do their jobs for them.

But this is an example of one of those things that chafes my ass, an example of us dumbing down culture so that it is palatable for children. It grates on my nerves, because I'm an adult, who'd like to be challenged by the art he sees, the books he reads, the films and television shows he watches. And I can't do that if you culture-censoring prigs keep passing everything through preadolescent-gauge sieves until the entirety of American public life can be consumed by a third grader.

So stop.

Yeah, I know parenting is hard, or, at least, it is if you do it correctly. Part of that is developing the framework in kids to interpret and consume adult culture by the time they reach maturity. That involves filtering out inappropriate material until you've given them the means to handle it safely or properly. Like I said, that's not easy.

Now, if you're curious about how you're doing so far, let me give you a pop quiz. If your daughter (or niece) can read the word "vagina" but is devastated by it when she does, guess what? You're doing a shitty job.

Seriously, it's a vagina, lady. She's got one. Help the poor thing out here.

2 Comments:

Blogger LeeSee said...

Biff: Gave you a shout out on out blog.

You're the man!

4:57 PM  
Blogger Biff Loman said...

*blush*

You are too kind.

6:30 PM  

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