Okay. I’m all for a big Halloween scare—monster movies,
spook alleys, even practical jokes—but I heard about something recently that
disturbed me. It’s the play called Thriller.
Apparently, it has a cult-type following and has been performed in Utah for the
last twelve years.
A couple of friends went to see it, thinking it’d include
Michael Jackson’s Thriller Dance
routine. It didn’t. It's a play of multiple skits. Here’s what Salt Lake
Tribune had to say about it:
“Thriller is a
Halloween Spectacular – it includes all your favorite Halloween characters such
as Frankenstein, The Curse of the Mummy and Jason. “Odyssey’s production of ‘Thriller’ was truly a thrill for the
audience, which was at times breathless
with laughter, at times fearful and amazed, but always totally entertained.”
Here’s another quote from Marsha Maxwell, About.com:
“In addition to the dance numbers, "Thriller" includes funny performances by New York
recording artist John Boy as Bubbles, the show's depressed clown emcee, and
local singer Mindy Lilyquist as Lorena Bobbit.”
My friends said the performers’ dancing was good, but not
only did the skits’ contents bother them, so did the audience’s laughter. One
skit ended with a sniper shooting Riverdance performers, one by one. In another skit, Jason shoots a ballerina. A
third skit had a group of men vampires attacking a girl, and drinking her
blood. Could any of this be considered a
laughing matter? Is it considered a good Halloween scare?
And with all these young woman being killed and attacked, it
was decided that a strong female role-model should be added to the play—Lorena
Bobbit. Seriously?
Like I said, I haven’t seen the play myself, but it doesn’t
sound like entertainment to me. My friends said there were young children present.
Are we saying to them that it’s funny or exciting for a sniper to kill a group
of people? Are we saying the Lorena Bobbit should be a role model to young
women?
Okay, so maybe you’re going to tell me to chill; it’s all in
the name of fun. I want to hear what you
think.
Oh, and have a happy, safe Halloween!
Cindy A. Christiansen
Sweet Romance, Comedy, Suspense…and Dogs!
Fly into a good book at:
www.dragonflyromance.com
11 comments:
Doesn't sound like a funny play to me either, Cindy. I get that they're spoofing or poking fun at different stories. But I have enough trouble thinking haunted houses at Halloween are fun. I wouldn't take a child anywhere people laugh at death.
But that's just me. :)
Cindy, I totally agree with you. About five years ago, one of our daughters was a resident at a mental health facility and all of them were taken to see Thriller. When I asked my daughter about it, she said it was one of the most disturbing things she had ever seen. She said a few of the residents couldn't handle it and had to be taken out of the theater. My daughter's question was the same as mine: Why in the heck did they take suicidal mental patients to see something like that? It just boggles my mind. I definitely won't ever go to see it. Thanks for your post:-)
Jewel, that's awful. Maybe the mental health facility thought it would be something fun like my friends did.
I think more people should protest and ask for their money back.
I have seen this dance production. There are parts that make you laugh, but the darker side is squirm in your seat disturbing. The vampire scene is akin to rape. Who wants to watch that?
Not a family friendly show. Do not take young children.
Some audience leave while the vamp scene goes up and return after.
Then why bother to drag your body there?
I don't find subject matter like that entertaining. I certainly wouldn't go to a show like that. But then I don't even like movies like "Bad Teacher" or "Bridesmaids" where someone is picked on.
And I see lots of parents taking children to movies and plays that I think are totally inappropriate.
That sounds horrible! I have enough problems with the slasher movies and violent video games like these days. I have teenaged grandkids who warn me not to come in the living room when they're watching gory stuff they know will disturb me.
I worked for a social and political activist once who deplored our society's desensitization to violence, when I caught myself exhibiting that very thing. I lived in John Wayne Gacy's neighborhood and when I saw the headline about Jeffrey Dahmer killing 20+ young men, my first thought was, "that isn't so many compared to Gacy." Then I chided myself. One is too many to that young man's family.
No--there is nothing funny about snipers, rape, slashers, or violence, except maybe Emily Litella wondering, "What's all this about violins on TV?"
This is awful! How people like this sleep at night, knowing they are influencing naive minds to commit crimes?
We must join together and pray that God will stop those who write and promote destructive media.
This is NOT a fun time, it's sick and disturbing and the people putting this play on should rethink things like revamping it. I would NEVER go to see something like this
Lily
I don't like most horror movies wiht it's mindless gore, and I certainly wouldn't go see a show like that.
I thought we were moving away from anything that show women as victims?
It doesn't sound wonderful OR fun to me. Boo.
It doesn't sound like anything that I would find remotely amusing. Bah humbug on that Halloween play!
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