Ann Doneen and Ken Swope
In Friday's paper, "Parents want musical stopped" reported that La
Canada High School parent Karen Matheson wants the school district to
halt production on this year's all-school musical, "Bat Boy."
Please know that there are a number of parents who applaud the
district, drama teacher Gale Caswell and the school administration
for bringing some fresh material to our stage, and for having the
depth, wisdom and insight to be able to see that it would be
appropriate for us to stage this production here in La Canada
Flintridge.
The play pierces that oh-so-perfect veneer that comfortable,
upscale communities such as ours can be accused of embracing.
Thought-provoking material brings life to drama and the stage. That
is its purpose: to bend us toward greater consciousness and greater
awareness while entertaining us at the same time. To offer us
insights. To inspire. To direct us to reach -- in our own minds --
greater heights.
It is clearly obvious from the script that this is sophisticated
humor: a joke. To take a satirical play like this seriously is an
insult to our community's literacy level. It is tantamount to
thinking that "Bride of Frankenstein," "Invasion of the Body
Snatchers," "King Kong" and "Godzilla" were on a level with
Shakespeare or Camus. Bat Boy may look familiar to you. He was an
actual cover story in a supermarket tabloid some years ago. It's the
kind of tabloid that sells especially well in supermarkets and
convenience stores in economically depressed areas. Many poorly
educated people there actually believe this stuff and perceive it as
hard news. The authors of the musical merely take the story to the
next step. What if it is true? Half bat and half boy discovered in a
cave!
How would the locals in West Virginia handle the existence of Bat
Boy? How would they react? What would they think? What would happen
to Bat Boy? What would the incident reveal about the residents of
Hope Falls, and more importantly, us? Of course, as the story
unwinds, the residents of "Hope Falls" reveal their extreme
ignorance, narrow-mindedness, hatred and intolerance of anyone who is
unique or different from what they consider to be the norm. They turn
out to be more weird and dangerous than Bat Boy, who just wants to
survive and be accepted for what he is, which he cannot change. The
story is not unlike that of Frankenstein's monster, a timeless,
universal theme brought to the supermarket checkout line -- a good
place for it. And it has great value as social commentary.
