Last Sunday, I went to see the final performance of “Playa Bonita,” a comedia musical for kids. The cast included two first-year girls from USal who invited me to come see it.
I won’t lie: I enjoyed myself immensely, possibly even more than the two-to-six-year-olds that made up the rest of the audience. The cast had an unbelievable amount of energy and talent, and everything was colorful, exaggerated, and ridiculous.
There were a few scenes that made Alli and I, progressive New England liberal arts college students that we are, nudge each other and exchange horrified looks. Another page in my book “Political Correctness: Buenos Aires vs. Vassar.”
In a cast of ten, there was only one male actor, and there were entire songs (yes, more than one) about how all of the women lose their minds over him, turn on each other in pursuit of him, and need him to teach them to do things like swim and assemble lawn chairs. Not exactly what I would want my daughter – or son, for that matter – to see and learn from.
There was also a song and dance – an albeit entertaining, well-danced, well-sung number – about the Chinese Mafia, featuring Mulan-style warrior hats and phrases in fake Mandarin. Once again, SO NOT OKAY in the States. When I’ve attempted to breach the subject of racism here, I’ve heard the explanation that this country was built by Catholics (i.e. party people), while my country was built by Puritans (i.e. a bunch of squares). While I don’t advocate for rigid political correctness, I still think it’s wrong to encourage kids to do things like imitate r-less accents for fun (which happened in this show). I should also add that the Puritans were not exactly the most politically correct people ever to grace the Earth – the world would be quite different if they had been! And Thanksgiving would be a lot less ironic!
I could go on, but I’ll try to cut this tangent short for your sake, dear readers. For now, I’ll end with this quote, which I find appropriate:
“Well, call me a purist, but I don’t think cheese should be crunchy.”
(Bonus points to anyone who can identify the source!)
Besos,
Isa
P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject of political correctness, political correctness abroad, etc. If your collegiate brains aren’t yet completely exhausted by the subject.
Daria!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Scotland is pretty politically correct. But in a very different way then America. They are reserved, and British, and therefore don't really discuss difficult things unless they must. It seems effective, but my liberal arts brain was always itching for some debate. Sounds like Argentinians would find them especially dull.