Dear God, are these people for real?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071002/ap_on_fe_st/odd_shakespeare_yanked_1

Answer 1

I will go off on a tangent here: I love Shakespeare, I think it is some form of abuse to expose children to a Readers Digest version of Shakespeare. The entire work of Shakespeare in two hours!? A decent rendition of Henry VI takes more than that.

The same goes for that horrible price of tripe called Shakespeare in Love a few years ago.

WHEW! That felt good!

Answer 2

Yeah, they probably are for real, though sometimes I've questioned the validity of some the stories on Yahoo News or at least the spin they put on them. Sometimes people get really weird about what their kids are exposed to, and anything even remotely involving sex sends up bells and whistles, because as we all know if you hear the word 'penis' three times in a row your daughter will magically become an atheist, be impregnated by someone from whatever race you really dislike and run away to join the circus. It's overprotective to say the least.

Answer 3

For starters, most of Shakespeare's sonnets and plays are about romance, and yes that includes mildly suggestive things.

Secondly, shouldn't the parents have had to have signed a release form or something? You know, a field trip permission slip?

Thirdly, I agree with whoever mentioned it first. They should have researched the play they were going to be viewing BEFORE causing a ruckus at the performance center.

Answer 4

I can't say that I'm surprised. After all, this is the same country that banned Mark Twain's books from school for using the n-word (not that I approve of using it, but contextually...well, that's what they said back then. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn never used it with any malice - in fact, Huck was friends with a runaway slave.)

You see and hear much worse on TV these days (even G.W.Bush has dropped the f-bomb in public on occasion.) It's a sad world we live in.

Answer 5

Chaucer, Suzanne!

I haven't seen the show, but there is certainly plenty in Shakespeare that could be considered offensive in modern eyes. For example, the way they talked.

I think people in those ages ( especially Chaucer's time) were less prudish than we are. Or maybe I should say more natural.

Answer 6

That is awful! Shakespeare is a classic and the children should learn his works...I mean the Simpson's(which I love by the way) has had ALOT of controversial subjects on regular TV for over 20 years...yet they want to stop this? That is simply crazy!

Answer 7

Yeah, Shakespeare has been known for corrupting school kids and leading them into a life of crime these past few hundred years.
When I see these kids on the streets walking around with their gang buddies and holding metal pipes and switch blades in their hands they're almost always arguing about Shakespeare's use of iambic pentameter or Hamlet's state of mind when he begins the "To be or not to be" speech.

Answer 8

Oh, yes, they are for real and they are everywhere. I like to call them the "Naughty Patrol." In the past, they were called "bluenoses." In reality, they are called Authoritarian Conservatives as opposed to the libertarian conservatives such as Barry Goldwater. They truly believe that they have the right to decide for others what they can see, hear and do, and they believe that they are always right.

Answer 9

Indeed, the exhortation is: "forbid(law) them not";
The reason for it involves a "millstone" neck tie.
Matthew 19:14; Mt 18:6 ... Revelation 18:21,22

Answer 10

Yes, they are for real, and they obviously have nothing else to worry about. A similar thing happened with my English class at a performance of Romeo & Juliet, so this is nothing new.