I had the opportunity to go to the play Thoroughly Modern Millie at the little Hale Center Theater in Orem this week, and it was really fun! I'm always impressed by the surround-stage set up, the sets, the costumes and the acting at these plays.
While I was watching this play however, there were a couple of things that did rub me the wrong way, especially since we've been learning about analyzing media. The play was written in the 60's, which really wasn't that long ago, but it shows in the amount of blatant racism and sexism displayed in the writing. There was a good deal of mockery of Asian culture, and they referred to kidnapping and the servitude of young women as "white slavery" as if that was worse than enslaving individuals of different colors. There was also a good deal of sexualizing the women in the play, even the protagonist who was portrayed as a strong and determined young woman, was shown as an object.
It was really sad to realize these things about this play, but it did provide for some great discussion with my sisters and my husband, which was really nice!
While I was watching this play however, there were a couple of things that did rub me the wrong way, especially since we've been learning about analyzing media. The play was written in the 60's, which really wasn't that long ago, but it shows in the amount of blatant racism and sexism displayed in the writing. There was a good deal of mockery of Asian culture, and they referred to kidnapping and the servitude of young women as "white slavery" as if that was worse than enslaving individuals of different colors. There was also a good deal of sexualizing the women in the play, even the protagonist who was portrayed as a strong and determined young woman, was shown as an object.
It was really sad to realize these things about this play, but it did provide for some great discussion with my sisters and my husband, which was really nice!
I saw a production of this a couple years ago, my cousin's high school did it one year! It does bring up some interesting points but I am glad that you could have some good conversations with others about the content of the play!
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