In Small Town, 'Grease' Ignites a Culture War

[sasha031]

FULTON, Mo. — When Wendy DeVore, the drama teacher at Fulton High here, staged the musical "Grease," about high school students in the 1950's, she carefully changed the script to avoid causing offense in this small town.She softened the language, substituting slang for profanity in places. Instead of smoking "weed," the teenagers duck out for a cigarette. She rated the production PG-13, advising parents it was not suitable for small children.

But a month after the performances in November, three letters arrived on the desk of Mark Enderle, Fulton's superintendent of schools. Although the letters did not say so, the three writers were members of a small group linked by e-mail, all members of the same congregation, Callaway Christian Church.Each criticized the show, complaining that scenes of drinking, smoking and a couple kissing went too far, and glorified conduct that the community tries to discourage. One letter, from someone who had not seen the show but only heard about it, criticized "immoral behavior veiled behind the excuse of acting out a play."Dr. Enderle watched a video of the play, ultimately agreeing that "Grease" was unsuitable for the high school, despite his having approved it beforehand, without looking at the script. Hoping to avoid similar complaints in the future, he decided to ban the scheduled spring play, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller."That was me in my worst Joe McCarthy moment, to some," Dr. Enderle said.
He called "The Crucible" "a fine play," but said he dropped it to keep the school from being "mired in controversy" all spring

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/national/11fulton.html?ei=5090&en=69f393f73f12ba55&ex=1297314000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

[Eric J in MN]

1. But the superintendent got three letters.

Imagine if you were a school superintendent and you got three letters from people against a musical (end sarcasm.)

[villager]

2. and thus they prove everything in "The Crucible" to be true

in some ways, I can't wait for these small-minded bigots to deal with the collapse of the culture they will have destroyed -- except for the fact they'll be taking the rest of us with them on their ride to Repressionist Hell...

[Warpy]

3. I just had a Frank Zappa moment

"When your kids find out how lame you really are, they're going to murder you in your beds."

Man, are those kids gonna rebel.

[goforit]

4. Good old Missouri!

Rush Limbaugh
Ken Lay
Oklahoma Bombers
Ashcroft
Rove
Blunts

.....yes, an Evil state indeed.

[Fountain79]

7. You can say what you want about those men

.....yes, an Evil state indeed.

But watch what you say about my state....

Every state produces those that are less than noble.

Missouri was also the same state that produced Mark Twain and Walt Disney.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. and Harry Truman

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. ROVE??

I have never heard he is from MO.

[Fountain79]

11. he wasn't...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove

and neither was Timonthy McVeigh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McVeigh

[left of center]

5. God forbid...

students see the real world depicted in a play!

[JVS]

22. I think that Grease is a very poor representative of this "real world"...

of which you speak.

[Fountain79]

23. You mean...

People don't just break out in song in the real world? :+

[JVS]

24. Not several times within a 2 hour period, that's for damn sure

Also the nostalgic depiction of late-50's/ early-60's High School life is almost certainly going to be inaccurate.

[left of center]

25. I was thinking of sex, profanity and things of that sort.

[Ken Burch]

6. Which chapters of the Bible are teenagers allowed to read in Fulton?

You'd have to keep them away from the Song of Songs. And that Sermon on the Mount is just communist propaganda.

[Eric J in MN]

13. I hope they don't let them read what happened before Moses

led the Jews out of Egypt.

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html

"After God has sufficiently hardened the Pharaoh's heart, he kills all the firstborn Egyptian children. When he was finished 'there was not a house where there was not one dead.' Finally, he runs out of little babies to kill, so he slaughters the firstborn cattle, too."

(end sarcasm)

[glaeken777]

8. meh

Definitely something for news of the weird, but hardly an ACLU moment.

/hates Grease, period

[rucky]

12. Wow 3 people write a letter and they're in the NY TImes

why do we give them so much power?

[Eric J in MN]

14. Because the superintendent listened to them.

If he ignored them, there wouldn't be a story.

[MrSlayer]

15. I don't recall any weed smoking in Grease.

Perhaps the play is different from the movie.

[Eric J in MN]

16. I wrote a blog article

in response to your post:

http://www.speakspeak.org/speak-blog/2006/02/11/ban-on-musical-grease-drama-the-crucible-2/

[JVS]

17. The real shame of the matter is that nobody gets riled up at the fact...

that GREASE SUCKS!

[Eric J in MN]

18. Are there any musicals you like? (nt)

nt

[JVS]

21. As a matter of fact, there are.

Here are three of them



Classicaly bad 1967 Musical from the DDR



Great musical that is entirely sung



At least it has knife fights and death

[high density]

28. I love "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg"

I saw it by accident on TCM last year and I had to go find the DVD immediately. Beautiful film.

[CornField]

19. Seems to me if 3 can get it cancelled, it should only take 6 for a return

Right?

[kevinbgoode]

20. Oh, I think you have to be members of the religiously correct church

but I think it would be fun to sic Fred Phelps on them and demand they not offend HIM. . .then watch their wingnut heads explode.

[NuttyFluffers]

26. well, maybe they can allow "Barney and Kids Sing-along-songs"

oh wait, what was i thinking? Barney is really the Grimace in drag to these culture shocked freaks. And the Grimace has always been the symbol for atheistic hedonism...
:evilgrin:

[high density]

27. Why don't these fools go make some fascist puritan nation on an island

If you don't like "Grease," don't participate in it or watch it. On a band trip in high school I saw "Grease" on broadway and thank God we didn't have assholes like these "Christians" in our class.

The banning of "The Crucible" is hilarious. What great times we live in. God Bless America!