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It just felt wrong seeing the Princess Diaries "girls" in Brokeback Mountain. Hathaway definitely doesn't add to the argument here. |
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Agree on the comparison. |
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I was in a production of Equus in college, and it was strange doing the play with an eighteen-year old and nineteen-year old playing the male and female parts. We didn't go nude (he was in briefs and she in bra and panties), but it was still pretty intense. It's an amazing play. |
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I was initially cast as the male lead in Equus while studying abroad, but we were informed that no funding for us if we did that play, so I turned into the bellboy in "What the Butler Saw," by Joe Orton. I was willing to go so far as undies, but even at that, stupid censorious Oxonians. |
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Anyone else think the backlash would have been much more pronounced if it were Anne Hathaway or Hilary Duff up there onstage? |
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It's been a few years since I last read or saw Equus, but I'm surprised by Benner's view that a mature 12- or 14-year old would get it. Putting aside the nudity (to which I say, "get a grip, world"), it's a pretty disturbing play. |
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I do think there's a real difference between taking your kid to see Equus and taking your kid to see a peep show, but 12-14 strikes me as a bit to young for Equus regardless - that's a seriously intesnse play, even without taking into account the Harry-Potter-nekkid angle. |
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Not only disturbing, but complex as well. I'll openly admit to not getting all of its depth as an eighteen-year old. |
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Harvard Equus 1992ish -- full-blown nakedness. |
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I admit that I am not familiar with this play, so cannot contribute an opinion. In a related news story, though, three girls in Westchester Country received a 1 day school suspension for using the word "vagina" in an open mic event where they performed a piece from the Vagina Monologues. The principal says they were suspended because they said they wouldn't use the word during their piece. Not sure how the girls planned to do the piece without saying "vagina" and not sure how the principal actually believed them. The whole thing is crazy. |
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I saw Equus when I was 15 at the American Repertory Theater. It did not faze me at that age, but it might well have fazed me at 12 or 13. |
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right -- i mean, they could follow the plot, and know what a psychiatrist is and does. And by that age, they at least would understand that "actors" do multiple roles, and that Harry and Alan are not the same. |
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My wife's college also did a full-nudity production of Equus while we were in school. And it was a fairly small school. That's what always got me about the Amherst Caligula production -- the actors knew they would literally be sitting in class with audience members in the days after the performances. More power to them. |
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Not to mention that Hathaway's "fashion ingénue" in Prada wore sexy lingerie, had sex with more than one partner, drank and swore. Granted, it was absolutely tame, but it's not exactly Harry Potter or Princess Diaries, which are FOR KIDS, while Prada is not. |
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Actually, at least in the U.S., isn't it kind of the flip side of the male/female divide in movies? Actresses sometimes use a nude scene to demonstrate that they are "serious" about their craft (e.g., Halle Berry), while male nudity is viewed as more taboo. |
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Matt, would you be referring to Halle Berry's decision to appear nude in Monster's Ball, or Halle Berry's decision to appear nude in Swordfish? |
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I lock the door and do a full-nude Equus in my office window every day right at sunset, although I didn't know it was called Equus until this thread. |
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The former. There's "vulnerability!" nakedness which wins you awards, and "cash-in!" nakedness. |
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I'm just waiting for the torrent of Google hits from "Anne Hathaway" + nude. Still won't beat the continuing fascination with Swan Brooner for directing random folks to the site, though. |
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I thought there was a bit of a kerfuffle when word about Hathaway in "Havoc" got out, especially considering that it was screened in approximately five theaters nationwide. |
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Tracy - I'm pretty sure the girls knew that they couldn't get away with doing "The Vagina Monologues" without saying "vagina" and that they did it as a form of protest for being told they couldn't say it. Or something like that. |
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Actually, we'll probably get more hits from "Hilary Duff" + nude, since there are sites that offer the "real thing" for Hathaway. |
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When I did Sweeney Todd in high school, the principal (after two of four weeks of rehearsal went by) threatened to cancel the production after realizing that the words "piss" and "shit" are in the play. (He approved the script but didn't apprarently, you know, read it). We managed to squeak by by having the world be full of "it" and for Pirelli's Miracle Elixir to be made of "spit" and ink. Good times. |
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When I played Jesus in Godspell in high school, the principal told me not to tell people to smoke and drink wine during the intermission (which is in the script). My drama teacher told me to say it anyway. I don't remember what I did, but I'm pretty sure no one gave a flying rat butt anyway. My drama teacher thought he was being all subversive by casting a chick as Jesus, but no one seemed to care about that either. Probably the most controversial thing about the whole thing was that we did Godspell at a public school. But, again, no one cared. |
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As it happens, I caught Havoc on cable the other night and was pretty well unimpressed by the film as a whole, particularly given the behind-the-scenes pedigrees (Barbara Kopple directed, Steve Gaghan co-scripted). Not to say Hathaway wasn't the highlight in several respects. There was something of a hue and cry at the time of release, but, as L.I. notes, no one saw it, so no one cared for long. |
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I'm not terribly bothered by the girls getting suspended for saying vagina when they said they wouldn't. We had to rewrite all sorts of stuff in plays when I was in high school. (We did M*A*S*H* and my script is covered in those sorts of edits.) I'm sure the principal only gave permission becaue they said they wouldn't use the word. That's pretty standard principal behavior, and it doesn't bother me. |
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Marsha, I'm a little bothered. I mean is vagina really a bad word like shit and piss? I should probably stay off the soap box since I haven't read the story, and there is something to be said for following the rules ... but, still, my gut reaction says we should be alright with young women talking about the vagina. We seem to be okay with them running around half-naked in dance team outfits. |
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Just to be clear, it's alright for young men to talk about vaginas too, right? Right?? |
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Lucy, who turns 4 in May, knows to say "vagina" -- her pediatrician's influence. But then, sometimes: "Daddy, I have a joke: girls have penises and boys have vaginas! Ha ha ha!" |
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Funny, Adam! My daughter, same age, thinks that one's hilarious, too. |
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Nothing a viewing of Kindergarten Cop won't cure. |
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Or The Crying Game, I suppose. |
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3under5, I'm not saying I agree with the principal for banning the word in the first place, but it's not out of the ordinary as a word to ban in a school performance. What I do agree with is that if they agreed to take out the word, then they should be punished for putting it back in. One day's suspension seems apt (although I've always thought suspension was a dumb punishment in the first place). |
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