Disclaimer for racial insensitivity in Peter Pan Jr.?

[DisneyJamieCA]

There will not be video of the production. When you rent a production to perform, you agree to no video or audio recordings. Making a video or audio is a violation of the copyright laws and against the law.

It’s a big assumption that parents/audience won’t film it. We don’t allow filming of the shows at my kids’ dance school - it doesn’t stop parents from doing it on the sly.

 

[monsterkitty]

It’s a big assumption that parents/audience won’t film it. We don’t allow filming of the shows at my kids’ dance school - it doesn’t stop parents from doing it on the sly.

At the beginning of every performance an announcement is to be made stating that video and audio recordings are not allowed. It is also in the program. It's the same as if you went to Broadway to watch a show. They make the same announcement. The establishment, school or professional theatre, is supposed to monitor the audience. Obviously you aren't going to catch everything but the establishment has to make more than a good faith attempt to monitor the audience.

In my district parents who felt they didn't have to obey by the rules were asked to leave. We then documented the incident in case the company in which we rented the show from had questions. We didn't want to be fined for copyright infringement.

 

[tzolkin]

Is it though? I believe the attire followed a lifestyle. We may think of it in terms of fashion but for many it represented how they lived and while I get the OP's point hippie is a stereotype too just one they don't see an issue with (but someone else could).

You can't possibly believe that wearing "hippie" style clothing is the same thing as mocking a race of people and using words like savages, squaw, pickaninny and descriptions like "cunning but not intelligent" and doing a gibberish impression of their speech.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm the accompanist for our Middle School musical next fall, and the director has decided to put on Peter Pan Jr. As much as I LOVE Peter Pan, I don't love the way the Indigenous People are portrayed. My daughter and I can't really understand why they are portrayed as American Indians anyway --- did Peter Pan fly the kids all the way from London to America??? So weird.
[snip]

Because of the popularity of tales of the American West, even before western movies, kids in Europe were fond of playing "cowboys and indians" just as they were here. I'm old enough to remember being dragooned into playing that game all the time as a child; but I don't remember my kids ever doing it (but that may be because neither of the adults in this house are fans of Westerns. We've never been fascinated by the "lure of the West". As it happens, I'm not a fan of land grabs of any kind, but that's not really why I'm not a fan of Westerns; I just never cared for the genre.)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You can't possibly believe that wearing "hippie" style clothing is the same thing as mocking a race of people and using words like savages, squaw, pickaninny and descriptions like "cunning but not intelligent" and doing a gibberish impression of their speech.

Of course I'm not comparing the two and I do believe most who know my posting style wouldn't assume I was. I do believe it's easy to fall into that line of thinking instead of looking at it in a neutral standpoint. It's not a competition, not everything is.

'Hippie' is not a fashion statement. It's normally a lifestyle from sustainable living (like hemp clothing, minimalistic living, more natural living) to less governmental control to freer living outside of the confines of societal expectations and so much more. It's honestly an insult to people to just say hippie is a fashion choice (and who would have thunk I'm here defending it lol), but I know the poster who said that didn't mean it that way. To the OP hippie is a non-offensive thing suitable to swapping it out. I was just saying hippie is a stereotype, but one they are more comfortable with seeing, it's still a stereotype none the less which I believe was the poster who first commented was getting at. If the issue is stereotypes, which I understand, swapping out doesn't really fix the issue does it? It just makes it more palatable to at least some.

 

[mjkacmom]

There will not be video of the production. When you rent a production to perform, you agree to no video or audio recordings. Making a video or audio is a violation of the copyright laws and against the law.

Our high school has a video of every production that the cast can buy, I’ve seen it video’d on the night when a local theater company (papermill) comes to judge it.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

You can't possibly believe that wearing "hippie" style clothing is the same thing as mocking a race of people and using words like savages, squaw, pickaninny and descriptions like "cunning but not intelligent" and doing a gibberish impression of their speech.

They weren't doing that at all. I don't really care about hippie not hippie but I think you might have proven their point because you just reduced it to just hippie style clothing. Is it just a Halloween costume to people? I doubt people would see a problem with it and even the author of the thread said a version they saw with that was 'hilarious' but perhaps that's a problem in itself.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

If this is being done across the country I wonder, like another person, are there issues all over for this? For 'neutralizing' the characters why not have them be in normal clothing. Why do they have to dress up as something else?

 

[JimMIA]

To me, the real question in this thread is OP's proper role in the production.

The issue is not whether some parent will video the performance and publish it, causing the sky to fall in.

OP is the accompanist and types the content of the program. OP saw a potential problem and properly asked both the director of the event, and the school principal whether a disclaimer is needed.

Both said no. The answer is no. It's not OP's place to overrule those in charge.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

There will not be video of the production. When you rent a production to perform, you agree to no video or audio recordings. Making a video or audio is a violation of the copyright laws and against the law.

I wonder if that depends on the exact production someone is renting and the capacity of their rental and looking at the terms and conditions of that?

 

[Karin1984]

To me, the real question in this thread is OP's proper role in the production.

The issue is not whether some parent will video the performance and publish it, causing the sky to fall in.

OP is the accompanist and types the content of the program. OP saw a potential problem and properly asked both the director of the event, and the school principal whether a disclaimer is needed.

Both said no. The answer is no. It's not OP's place to overrule those in charge.

I agree, she has raised the question, the people in charge didn't agree, and that's it.
I had it once myself, a director made a choice just for shock-value. I didn't agree with that, I told him, he decided to not do anything with it. That's was it.

If there is something else she can do is rally the parents or alert the newspaper.

 

[JimMIA]

If there is something else she can do is rally the parents or alert the newspaper.

Those would be tactics if OP was trying to be disruptive -- but I don't think that's the case here at all.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If this is being done across the country I wonder, like another person, are there issues all over for this? For 'neutralizing' the characters why not have them be in normal clothing. Why do they have to dress up as something else?

Interesting point, didn't think of that. I don't see any reason why they couldn't just be in everyday clothes if things are being requested to be changed. Honestly it's probably easier to just not have the production but thinking of ways to adjust the program at least brings an awareness I suppose.

 

[daisyx3]

OP, if you are that upset, maybe you should pass on being the accompanist? And I wouldn't add any type of disclaimer without the OK of the director. One of my daughter's was in Peter Pan in HS (she was a pirate LOL) and there were no disclaimers. I feel sorry for directors who have to choose shows and wonder who they might be offending. You can't do Sound of Music every time!

 

[disneyseniors]

Speaking as a grandmother of a native American, I can give his view of this. He just shook his head and couldn't believe there was an issue with PP. Afterall, it portrays kids Playing as Indians. So, I don't think there is any "racial" issue at all, unless we try to make one.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

At the beginning of every performance an announcement is to be made stating that video and audio recordings are not allowed. It is also in the program. It's the same as if you went to Broadway to watch a show. They make the same announcement. The establishment, school or professional theatre, is supposed to monitor the audience. Obviously you aren't going to catch everything but the establishment has to make more than a good faith attempt to monitor the audience.

In my district parents who felt they didn't have to obey by the rules were asked to leave. We then documented the incident in case the company in which we rented the show from had questions. We didn't want to be fined for copyright infringement.

I understand that. The same thing happens at our productions. The same mitigation factors are taken. It doesn’t stop everybody. So your claim that there will be NO video out there is naive.

I’m not saying what should happen, I’m talking about the reality of it.

 

[kymom99]

OP, if you are that upset, maybe you should pass on being the accompanist? And I wouldn't add any type of disclaimer without the OK of the director. One of my daughter's was in Peter Pan in HS (she was a pirate LOL) and there were no disclaimers. I feel sorry for directors who have to choose shows and wonder who they might be offending. You can't do Sound of Music every time!

The class the year before my sons did once upon a mattress. The bishop of our diocese wasn’t happy because of the pregnancy in the story line. Before my son’s class production, he personally called the director and warned her that there better not be anything offensive. A little overkill in my opinion but I guess there’s always going to be someone.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

It's not correct to portray another ethnicity as a stereotype. It's cringeworthy, and right up there with stereotyping Chinese people saying "ching-chong ching chong" all the time. But I can't see this being the hill to die on, either. I think putting in a disclaimer will make people in the audience hyper focused on the scenes in question, giving them the attention they *don't* deserve.

 

[Allison]

Since I'm also in charge of typing up the program, I wondered if some sort of "disclaimer" might be in order??

Typing up the program doesn't give you the authority to add something like this. Leave it alone in that regard.

 

[Malfie Cent]

Has rehearsal started yet? Who knows, maybe things will be changed before the actual production.
If it isn't then there isn't anything else you can do, you should not be taking it upon yourself to add any disclaimers to the program.