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A Response
To the Editor:
I would like to respond to Ms. Freeman's letter of the 10th, and as a father with a daughter in said production of RENT, I would like to challenge some of her points.
I must admit to having been ignorant of the musical in question before my 15-year-old daughter came home, so excited over possibly being able to do this musical with her friends. Being a parent who wanted to support his daughter and also find out more about the things she is interested in, I first rented the 2005 movie adaptation, and then the film of the 2008 final performance.
On the surface, it is easy to say that perhaps Ms. Freeman's assessment of the musical is right, if one did not listen to the music or lyrics, and only focused on the character's lifestyles, whether agreed with or not. But one does not have to agree with the lifestyles to see the universal ideas within the plot: the desire for family, for connection, for love. To have to cope with the loss of a life partner, to cope with terminal illness. The desire to do something lasting, with meaning, for social justice.
Take away the things that might seem strange or objectionable to a person, and you have things that all of us have dealt with or will deal with. While the musical itself may be controversial, the ideas behind it are as old and universal as humankind.
Not so long ago, our teenagers were making decisions about who they would marry, and entering into business relationships or apprenticeships. A summer job at 15 could become a career by 18 for some.
We are doing our children no favors by infantilizing them. The goal of adolescence is to create an adult. If we withhold the opportunities to make adult decisions, how does this happen.
The kids in SLUSHiE are good kids. They have asked for very little adult guidance or help in accomplishing their goals, and have worked tirelessly to bring their dream to fruition. In my opinion, they have earned our respect and trust.
I encourage every free-thinking adult in Lima and surrounding communities to come out to this production. I believe we will all be pleasantly surprised.
Respectfully submitted,
Ned Stride-White, Ph.D.
Lima, Ohio
I would like to respond to Ms. Freeman's letter of the 10th, and as a father with a daughter in said production of RENT, I would like to challenge some of her points.
I must admit to having been ignorant of the musical in question before my 15-year-old daughter came home, so excited over possibly being able to do this musical with her friends. Being a parent who wanted to support his daughter and also find out more about the things she is interested in, I first rented the 2005 movie adaptation, and then the film of the 2008 final performance.
On the surface, it is easy to say that perhaps Ms. Freeman's assessment of the musical is right, if one did not listen to the music or lyrics, and only focused on the character's lifestyles, whether agreed with or not. But one does not have to agree with the lifestyles to see the universal ideas within the plot: the desire for family, for connection, for love. To have to cope with the loss of a life partner, to cope with terminal illness. The desire to do something lasting, with meaning, for social justice.
Take away the things that might seem strange or objectionable to a person, and you have things that all of us have dealt with or will deal with. While the musical itself may be controversial, the ideas behind it are as old and universal as humankind.
Not so long ago, our teenagers were making decisions about who they would marry, and entering into business relationships or apprenticeships. A summer job at 15 could become a career by 18 for some.
We are doing our children no favors by infantilizing them. The goal of adolescence is to create an adult. If we withhold the opportunities to make adult decisions, how does this happen.
The kids in SLUSHiE are good kids. They have asked for very little adult guidance or help in accomplishing their goals, and have worked tirelessly to bring their dream to fruition. In my opinion, they have earned our respect and trust.
I encourage every free-thinking adult in Lima and surrounding communities to come out to this production. I believe we will all be pleasantly surprised.
Respectfully submitted,
Ned Stride-White, Ph.D.
Lima, Ohio