| Boredom? Turn on the news, read about the hate and anger that virtually defines this conflict and tell me if you're bored | |
| Posted by: fm_15 01:29 am EST 01/09/18 | |
| In reply to: The Band's Visit, A Study in Boredom - Singapore/Fling 12:20 am EST 01/05/18 | |
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| The more I read from the "dissenters" the more I am deeply saddened . Yes I know...different strokes for different folks...but it's just so disappointing to hear people miss the achingly beautiful connection this story is about-- a connection between two wildly different worlds hellbent on wiping the other out of existence. There is a mini-thread below sparked by one post-er's outrageous claim that there is not much of a story because Egypt and Israel have signed a peace treaty and *obviously* that means they're the best of friends (!!!??) . I invite anyone feeling this way to take a trip for his or herself to Israel and the occupied territories and experience the fraught tension between the Islamic and Zionist cultures and come back and dare say that there isn't much of a conflict. Denying this tension that lays the premise for the show is plain stupid -- might as well deny climate change or that cigarettes cause lung cancer. If you fully grasp the intensity of this conflict then every scene turns into nail-biter -- the awkwardness, the miscommunication, the silences -- they're not "boring" scenes but rather quite exciting because you're at the edge of your seat wondering who's going to say what next? who's going to do what next? will one misinterpret the other? who's going to offend who first? How can anyone think the conflict in this story is boring??? Then comes the gorgeous beauty of the connection. The small, very human, very basic ways that the characters from the opposing cultures reach out to understand each other and empathize is so dreamy and optimistic. It casts a hopeful light on such a dark subject. Specifically, the way Dina and Tawfiq bonded over old Egyptian movies was one of the most romantic scenes I've seen in a musical in a long time. I also loved the soulful, bluesy song Haled sings to teach the shy Israreli how to woo girls because it's so unexpected (the Muslim teaching the Israeli how to be a player and using Western styled music to do it, not the other way around). I understand how tastes can differ and I would understand it if something truly taste-dependent like the styling of the music wasn't pleasing to everyone's ear. But the beauty of the story lies in the very basic, very human, very *decent* emotions experienced by the characters (like longing, empathy, a desire to bond and understand) and it's baffling to me that the naysayers can't share in these feelings that I would have thought were universal. |
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