A New Era
On Oct. 20, a crowd gathered in front of the Metropolitan Opera in protest of the opera The Death of Klinghoffer. Klinghoffer, the story of a disabled tourist who was tragically shot by terrorists, has received barrages of criticism since its opening 23 years ago. Accusations of anti-Semitism and pro-terrorist content came from both ends of the political spectrum in only the second bipartisan coalition since Women in Senate during the 2013 government shutdown. Critics floated conspiracies of taxpayer money misused in some sort of violent agenda.Meanwhile, two operas, both lavishly expensive, went up on stage: The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. Both have extreme misogynistic overtones, not to mention multiple instances of implied sexual assault, among other things. Neither opera was met with any protests; no cries of misused tax dollars, both productions being met with praise for their artistry and music.These circumstances are not at all unusual, yet there is very clearly something wrong with them. Throughout history, the politics in opera has been fiercely debated, particularly with regards to "the plight of the oppressed." The modern debate has boiled down to whether representing a terrorist with anything less than disgust is sympathy or empathy. Furthermore, critics ask whether the Met was wise in its decision to put on a production.
Fear of anti-Semitism should not be discounted; in a time of rising anti-Semitism (or, depending on whom you ask, anti-Zionism), it is important that even artistic organizations observe their boundaries.
The Met canceled the Simulcast airing of its production in movie theaters around the world, citing a "concern that the opera could be used in foreign countries to stir up anti-Israel sentiments." The composer, John Adams, denounced the cancellation as a "deeply regrettable decision that ends in promoting the same kind of intolerance that the opera's detractors claim to be preventing."The very fact that an artistic reimagining of real events that is not "anti-Semitism in itself," according to the Anti-Defamation League, is taking more heat for its message than the numerous other operas that trivialize horrible issues like sexual assault and misogyny is worrying. In a recent opera performance, fellow Exonians and I felt uncomfortable applauding between arias because, despite the quality of music, we felt we were coming dangerously close to applauding a count assaulting his servant. When we applauded after Papageno’s aria in which he contemplates suicide, we questioned whether we were applauding suicide in itself.All in all, the fact that protesters have prioritized Klinghoffer, with signs proclaiming "The Met is taking terrorist $$$" over operas with truly harmful messages is ludicrous. Though free speech should be protected to its utmost, if protestors should be protesting about anything it should be the operas we call "wholesome art" simply because they are old. It is time protestors of the American art scene rethink their priorities in terms of serious social issues instead of making ludicrous accusations of the opera society. Pieces like Klinghoffer revive discussion in the opera community, but the discussion should not be centered around "to stage or not to stage." We need pieces like Klinghoffer: art for a new era.