Is it just me? Or have Broadway audiences become completely prudish? Well, maybe not exactly prudish but... Why is it that these days an actor need merely utter "Fuck you!" to another actor on stage in order to evoke paroxysms of hysterical laughter from the audience, most notably from the orchestra section. It's as if these people had never before heard such language.
But surely they have. If they've been to a movie -- any American movie, practically! -- in the past decade,
they've surely been showered with enough fucks, shits, bitches, and pussies to last a lifetime.
So why is it that immediately upon sitting in a darkened Broadway theatre, the effect of the four-letter word suddenly becomes so discomfiting? It's as if these people have hypnotized themselves into believing themselves a kind of gilded aristocracy. In fact, at times, I've noted a certain pseudo-British affect in some of the more pointed giggling. Some of them start to sound much like Madonna has in recent interviews.
I wonder if this might be a reflection of the ever-widening gap between the upper and lower classes in this country. As those with cash increasingly see themselves as elite members of a privileged set, perhaps they begin to identify with many of the superficial accoutrement of the Idea of Aristocracy. One obvious one being: a shocked aspect in the face of guttural prose. And what better place to act the part than inside a gorgeous Rococo theatre on a Saturday night after having spent $300 for dinner and another $220 for tickets?
Or am I just a paranoid bitter pill who resents the people who don't have to think twice before dropping $111 on an orchestra seat?
Hmm... You tell me.
