"Jihad: The Musical" - can we laugh at terrorism with no offense for the victims?

[demoleft]

I'm just now reading this in The Guardian and I want to share with you. It's about a musical presented at the Edinburgh Fringe, and that has caused upset and even a petition addressed to Downing Street:

The story.
"Jihad: The Musical tells the story of a 'hapless Afghan peasant' who falls into the hands of would-be jihadi terrorists and includes barnstorming numbers such as 'I Wanna Be Like Osama' alongside the more romantic 'I Only See Your Eyes'. The content of the show may well be irreverent, featuring as it will a pink burkha-wearing chorus line touting automatic weapons, but before the curtain even goes up a petition has been launched calling for a ban on the production."

The hero, Sayid al-Boom, is first lured by a "veiled, poppy-exporting femme fatale" and then manipulated "by a sinister reporter and so caught, emblematically speaking, 'between the terrorists and bloodthirsty global media'."

Simply a comedy musical, says the producer
"In response to calls for the show to be closed down before its opening night on Wednesday, James Lawler, the show's producer, has said: 'We have no intention of causing offence or insult with this show. It is simply a comedy musical, following the British tradition of high-kicking, high-spirited, musical theater, about a fictional Afghan poppy farmer who falls in love with the wrong person and finds himself caught in a dilemma.'"

"To make the best of a bad situation", says the producer, who speaks of "tactful writing".
The British author, Zoe Samuel, says the Muslims who have read the script were not offended and some, comedians, want to represent it in NY.

Link to the complete article in The Guardian: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/edinburgh2007/story/0,,2137246,00.html

The petition against it
As to the detractors, here's the link to the petition to UK government:
"The idea of making light of muslim extremism is extremely offensive, most especially for its victims. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival promotes such 'artistic license' without due consideration for those parties who may be offended by this 'musical.'"

The petition, here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/jihadmusical/#detail

More on the subject
The BBC reports:
"A satirical musical about Islamic terrorism is causing protest ahead of its premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe."
And:
"Composer Ben Scheuer defended the production, telling BBC Radio 4 it was 'controversial because it is relevant'."
Link to BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6922814.stm

The Edimburgh Fringe Festival on the show:
"Jihad: The Musical
Sensational new musical comedy set to incite violent applause and a new cult following. Featuring insightful satirical sequences including 'I Wanna Be Like Osama'. The West shall not be won (again) so long as we have a high-kicking chorus line!"
The link to the Festival: http://www.edfringe.com/shows/detail.php?action=shows&id=4874

The Edinburgh Paper: "Jihad: The Musical has come under fire for being staged so soon after the failed terror attacks in Glasgow and London". (More: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1186232007)

My opinion
Surely feelings are delicate strings to touch in everyone.
I personally think that one may see the show before even hinting at such a thing as forbidding - which I don't like in any case.
I think in the history of theater horror and sorrow have always had a place on the stage. If I only think about elizabethan tragedies or some cruel comedies full of deceit and treachery...

The subject "terrorism" has always sparkled violent reactions when represented some way.
Some say it's worth laughing at it to ridicule its folly and devoid it of its strength: the terror.
Some say such a thing is no matter for art as it ends with blowing the victims' feelings and memories.

I'm for the first opinion. Terror feeds on terror, not on laughter.
What do you think about that?

[TygrBright]

1. I think laughing at them is a more effective way of fighting them...

...than giving them a wall to push against.

This production looks like it has something in it to offend everyone, and what's more democratic than that?

Did "The Producers" mock the pain of Hitler's victims?

Have the myriad skits, sketches, and scenes in American TV and movies that have made fun of the KKK mock the pain of the KKKs victims? ("Blazing Saddles" comes to mind, among others...)

I think the fastest way to yank recruiting power from under someone or something ('thing' as in, 'idea' or 'concept' etc.) is to make it look ridiculous. Few of the pathetically inadequate, self-hating nonentities that seek self-empowerment through association with something BIG! and SCARY!! are gonna join up with something that's getting roundly laughed at.

opinionatedly,
Bright

[demoleft]

4. Charles Chaplin, The Great Dictator (1940)

Thank you Bright. Just the pic of a master:

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ciao

[Wilber_Stool]

2. Only if you can do it as well as

Mel Brooks.

[iamahaingttta]

3. "America... Fuck yeah!

We're here again to save the motherfucking day, YEAH!!!"

I laughed at Team America. It was all about terrorism. And "our" stupid response to it.