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Osama for Kids

Entry 78, on 2004-11-02 at 12:44:05 (Rating 2, News)

There was an interesting article in the Herald this morning about a pantomime which was produced in Auckland to raise funds for a children's charitable trust. The pantomime ended with an appearance by Osama bin Laden (not the real one, you understand, but an actor) singing the old Sinatra song, "New York, New York!"

I have two thoughts on this. The first is wow, someone was either really brave or really naive to think of doing this at all, especially in a production for children. The second is, I think nothing should be outside the scope of satire and political comment. I can imagine myself seeing this production and just being totally impressed at the surreal nature of such an ending. And having political comment aimed at adults in a childrens' production is OK, the Simpsons does it brilliantly all the time.

The director claimed there was no reference to the September 11 attack intended in the production but, come on, Osama bin Laden singing "New York, New York" having no reference to 9/11. Who's he kidding?

So there we go, something I can't make up my mind about. I appreciate extreme satire and pushing the boundaries of what is considered proper but making a reference to such a tragic event in a kids' play is perhaps pushing things a bit too far.

Comment 1 (229) by GB on 2006-07-27 at 14:22:20:

How can you say that? Making fun of something which caused so much suffering is obviously not acceptable. And exposing kids to that is criminal. What kind of weird place is New Zealand?

Comment 2 (230) by OJB on 2006-07-27 at 22:53:44:

Well maybe its obvious to you, but I'm saying that I can't decide whether I find it acceptable or not. I suppose its a personal thing. What kind of weird place is New Zealand? Good question. I always thought it is not very weird at all. But this sort of story renews my faith that we can do weird stuff just like everyone else!

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