Ranting.

Here is a rant from a paper. I'm deleting the last paragraph. I just had to get it out. It's been building up all weekend. Please note that I'm extremely fatigued and it's 2 am. Words don't come as easily at 2 am.

I couldn’t read Angels in America. After two “f” words on the second page, I was done. I really don’t think we should be required to read something with that kind of language in a class at BYU. I am grateful we were given permission to not read it, but personally, I don’t think it should have been considered for the curriculum at all. Our standards shouldn’t have to be lowered just so we can “branch out.” Especially at BYU, because we are supposed to have standards here, whether or not it's cool.
I don’t know why something has to be controversial or shocking in order to be considered ‘good art.’ In one of my classes, someone said, “Watching good people doing good things is boring.” Why? Why is that boring? I don’t think it is. I guess it depends on what one considers the purpose of art to be. I think that art should be uplifting. We shouldn’t be afraid to talk about issues, but the films and plays that are out there are mostly done by inactive (or ex) members who have a bone to pick with some aspect about the Church and want to exploit it for gain.
On a personal note, doing theater for the Church has been the greatest theater experience I’ve ever had. When someone says that Savior of the World is manipulating, what theatrical experience isn’t? People use key changes for a reason. Isn’t the purpose of art to evoke some sort of emotion? Any theatrical experience is meant to evoke some emotion, so isn’t every theatrical experience manipulative? Les Miserables uses every trick in the book to evoke emotion, but the message behind it- “to love another person is to see the face of God”- is still true. Do you go to Les Mis and think, “Gosh, that key change was really powerful. I’m being manipulated.” The message behind SOTW is true. And there are many people on stage at once, bearing testimony in a unique way that what they are saying is true. If I cry as Mary or Mary Magdalene, it is pure testimony. I’m not trying to manipulate anyone- I’m trying to bear my testimony. Don’t deny my testimony by saying it’s fake and manipulated. Some stories shouldn’t be shared in a classroom setting.
Achieving ‘transcendence’ in theater is hard. I think it’s challenging because it’s a public display of a private thing. It’s only going to be right to the artist. We still try, though, because this is the type of theater that means the most.