Book of Mormon Musical: Racist and Crude. Or, Vile and Disgusting
To be fair, let me start by saying that I have not completely watched this play written and produced by Matt Parker and Tre Stone. I also have not watched the complete "Birth of a Nation", made over a hundred years ago as a seminal movie in American and world cinema, but openly recognized as racist and celebrating the Ku Klux Klan to the detriment of the African-American and other populations that it portrayed.
This musical that appears to be playing in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, has been out since 2010 or so. People have asked me about the show, at times, or I have volunteered discussions and critiques about it, especially when prompted by it on Facebook over the years. I would add that it was truly racist and offensive, which I have been ingrained to recognize and call out all my life.
Racism is bad and needs to be pointed out, and mitigated and eliminated.
Many people seem to be color blind on this issue. They see the mocking satire of the Church of Jesus Christ missionaries as cute and endearing, the crude language as funny and jocose, the racially offensive stereotypes of the African peoples, semi-fictitious characterizations of their language and culture as hilarious.
Hmmm. I have many family who have lived in Sub-Saharan Africa. They do not have cartoonish depictions of the Black people of Africa. Parker and Stone do.
Many people claim the music is top notch and catchy, to the credit of the musical writer (fill in name), and his wife who assisted him in co-writing the tunes. I have heard interviews conducted with the music writer, and his wife. They sound like woke people, despite their offensive lyrics and racially and religiously provocative and insulting words.
Cute? Funny?
My Indiana University website that I consult to be connected to my hometown and school , the Indiana Daily Student, has been advertising this show for a week or more now. I hope my dad and step-mom do not go to see it. My dad chose to be a member of the faith back in the 1960s, the same time period he spent over two years being a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
My mom was over there, too, between Togo and Sierra Leone. They loved the people of Africa. They were not racist. I know others who are from Africa and those who have lived there. Almost all the countries.
This musical puts them down in cartoonish ways that I do not accept.
It insults people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the coarse, blasphemous language alone, not just the simplistic portrayals of the characters lampooned.
The IDS website constantly pushes an ad that says, "Funniest Musical of All Time!".
Really. Really? Funniest?
Could we call it the 5th most racist musical of all time? Surely there are four other musicals that are mores racist, right? But not as celebrated.
Could we call it the 10th crudest play of all time? There has to be nine other plays in musical format that are dirtier and grosser. Some have nudity, that does not make it crude in and of itself, but there must be a score of musicals that throw around more F-bombs and other gross profanities and concepts.
Funniest?
I think that it is one of the saddest. I have not seen the whole thing, no. I choose not to see it, which is part of my stand as to what this play shows and represents.
Love? Acceptance? Not hate and hateful stereotyping?
I could be wrong. But thus musical may be an offensive heap of trash, which should be called out for being so.
I said my piece. Thank you for considering my thoughts and feelings about this work of popular art.
