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re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism
Posted by: reed23 05:47 pm EST 12/26/15
In reply to: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism - TimDunleavy 02:37 pm EST 12/26/15

An educational opportunity was missed, without a discussion of how MILLIE's stage adaptation satirized and reversed the period stereotypes, rather than perpetuated them – a point that clearly didn't elude the Tony voters, who voted MILLIE as Best Musical, or the millions of other theatergoers worldwide who have seen productions of the show, now a staple of the musical theatre repertoire.

I wonder how the two students in question will do out in the real world – probably as well as Shrieking Girl from Yale.

Interesting article at link, re: book writer Dick Scanlan and the toned-down MILLIE.
Link Dick Scanlan and MILLIE
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re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism
Posted by: WaymanWong 01:47 pm EST 12/27/15
In reply to: re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism - reed23 05:47 pm EST 12/26/15

Reed23, I agree 100%. As a big fan of Broadway musicals who happens to be Chinese-American, I LOVE ''Thoroughly Modern Millie.'' I remember the first time I saw it. Once Mrs. Meers (the brilliant Harriet Harris) started using that fake Chinese accent, I thought: ''Uh-oh, I don't know if I'm gonna like this if this is going in a racist direction.'' But then I got it: They were spoofing Asian stereotypes. What's more, Bun Foo and Ching Ho actually help thwart the whole kidnapping plot; they have a show-stopping solo (''Mammy''), AND one of them even falls for Miss Dorothy (!). How often do you see an Asian guy get the white girl? ... This high school petition was misguided, and I wish the two students learned more about the context of why ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is doing the opposite: satirizing the Asian stereotypes, not celebrating them.
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