Mensan Weighs in on Controversy

2 Responses

1. There is a song called “According to the Skin I’m In.” In the world of Theatre, one begins to understand the juxtaposition of “the skin I’m in”, with just how different life can be, despite what the outer shell of a human being may house, evolvement-wise. This is true, expectation-wise, when one is forced into an extreme, for instance: all the traditional expectations of bias and fear often coalesce, as a result, into projected “isms”, and an individual is torn between what has traditionally been a source of fear, and what they want their world to be like. Overcoming fear, and forging new realities, takes great bravery. Martin Luther King Junior had it. JFK had it. Mother Theresa had it. Nellie McClung had it. What united these people in outlook was not their skin….but their sense of the possible beyond it. Different times and ages sought to do this in ways which are sometimes not as relevant, as the years pass, and our understandings change. What at one point would have been an attempt at inclusion, for instance, or even an individual’s attempt to understand and approach a situation with humour, and a desire to express inclusion, is sometimes misunderstood, placed in the wrong context – or out of context, like profanity in a great novel, or an epithet not understood within the greater context of a work – and misappropriated for an agenda. This is not often the case, but let us be clear: discernment teaches us to be true, and understand beyond agenda and fear, working towards a hoped-for evolvement. Discernment evolves a hard look at self-bias, too. Are you up to the challenge?

2. I think Justin Trudeau’s Hallowe’en disguise is a non-issue, and was blown all out of proportion. I also don’t think that he is responsible for apologizing or explaining himself to people who have heard about his costume choice out of context. What I like about Hallowe’en, and masquerade parties is it gives people the change to try on different identities and characters, like what theatre does for actors. It gives people the chance to be someone different from who they are in their everyday lives, with the powers and qualities of who they are dressed up as, especially for children and children-at-heart. For one day people can pretend to be Gypsie fortune tellers, Pocahontas, Pirates, Queen Elizabeth I, Cowboys, Wayne Gretzky, Belly Dancers, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Flappers, Ghosts, Witches, and — yes — even Aladdin.

   This is completely different than “Black Face” when white people in the southern United states painted their faces black and put on skits to make fun of Negroes. While it was theatre, it was not done in the spirit of play and pretending, or to enlighten or educate. It was done to put a group of people down. This is not the true spirit of Hallowe’en. I doubt very much that Justin Trudeau dressed up as Aladdin to put Middle Eastern people down.

   Please let’s not take away the fun and make-believe of Hallowe’en, and dressing up in disguise, because of historical bigotry.

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