Apology: Critique: Dramafeste 2011

Sadly, for some of you, I'm using the second definition.

Background information. After I posted my pseudo-review of Dramafeste, a quiet bitchy uproar seemed to have materialized off stage and off LT3, among faculty committees and feminist girl-cliques. Just yesterday, a classmate told me that my name, as well as the url of this blog, was written on the whiteboard of the Music Room, like a branded criminal and his sins. Today I was summoned by the chairperson of ELDDFS, telling me that as a member of LD, how inappropriate that post was, and how certain actresses were extremely affected being called "sluts", "brown bagger" and my comments on their acting techniques. And I have been advised to take down the post, because "more people are starting to read it" and I should cut my anti-social, insensitive and probably sexist act.

This apology (i.e. systematic defense of my views) will demonstrate that:

a) The critic does not make personal attacks,
b) The affected parties are taking offense where none are given; and missing the point; and therefore
c) The critic cannot be faulted (at least, on the accusations that has been levelled against him).

Furthermore, I will discuss:

d) The implications of this incident

***

I do not claim to know what exactly the actresses feel, since they've chosen to raise their concerns indirectly through the LD chairperson. But based on my impression, they think that I'm calling them "sluts" and a "brown bagger" and that my judgment of their acting were unfair.

I need to clarify a point of contention: my labels applied to their characters and not to the actors themselves. I quote from that pseudo-review:

"She was incredibly wooden and when in character, she was a brown bagger. (I reserve my judgment for the real person.)"

Note my explicit reference to her in character, and a disclaimer so large that you can't miss it: I reserve my judgment for the real person. And I reserve judgment precisely because I know actors are not their characters, and beneath that dreadful makeup, bad acting and horrendous emoting she's probably a nice person, i.e. not a brown bagger. But as I said, I reserve judgment, because I know the character but not the person behind it.

I also quote:

"Character-wise, I loved the sluts (red slut, call me)"

Again, how can anyone miss Character-wise? I hope you're not taking Literature. Or GP. Or any humanities-based subject which requires inference skills, actually. And how is labelling the characters sluts a misnomer? According to common usage, a slut is a sexually liberal person. How are the characters not sluts? They binge-drink, engage in flirtation with strangers, encourage promiscuous behaviour, and are lookist. I think we can say without much contention that the characters are sluts.

And obviously, (red slut, call me) is a joke. I know you're not going to call me.

James Franco didn't really cut off his arm. Ivan Heng is not a woman. Heath Ledger, as much as I had wanted him to be, was not gay. My point is - an actor is not his/her character. These actresses who have raised their passive-aggressive accusations against me - you girls need to know that. You have a life offstage, and I, as a critic, have nothing to do with it.

If the issue is about my strong remarks about your acting, then you, as a thespian, have no remit. The moment you decided to take on the script and step onto that stage, you are implicitly accepting that you will be judged, that you will be laughed at (and not in a good way) and if there is an unfavourable review (as there is in this case), people will read it. If this is your first setback in your acting career - I should say, Good For You. There are worse critics out there, who will not hesitate to pinpoint every small flaw and list your real name beside your role, as is standard practice (which I did not do, which is why I call it a pseudo-review). If you can't accept these things, stop your acting career and do something which doesn't put you in the public eye (and public criticism). When I build sets and props for ELD productions, I am prepared for people disliking it. But being a thespian exposes yourself many times more, so you need that kind of courage (which I must say, I don't possess).

Of course there is the issue of the validity of my views. Sure, you can question my credentials as a critic. I've only been to two Dramafestes, and a couple of HICs, and the number of plays I've watched in the last two years is less than 10. So you can decide for yourself whether what I said about you is true. But I think, if you can find any independent sources, that my views are not very different from other disinterested watchers.

If you (still to the actresses) have been innocently roped into doing Dramafeste for your faculty, perhaps out of loyalty or peer-pressure, and now has been forever scarred, I'm sorry, but if you had expected raving reviews and absolute adoration, grow up. I may be a member of LD, but that doesn't mean I'm required to sugar-coat my criticisms and inflate my praises. If you had done well, I would have given due admiration. And yes, LD membership does mean I'm inclined to encourage budding artists - but lying is not encouragement. You, as an actress, were bad. That's all.

I think I've made my case pretty clear. Some attitudes need to be adjusted. And mine is not one of them, unless you have further points of polemics.

***

What does this incident mean?

I am resisting the urge to drag faculty politics into this, because doing so will incur certain stereotypes which I don't wish to perpetuate. But it does allude to some characteristics of Hwa Chong students - unscrupulous high-achievers, unaccepting of failure, and having the need to hide behind anonymity and higher authority.

The fact that I've been treated like an aberrant, alternative voice, even within the Hwa Chong artistic community (if we can call ourselves that) and by people who supposedly are fervent supporters of freedom of expression, and that I'm asked, very blatantly, to take down the post, shows many things. It shows cowardice, dishonesty and intolerance. And very deeply, hypocrisy.

To the LD chairperson - I understand your role in this, which I pity, and I am somewhat sorry for your trouble. But I'm sticking to my position.

This post is important - which is why I am writing it despite my Block Test tomorrow. I hope more, if not as many, people read it than the actual critique. And I know you will.