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Mel Brooks’ 1968 comedy “The Producers” dealt with an outrageous, fictitious Broadway musical called “Springtime for Hitler” that trivialized Nazism and became a surprise hit. The New York Metropolitan Opera is now presenting “The Death of Klinghoffer,” which tries to explain the point of view of PLF members who hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, shot elderly American Jewish businessman Leon Klinghoffer, and threw him overboard in his wheelchair. |
The opera’s composer, John Adams, was quoted as explaining that “pro Israel lobbies” had power in Congress, while Palestinians were “forever scolded or ridiculed for their violence.” His opera is a critical hit — and a monster controversy due to its depiction of Israel and anti-Semitic lyrics like this sung by a hijacker: “America is one big Jew.” Or terrorists singing that it’s an “action of liberation” and they’re “men of ideals.” Jewish groups protested, but theater-goers included prominent Jews. New York newspapers ran columns and op-eds denouncing and defending its right to be seen.
The Metropolitan Opera scuttled plans to air it on radio, and ran Klinghoffer’s daughters’ dissenting statement in the opera’s program. “Terrorism is irrational,” they wrote. “It should never be explained away or justified. Nor should the death of innocent civilians be misunderstood as an acceptable means for drawing attention to perceived political grievances. Unfortunately, ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ does all of this and sullies the memory of our father in the process.”
Yes, there are issues here about free speech and the freedom to create and display art. And there’s precedent for eyebrow-raising definitions. “Piss Christ,” artist Andre Serrano’s 1987 photo of a small plastic crucifix in a glass of urine, won the Southwestern Center for Contemporary Art’s “Awards in the Visual Arts Competition.” Finger paintings by the late Cheetah the Chimp, the simian scene-stealer in Tarzan films, sold at auctions for some $20,000.
