So Principal Mark Jackson showed up coffee in hand early yesterday morning. He’s a lot bigger than I remember.
We chatted for over a half-hour, spending a moment or two on budget issues and then got right down (and dirty) to Vaginas. He mentioned how he had been hired by Amherst but not yet installed when the first controversy was at its peak four years ago.
His wife even called him to the television to watch ‘The Today Show” when they gave it eight minutes of live coverage with Eve Ensler herself appearing with the little 17-year-old from Amherst Regional High School.
I, of course only got 11 seconds of that—you know, good old “fair and balanced” you expect from a show that’s more entertainment than news.
I could tell Jackson is already worn out from this issue, and will probably never repeat the mistake for as long as he’s principal at Amherst. But with 4 of 6 principals in the school system on the outs, hard to say how long he will last.
Then of course, some other rookie will assume command and some young lady will want to do the Monologue where you get to yell the C-word at the top of your lungs--as though it’s something to be proud of.
And so it goes…
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And on a lighter note, Letterman reported that when Cheney leaves Washington we'll be able to see him on Broadway. In the Angina Monologues.
(Sorry)
Funny Letterman would mention ‘Broadway”. What most folks (including him) don’t know is ‘The Vagina Monologues’ was NEVER on Broadway. It was one of those (by archaic 1996 standards) trendy, hip, cool, and risqué “Off Broadway” productions.
Ensler’s ONLY Broadway production ‘The Good Body” (about her navel—I kid you not) opened and closed in less then a week four years ago.
Just one of the many things that drives me crazy about this ‘Only In Amherst’ fiasco: Ensler is a One Trick Pony, a One Hit Wonder resting on her decrepit laurels.
He might have said Off Broadway, it was late and I was tired!
Ensler's production probably wouldn't have gone very far without the catchy title.
Hi Larry,
I was wondering if Mr. Jackson or any of his predecessors have spoken to the fact that this play is represented as being a vehicle against rape yet has the scene where the adult woman gets the minor drunk and then has sex with her. I haven't re-read the play for a few years but, as I recall that scene was staged as a good thing, not statutory rape.
Hey Nancy,
Yeah, I mentioned that specific scene and he seemed a little clueless.
I also mentioned how Ensler in the DVD/VHS proudly proclaims in the opening about how this work comes from the stories of 200 women and that she as the writer "has not changed a single thing."
Kind of like Clinton saying "I did not have sex with that woman." Because indeed she did change something: In the 1997 edition the "Little Coochie Snatcher" is 13 and uses the absurd expression "If it was rape it was a good rape". Later she is changed to 16 (still inappropriate of course) and the term "good rape” disappears.
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