“In unanimous agreement between board and staff, Pacific Opera Project has elected to change the setting of our March production of Cosi fan tutte. 1. We recognize that some view a Gone with the Wind setting as offensive and we apologize for that offense. 2. Appearing insensitive to these concerns is against everything POP stands for and damages our reputation as an inclusive and diverse company, 3. something we have carefully cultivated over the past nine seasons with productions such as our Japanese/English ‘Madama Butterfly’ and our Star Trek inspired ‘Abduction from the Seraglio,’” the company stated on its Facebook page. “POP’s strongest quality has always been creativity — the ability to adapt and innovate to any location, circumstance, or constraint. 4. We look forward to the challenge of reinventing a production, now only six weeks away. 5. We’re confident that a POP ‘Cosi’ — whether set traditionally, in the Civil War, or in outer space — will be one of the most accessible, affordable, and entertaining you have ever seen.“We thank our unwavering fans for your support during this time of transition and we look forward to seeing you at the show.”
Let me dissect the statement, which isn't exactly framed as an apology, but which comes across as a classic non-apology apology. I have put numbers in the statement for your convenience.
1. We recognize that some view a Gone with the Wind setting as offensive and we apologize for that offense.
They don't understand or they're not admitting what was wrong with the setting. There is no self-analysis or acceptance of responsibility.
2. Appearing insensitive to these concerns is against everything POP stands for and damages our reputation as an inclusive and diverse company
They are concerned with appearances and how the company looks; they are concerned about their reputation more than about the damaged done by their setting an opera in the world of a novel that glorifies slavery and the slave-owning South.
The problem is that they are unaware and insensitive.
1. We recognize that some view a Gone with the Wind setting as offensive and we apologize for that offense.
They don't understand or they're not admitting what was wrong with the setting. There is no self-analysis or acceptance of responsibility.
2. Appearing insensitive to these concerns is against everything POP stands for and damages our reputation as an inclusive and diverse company
They are concerned with appearances and how the company looks; they are concerned about their reputation more than about the damaged done by their setting an opera in the world of a novel that glorifies slavery and the slave-owning South.
The problem is that they are unaware and insensitive.
3. something we have carefully cultivated over the past nine seasons with productions such as our Japanese/English ‘Madama Butterfly’ and our Star Trek inspired ‘Abduction from the Seraglio,’”
So they think they have a reputation for diversity and inclusion, but how did the Japanese/English Butterfly mitigate the racism of the opera? And about that Abduction, a musicologist I know who is way more familiar with it than I am says that it is problematic, as is the opera. Again, how do they think their production mitigated the problems with the source material?
4. We look forward to the challenge of reinventing a production, now only six weeks away.
You people are making this hard for us! Yes, they are blaming their critics for problems they brought upon themselves through their own lack of thoughtfulness.
5. We’re confident that a POP ‘Cosi’ — whether set traditionally, in the Civil War, or in outer space — will be one of the most accessible, affordable, and entertaining you have ever seen.
They're subtly defending the GWTW Cosi here.
6. “We thank our unwavering fans for your support during this time of transition and we look forward to seeing you at the show.”
I translate this as follows:
No thanks to those of you who called this to our attention. (Noting here that I emailed some questions to the company via their publicist before blogging or tweeting about the production, giving them a chance to explain themselves or take note of the types of questions I was asking.)
My translation of the above:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%40pacoperaproj&s=09
So they think they have a reputation for diversity and inclusion, but how did the Japanese/English Butterfly mitigate the racism of the opera? And about that Abduction, a musicologist I know who is way more familiar with it than I am says that it is problematic, as is the opera. Again, how do they think their production mitigated the problems with the source material?
4. We look forward to the challenge of reinventing a production, now only six weeks away.
You people are making this hard for us! Yes, they are blaming their critics for problems they brought upon themselves through their own lack of thoughtfulness.
5. We’re confident that a POP ‘Cosi’ — whether set traditionally, in the Civil War, or in outer space — will be one of the most accessible, affordable, and entertaining you have ever seen.
They're subtly defending the GWTW Cosi here.
6. “We thank our unwavering fans for your support during this time of transition and we look forward to seeing you at the show.”
I translate this as follows:
No thanks to those of you who called this to our attention. (Noting here that I emailed some questions to the company via their publicist before blogging or tweeting about the production, giving them a chance to explain themselves or take note of the types of questions I was asking.)
My translation of the above:
We're sorry we offended, which could hurt our ticket sales, so we'll change stuff but we don't understand why you're so upset because we didn't do anything wrong, and you meanies are making it haaaard for us.If you want to see everything's been tweeted about them since last Thursday, try this search:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%40pacoperaproj&s=09
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