HATE SCHOOL MUSICAL ā Yesterday Queerty broke news about an Orange County high school whose principal allegedly banned the drama department from producing Rent because of its portrayal of gay characters. (No word on whether the AIDS storyline scared her!) But now Corona del Mar High Schoolās Principal Fal Asrani is speaking out, saying her decision had nothing to do with hating on gays, and that it was the drama teacher who axed the production because there was ānot enough time to revise to script.ā Letās play the blame game!
If youāve been following along at home, youāll know from our coverage that concerned students, parents, and even alumni were circulating a letter claiming Principal Asrani unfairly canceled the Rent production because she was supposedly concerned about its gay message.
Asrani says thatās not true at all. According to the OC Register:
In an interview, Asrani said the accusations were entirely inaccurate, and that drama teacher Ron Martin canceled the production after she asked to review the script for objectionable material, a common practice at schools.
Martin, she said, nixed the play Thursday after deciding there was ānot enough time to revise to script,ā even though the musical wasnāt set to begin until April 23 and even though the principal had not yet seen the script or requested any changes.
Asrani said she would not scrap a musical simply because it contained gay characters. āI am surprised by all these (rumors) flying around,ā she said.
Gay and lesbian students āget the same respect (as) anybody else, and that would be the same (for characters) in a play,ā Asrani said.
Huh. Interesting. Because drama teacher Martin has an entirely different version of things:
How about we take this to the next level?
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Martin, in an interview, told a much different version of events. Rehearsals hadnāt begun and scripts hadnāt been ordered, so getting a script for the principal would take almost two weeks, he said, and Asrani decided that would not leave enough time for revision and changes.
Regardless, āshe had already told me that she would not let it proceed because of the homosexuality in it,ā Martin said.
āThat is the case,ā he said. āI will stand by that regardless of what (school) representatives say.ā
Most if not all district high schools āhave a practice of requesting to review scripts to ensure that they are appropriate,ā said Laura Boss, school district spokeswoman.
Martinās version seems to hold up with students. The Daily Pilot reports:
āWe went to a lunch meeting for drama class and our teacher told us the show was canceled,ā said Ryan Willison, a senior at the school. āHe said it was because Ms. Asrani did not want homosexual characters portrayed on stage ā but thatās kind of the point of āRent.ā ā
Corona del Mar alumnus Ben Halliday called the news an unacceptable turn of events.
āIām kind of appalled that that kind of intolerance would be allowed,ā he said.
[ā¦]
Willison said it was hard to imagine what was left in the script to object to ā aside from the presence of gay characters. The production was already going to use a sanitized version of the script, the āhigh school edition,ā that had adult content cut out, Willison said.
āThey donāt even let the gay couples kiss on stage, so Iām not sure what sheās objecting to,ā Willison said.
No matter what the true version of events is, thereās no winner ā only losers. Particularly the student actors (and crew!), their parents, the school, and the community, who wonāt have a spring musical to enjoy.
Sebbe
Here’s my opinion from following what we know.
Fan Asrani is a liar. How long does it take to read and edit a “high school” version of a script for Rent? I’d be interested in seeing what a “high school” version of rent actually looks like.
“Mr.” Martin – is getting blamed for this by Asrani. Martin is probably gay (not that it maters) and loved the Broadway (if he was lucky enough to come east or whatever they do in la) production of this play.
It is yet to be seen if the students are the losers or winners in this situation. Is this a done deal? Is there some sort of replacement production out there on the table?
Never being a part of the drama department, while in school, I did always enjoy attending their productions.
I thought it was nice of David to give a shot out to the crew (lesbians? KIDDING) as well.
I also hope the students organize a walk out (doubtful). “UNION, UNION, UNION!!”
Rerun
No, no, no!!! It was HBO’s fault! But just to be fair, while admitting no guilt, the Obama people will invite the entire Corona del Mar cast to watch his inaugural from the platform.
atdleft
As an OC princess myself, I must say I’m quite embarrassed of my county today. CDM’s principal can say she’s not concerned about the “gayness” of “Rent”, but her actions don’t seem to be matching her words.
Come on, I went to arguably a MORE conservative HS at Trabuco Hills (in Mission Viejo)! And from what I remember, our HS’ drama department did a couple risque’ revues dealing with “dark” topics like sexual relationships and death. The only difference with “Rent” is that queer characters are involved… So is that enough to blacklist the play at CDM?
Raphael
ATD@atdleft: Wait, you’re only emabarassed by your county TODAY? OC is a perpetual source of embarassment.
Sasha
@Sebbe actually, because they were given the rights to the HIGH SCHOOL production of RENT, it’s already heavily edited. Not to mention the fact that it is ILLEGAL for her to edit it. They need to put on a show with integrity, and I think that’s part of Martin’s stance.
Believe it or not, Martin is NOT gay. He’s just supportive.
As far as a replacement production, as of now, there may be no spring musical for the students of CdM. My brother was supposed to be a part of the production and when I spoke to him this morning, he said (as I guessed would be the case) they now don’t have time to get the rights to another show in order to put it up by April (avoiding a clash with finals and AP tests for seniors in May). It’s very sad, really.
Sebbe
MTI lists 67 officially licensed school productions across the country (and Canada)for this school year. I personally am going to try and check one out. Even the Boston Children’s Theatre is putting on a production. How risque can it possibly be?
http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000305
Charles J. Mueller
@Raphael:
Well, sad as it is to say and no grim humor intended, we are running right on script with what was happening in 1939 Germany.
First the Nazis marginalized the Jews and discriminated against them. Then they editorialized hate literature and passed laws against them. Certain books, plays and stage productions with references to Jewish people were banned by the SS, among a whole litany of of systematic destruction and obliteration of a minority group.
As is always the motivator for such obscene and illegal actions, hate was the fuel that Herr Hitler copiously poured on the Jewish funeral pyre.
Oh, and then Paragraph 175 was passed to deal with the “homo problem”, in addition to the “Jewish problem”. And while all this was going on, the Vatican never said a word as it looked the other way. After all, the Jews had always been considered the arch enemy by the Catholic church anyway, so why should they dirty their hands.
Any of this sound familiar kiddies? 70 years, 6 million dead Jews and tens of thousand of homosexuals later…and it’s happening all over again, right here in America, the land of the free. One can only guess how long it will be before we have book burning in the streets.
And of course, we all know how that charming bedtime story ended, don’t we?
Sebbe
UPDATE – MSNBC is covering with reference to Queerty!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29188134/
Sebbe
@Charles – While I don’t mean to diminish this story or any other issue. I find it slightly over dramatic and alarmist to equate the censorship of a high school drama production to the atrocities of Nazi Germany and WWII.
Ree
@Sasha: Sasha, we will for sure move forward with another spring musical. Mr. Martin has many musical scripts on hold from MTI, and the cast seems to think that it would be a good idea to produce “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” since we could get rehearsals started right away (if she objects to anything in that show, then god help us). However, we do not plan to let Asrani off of the hook in any way for this event, and at the rate things are going, there is a possibility that we could get RENT back. We shall see.
ConservativeRepublican
I contacted ‘someone’ involved in this mess and offered support. (Won’t mention the person’s name for privacy reasons.) This is an outrage.
Burned-before-by-Asrani
I’m shocked! This sounds more like the work of a petty tyrant not the venerable principal of CdM High School. If true, what does this say about the character of Asrani? Shocking!
Qjersey
That fact that there is a sanitized “high school edition” alone is enough to warrant disgust.
Paul Raposo
“Without Jews, fags and gypsies, there is no theater!”
–Mel Brooks, To Be Or Not To Be
atdleft
@Raphael: Hey, I live here! And besides, it’s not ALL bad. We did get over 42% of the vote for No on H8 last November and won 4 OC cities (Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Irvine, and Costa Mesa), so we have made progress. I just wish we could make more progress sooner.
It sucks that we still must face this problem of censorship in our public schools… And that we have to go back to court to win back our civil rights. Sigh…
Charles J. Mueller
@Sebbe:
“I find it slightly over dramatic and alarmist to equate the censorship of a high school drama production to the atrocities of Nazi Germany and WWII.”
Of course you do! Should I be surprised at your rebuttal?
And do you really think that I really give a good flying f–k what you think about anything I post?
Jeffrey Bryan
Umm… wouldn’t the pervasive drug use be a bigger issue of performing the show at a high school?
I love RENT, I’m a big mo, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for High School either.
ConservativeRepublican
@Jeffrey Bryan:
Jeff, yes, but that isn’t at issue here. It’s the homosexuality the administration found offensive. It feels that way even despite the fact that the Student Edition basically sanitizes the homosexual relationships and lyrics to the point where they almost don’t exist.
kthune
@Sebbe: I don’t believe anyone is trying to compare this singular issue to that of nazi germany and the holocaust. rather, its a valid point that the rampant homphobia and violence against the lgbtqia community present throughout our country should be a source of great concern and something we should take very seriously, in all its instances.
kthune
oh and i posted this on the last article but just in case here it is again…seriously if you are involved in this ordeal on a more personal level, get in touch with lambdalegal.org at [email protected] or 1-866-542-8336 they have helped on a lot of issues at schools all across the country and have the resources and ability to put some quick pressure on the admin so that maybe, just maybe, this play can actually get put on for spring.
atdleft
Btw, thanks to Queerty for reminding me to let the locals know about this:
http://www.theliberaloc.com/2009/02/14/anti-lgbt-censorship-at-cdm-high/
And if anyone from CDM is reading this, know that the OC Equality Coalition is here to help. We even have our lawyers who are willing to help pro bono!
http://www.ocequality.org/
Please let us know what we can do to help!
Jennifer
@Raphael: lol. Thank you for making my weekend.
scott
@Jeffrey Bryan
why is it inappropriate? For the drug use? Seriously, you can rent any number of movies where violence and drug use is rampant.
Shakespeare is all about death.
Are high school plays only supposed to be Sound of Music/South Pacific types. Which btw, is placed during wartime.
All adult themes.
I learned about AIDs in junior high school. I had a cop come into my grammar school to teach us about drugs. Please tell me what is “appropriate” themes for high school productions?
keanewwww reeeeeeves
@Sasha:
maybe they could do Mary Poppins V’s The Fiddler on the Roof.
I’m sure they’d pull a good crowd.
moo
@Charles J. Mueller: Charles, if you post on an open forum, you can’t really attack people for replying, and you should care what people think; you clearly think people care enough about your views to post them here.
ousslander
Maybe now that put on a Musical that doesn’t suck. Never understood the fascination with Rent. I though it was horrible.
Sebbe
@Scott – LOL, true, I had forgotten how they used to have cops come into middle school to talk about drugs (dare? was it?). I remember that they used to bring in examples and visual displays.
REBELComx
Theater censorship in high school is pretty disgusting in the first place. It’s bad enough we baby these young adults about so much crap anyway. If you really have to tone down the show, then you’re not doing the same show. You’re not doing justice to the work of its creators, not to mention all the stuff that makes the show so much fun and so memorable in the first place. Without some controversy, there’s no show. Basically, if you have to “tone down a show” for an audience, it’s no longer art. My drama director didn’t want to do Grease because the last person who directed it at the school got a lot of flack for the drug use and talk about sex. But the school put it on anyway…3 years after my drama director quit. In every show she directed, we weren’t even allowed to curse. The 2nd show I did with her was Little Shop of Horrors. Here we have a musical about a giant plant who sings about eating people and a Dentist who gets his kicks by beating up his girlfriend. My director, for want of keeping her job, didn’t let us make any reference to the dentist’s use of laughing gas as a drug…but we could show the scene where he DIES FROM ASPHYXIATING ON IT. Now does that make sense? Theater kids who want to do this show probably already know all the lines, they already know what it’s content is. So who is it being toned down for? Having been on the student’s side of fights like this (gods know our administration was only interested in the theater department to get money for the football team)…I’m probably biased, but I’m siding with the Theater Department on this one.
And Paul, LOVE the Mel Brooks quote.
Charles J. Mueller
@moo:
Thank you, Pricilla Goodbody. š
Busybody much?
Charles J. Mueller
@REBELComx:
What’s interesting about this idiocy, is that the people who are so worried about school kids witnessing life as it really is, including the homosexual lifestyle, are probably supporters of the war in Iran and all of the horrible destruction and senseless casualties it has created, not only for the Iraqis, but for our own American soldiers as well.
Such hypocrites.
Michael
@Sebbe: There is more to this than people can see on the surface. The principal is a micromanaging politician with a strong self-serving agenda. She’s not so much anti-gay as much as she is anti-controversy. She’s out to protect her image, and lying is her first line of defense. It is likely that she did say something in the meeting with the drama teacher, and that she’s back-peddling to save herself. She’s caught between the conservative opinions of the community she works for and public scrutiny over discrimination.
Kid A
@Paul Raposo: Exactly! Who the hell do they think is putting on the plays in the first place? There’s queer kids on the stage already.
tavdy79
As an alternative to Rent, may I suggest they perform Mark Ravenhill’s “Shopping And Fucking”? It covers much of the same subject matter – drugs and sex in particular…
Chloe
Perhaps they should try “spring awakening” š
This reminds me a little of when my HS put on “gypsy” (but that was back in 1976) . .yeah .. strippers and child abuse! There was no freaking High School version. . .Nobody batted an eye and it was such a huge hit. . .we had to extend the run for 2 weeks. . . GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ!
Charles J. Mueller
@moo:
@Charles J. Mueller: Charles, if you post on an open forum, you can’t really attack people for replying, and you should care what people think; you clearly think people care enough about your views to post them here.
Dictionary.com defines the word āinterloperā in the following manner.
inĀ·terĀ·lopĀ·er (?n’t?r-l?’p?r) Pronunciation Key
n.
1. One that interferes with the affairs of others, often for selfish reasons; a
meddler.
2. One that intrudes in a place, situation, or activity:
I am noticing a rather disturbing trend on Queerty.com since I started reading and posting on this site, for people to take it upon themselves to act in the self-appointed capacity of Pricilla Good body, thought police, grammar and punctuation Gestapo and just all-around pain in the asses who have nothing of value or interest to add to the thread topic except critiquing how other people should be acting, behaving, doing, saying and making sure that you have dotted every āiā and crossed every ātā. They even go so far as to assume to tell us how we should think and express ourselves.
VernonVanderbilt, an intelligent and articulate writer who postings I very much enjoy and look forward to on these threads would aptly describe these rue and uninvited intrusions into otherās peopleās dialogue, āa drive-by, gay surf-shootingsā, which is a perfect description of such behavior.
It was either Ann Landers or Dear Abigail, I am not certain which, who coined the acronym MYOB. And, minding my own business was precisely how my mom and dad raised me. I was taught not to interrupt the conversations of others, contradict them, upstage them, and denigrate them or to stick my nose in where it does not belong. In my day, doing so would, more than likely, have gotten my nose bloodied and accompanied with a strongly worded admonition to MYOFB. Not as polite as Ann Landers or Dear Abigail might have said it, but a great deal more effective, to be sure.
In the case of Moo, as well as the āphoebesā, both straight and gay who pop in and out of these sites from time to time and who have on previous occasions, decided to treat me like they are my mother, school-marm, truant/ parole officer or Grand Inquisitor and who see fit to admonish me for my postings when had they read a little further on, they would have noticed that the person I was having a disagreement with had worked it out for ourselves and without the need for government intervention, a court order, mediatorā¦or an interloperās two-cents worth. Imagine that?
We are living in age when everyone seems to feel that they have the right to concern themselves with every aspect of otherās right to privacy. How much money they make. How much they pay in taxes. How much they paid for their house. What they paid for their car. How much money they have in the bank. What you spend it on. How you raise your kids, what books they should read and what Church they should go to.
Not content with all those intrusions into our private lives, they then crash into the privacy of our bedrooms and tell us who we can love, who we have sex with and whom we can marry or give our estates to when we depart the planet. On and on and on, this uninvited intrusion into our privates lives and whip cracking continues, ad nauseum. And not happy just to be busy-bodies, these uninvited interlopers, back up their nosiness, justified by religious righteousness, with legislation to make it legal, to boot!
Where does it all end, I ask?
When we are all the slaves of the self-appointed appointed Poobahs and exalted few?
Charles J. Mueller
Correction: disregard the extra ‘appointed”
hardmannyc
Maybe they killed it because they read the script and listened to the music and realized that IT’S A CRAPPY SHOW.
Someone
Probably a good thing if they say that the “whole point” of RENT is putting gays and lesbians onstage.
In an interesting twist, Mr. Martin is actually a Mormon, although he has a gay son.
Sebbe
@Someone – Is this fact or rumor? This is soo turning into a lifetime movie of the week. Maybe lifetime will hire these kids to play themselves and as a big FU to Asrni. Ironically, I feel like these poor kids parents would probably jump all over that and not have a problem with that at all.
Kit
Wow. The principal ought to lose her job over this.
Ali
I would like to add this update from Mr. Martin at school — one of Ms. Asrani’s biggest disputes is that she only wanted time to read the script to approve it, because she didn’t know they were doing it. However, she knew that they were doing RENT weeks ago and only now is using that as her defense. She is lying through her teeth at every possible turn.
Ali
And wow, I’m glad I’m such a smart person…dispute isn’t the word I wanted. One of her biggest excuses, perhaps is a better phrase. Whatever, you all get the point!
Shawnie
@kthune:
what does the qia lgbtqia community stand for? I am gay but maybe I’m out of touch. This is a serious inquiry. thank you
Matt
@Shawnie: Apparently it stands for “questioning/queer, intersex, and ally.” I thought the ‘a’ might stand for asexual, but on second thought I think it’s vital to include our allies – who by now probably outnumber us by a large margin. The ‘qi’ could also be used for queer and inquiring.
http://www3.amherst.edu/~pridealliance/rainbowroom.html
Sebbe
@Shawnie – I had to look it up myself. Doesn’t exactly role off the tongue.
@Matt – I also guessed it was asexual, but I agree, good idea to include our growing number of allies.
moo
@Charles J. Mueller: Where did that come from?
Man, you need to learn to write less.
Charles J. Mueller
@moo:
Oh. I’m so sorry, moo. Forgive me.
It never occurred to me that you might be suffering from ADD.
I’ll make it short and sweet for you.
MYOB.
Were you able to stay with me this time around?
moo
@Charles J. Mueller: I don’t suffer from ADD, I suffer from you’re an nasty bastard whose posts are too long and boring and who can’t take any criticism. You think I’m interfering, but you fail to acknowledge that this is a public forum and what you post here is open to criticism and comment. You also fail to realise that what you post here is my own business because I wish queerty.com was a nicer place to visit. But, hell, you love it when people criticise you, because it gives you something else to bang on about. I have asked you before to be nicer to people but this is the first time you’ve even spotted it.
HOPINGTHINGSGoBACKTOTHE50's
… Well… Things seem to have deteriorated into a Hair-pulling… nail-scratching Queen cat fight…. NO WONDER there is no room for a High School Play about your life…
Charles J. Mueller
@moo:
Love your “if you can’t debate ’em, shoot ’em down mentality.
Resort to name-calling, insult them and justify it by giving your self-righteous reasons for doing so. Xstain much?
“You think I’m interfering, but you fail to acknowledge that this is a public forum and what you post here is open to criticism and comment.”
Actually, that is only half-true. You do, in fact, have the right to debate the stated opinion of others if they differ from yours and you have the right to add your thoughts and ideas to the subject being discussed or debated.
That said, however, you Do NOT have the right to criticize the length of one’s post, the content of it or the writer. For your edification, Dictionary.com defines “criticize” in the following manner.
crit?i?cize
? ?/?kr?t??sa?z/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [krit-uh-sahyz] Show IPA Pronunciation
verb, -cized, -ciz?ing.
āverb (used with object)
1. to censure or find fault with.
2. to judge or discuss the merits and faults of: to criticize three novels in one review.
āverb (used without object)
3. to find fault; judge unfavorably or harshly.
4. to make judgments as to merits and faults.
As you can plainly see, you are attempting to censure, find fault with and judge me and that is not the avowed purpose and intent of these Queerty.com threads.
And, when you you take it upon yourself to shove your two-cents worth into an argument or disagreement between two people that does not involve you in any and one in which no said a word to you, that’s not only butting-in and taking sides, it’s attacking someone who did not attack you. That qualifies you to wear the title of busybody or what Jewish people would call a jente.
If you’re not clear about that, I would suggest that you go back and re-read Queerty’s Commenting policies. You are violating their rules and well as my rights as a commentator on these threads.
You see, what YOU fail to realize, is that I have as much right to comment and post my views on this site as you do. I don’t care how you feel about the lengths of my posts. I don’t care if you disagree me. I don’t care if you criticize me. I don’t care about what you have asked me to do and I really don’t care if you feel that this is not a nice place.
No one is putting a gun to your head to read my comments and if they are too long for you to wrap your head around them, then skip and move on to the next one. Likewise, if the environment is not tailored to your specific liking, then move on to another site that is.
You see, it’s all about choices. No one is forcing you to do anyting. In fact, no one is forcing you to even reply to this. posting. You could simply opt not to feed the trolls and ignore it altogether.
Oh…wait, that would be expecting too much, wouldn’t it?
I should be so lucky.
shutyerhole
@Charles J. Mueller:
Stop being an asshole. There. I think I speak for everyone when I tell you you to please plug up that hole in your head. And I do have ADHD, so don’t bother with your usual crap, it’ll just be a waste of time, as always.
Damon
I find it rather ironic that the drama teacher explicitly says:
āThat is the case,ā he said. āI will stand by that regardless of what (school) representatives say.ā
It seems as though he’s trying to protect himself from the beginning…as though he knows everyone will be against him. Which means he’s the one making up stuff, huh?
vernonvanderbilt
I must say that I take issue with the idea of a high school principal expecting to be able to edit any artistic work, considering they are not experts in the field. A principal’s job is to keep the school running properly and mete out punishments as necessary, not rewrite prize-winning plays. They’re administrators, not artists.
As Sasha mentioned way up near the beginning somewhere, it would be illegal to do so anyway. Every play that I was involved in producing back in school had very clear disclaimers printed in them stating that altering, amending, or changing the content of the script in any way was not permitted. Not saying these companies make a habit of actually prosecuting over matters like that, but it’s there in black and white. I’m sure there are loopholes for that anyway, but still, it’s a matter of principle. You do not alter another’s art to serve your own agenda.
minimumwagefreak
vernonvanderbilt – I don’t know if the intent is to edit as much as it is to approve or reject. Principals are like CEOs, every aspect of the company reflects on them personally. So if an employee does something “inappropriate” in public, it reflects badly on the company, and ultimately the CEO is judged on how they will handle it. The best way to come out unscathed is to discourage or disallow the action in the first place.
Whether or not this play is morally/ethically appropriate for a high school program is inconsequential from the principal’s perspective. The real problem is that it is controversial, and if allowed, the principal will have to defend the drama teacher and the program from criticism. It may cost her the support of people who may have been useful to her in other areas of school management.
It’s all politics.
moo
@Charles J. Mueller: ‘Love your “if you can’t debate ’em, shoot ’em down mentality.’
You told me to mind my own business. Which is it, debate or mind my own? When you’ve got your thoughts consistent, let us all know, we’re positively on the edges of our seats waiting for your next post. Just try to keep the next one more succinct (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/succinct).
By the way, in the UK, we spell it ‘criticise’, and the criticism I was referring to was Sebbe’s, not my own. I just wanted you to take the criticism with some grace, that’s all.
Speak to you later.
Damon
vernonvanderbilt – Editing scripts for school plays is an accepted practice in most schools. Just as minimumwagefreak says, its all politics. Reviewing the script means that if an audience member complains, the principal, having approved the script, can truthfully say they stand behind the play and the production. With a play that’s as controversial as Rent (and apparently because of the last play CdM did, which one audience member complained about or something), reviewing the plays done by the drama department is an important part of the principal’s job.
Damon
I also like the way Martin’s story holds up with students, when the reason the whole thing happened is BECAUSE Martin came out and said Asrani stopped the play because of the homosexuality.
āWe went to a lunch meeting for drama class and our teacher told us the show was canceled,ā said Ryan Willison, a senior at the school. āHe said it was because Ms. Asrani did not want homosexual characters portrayed on stage ā but thatās kind of the point of āRent.ā ā
That’s where the letter came from, and the whole thing began…it’s not holding up the story, it’s the WHOLE story. I wouldn’t be surprised if Martin lied to his students as well. Especially seeing as he’s prepared to stand against whatever the school administrators say…so all he has is his own story.
Ali
@Someone: Mr. Martin’s religion and the sexual orientation of his children have nothing to do with this.
@Damon: At the meeting, a Teacher’s Union representative was present and wrote down everything Asrani said. They are willing to back us up on this.
Mr. Martin would not lie about this. He is a very honest person, and not once have I ever known him to make up something to suit his own purposes.
Damon
Ali – I also know Mrs. Asrani extremely personally, and I also have never known her to make up lies to cover something she said. From what I heard, the union representative at the school asked to be replaced by someone higher-up, because he was unwilling to stand behind Martin.
Of course, hopefully, the transcripts of the meeting will be available soon.
Sebbe
odd that a labor union would ask to be replaced by someone “higher-up” just when they are actually asked to perform their role. Also, I find it rather odd that at the first time this was discussed between the two of them that a union rep was asked to be present. Sounds suspicious right from the get go.
Chloe
@Sebbe:
This was a rep from STUDENT UNION. . .You know. . .like when we were in school we vote for class president. Stop trying to make it sound like something it’s NOT.
Damon
I actually thought it was a rep from the teacher’s union…
Sebbe
@chloe – FU. when most people hear the word rep and a shitty “public” school they assume a labor representative aka the teacher’s union. furthermore, if you read the posts, it is referred to as the school’s representative, those are not student government, even at a public school. #58 & #59 who apparently live in this town/or attend school there also make reference to it being a labor representative.
So again CHLOE, STFU or if you are Asrani’s friend posting here, I would implore here to start looking for another job, she sounds like the type better suited for a private school, specifically religious.
StudentFromCdMHS
@Chloe: I’m a current student from Corona Del Mar High School. You need to get your facts straight. NO, this is not a student union representative. It is a teacher union representative.
@Damon: I also know Fal Asrani rather personally, and while I haven’t known her to make up lies per say, I have known her to tell partial truths in her favor.
What they failed to mention in this article, perhaps they did not deem it appropriate, was that in our last musical, Asrani ordered the drama department to take several scenes from the musical after its opening! One of which was a scene in which a character discusses prejudice he encounters against his homosexuality. Doesn’t the prospect of Asrani banning RENT seem far more realistic taking this into account? I’m simply stating facts here.
minimumwagefreak
I doubt a student would have been in on a meeting like that. We would have been hearing a completely different account if a student had actually been there. Students and parents have a far greater immunity factor where speaking out is concerned.
As far as the the union rep goes, it seems to me that since the story has pretty much gone national, that it would be appropriate for a “higher up” to get involved. It’s not just a single school issue anymore, it’s going to reflect on the whole district and maybe the county.
Damon
@StudentFromCdMHS: Well it was one of several scenes, right, and it was because of a parent complaint? I mean, if she had only banned scenes with gays and lesbians, I could understand, but its her job to acknowledge parental complaints and deal with them. I just have to say from knowing her really well, I have never found her to be devisive or bigoted, or intentionally set out to hurt a specific group of people.
@Sebbe: Yet again someone is taking the story at face-value, and blindly believing the drama teacher. I do agree it is suspicious that a union rep was requested right from the get-go, but isn’t that suspicion on the side of the drama teacher, requiring someone to protect him right from the start? Once again, religion had nothing to do with this.
dougiedoug
@Damon: Actually, from what I understand, a lot of teachers won’t meet with her unless there’s a union person involved.
Damon
@dougiedoug: Oh ok I didn’t know that. Thanks for the info.
Marty
Interesting..in December Rowlett High School in Rowlett, Tex., (a Dallas ‘burb) canceled its planned production of āRentā after parents and community members objected to the content of the show, though its cast members performed a version of the show at nearby Southern Methodist University. Now I would expect that in backwoods, ultra-conservative, redneckie Texas…but in CALIFORNIA??? Come on folks, we Texans thought Californians were on the forefront of enlightenment and diversity. Sounds like the OC is no different from “Trailer Park, Texas”. Yee Haw, ya’ll.
Sebbe
@Marty – The only difference in the OC is the accent and property values. If you looking for somewhere at the forefront of enlightenment and diversity look towards the northeast andspecifically New England, where most of the plays are being performed according the the liscensor’s website.
Sebbe
an interesting article / new gallop poll I saw yesterday. How religious is your state. Notice New England specifically.
http://wickedgayblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-religious-is-your-state.html
Ezekiel
It’s unfortunate that anybody would have a problem with a student performance of RENT for any reason — it’s a challenging, rewarding show and I would applaud any high school for taking it on. It’s always frustrating when these things happen in youth theater…it’s a tough enough job without a bunch of bigots coming along to spoil everything.
Kudzu
I never thought I would see the day when “Torch song trilogy” would play at Ole Miss and be applauded by the student body, while a California schools bans “Rent” for it’s homosexual content. The apple cart has been overturned and the fruits are rolling down the hill. Grab a cloud brothers and sisters, heaven’s just a hug away, but if you partake of the purple lollypops you risk being cast out. You wouldn’t want to miss dancing on those streets of gold, now would you?
Solution; Fire Assrammi
Cindy
An update on this story: Ron Martin has decided not to back down and to send the ball back into Asraniās court. He will have a copy of the script on her desk on Monday morning with the request that she review it in a timely fashion and let him know what exactly, if anything, she finds problematic. If she wonāt go on record with any problems, I believe the play goes on.
Damon
@Kudzu: Had to resort to making fun of a person’s name, huh? Sad.
@Cindy: He is requesting that she review it? It was his responsibility in the first place to get her a copy of the script to review. I’m glad he’s finally doing what he should have done last week. Seems like he’s backing down to me.
Cindy
@Damon: It’s a complicated situation, but I’m confident he is not backing down and is committed to doing the right thing. He initially resisted Asrani’s request to review the script because he was concerned she would ask for revisions that could not be made in time (revisions need to be approved by the party that owns the copyright). She did say that her concerns were the presence of homosexuality and prostitution in the script (there isn’t any of the latter). Given her attempt to censor material in a previous school production, he did not imagine they could ever come to an agreement on what constituted appropriate material. He agrees now though that Asrani should be required to go on record with her opposition. I agree that she should have received the script earlier, but all this conflict stalled things (surely the administration’s intent). The script should be in Ron Martin’s hands tomorrow and on Asrani’s desk Monday morning.
Damon
@Cindy: Asrani, I thought, had told him since the last play she would be reviewing all scripts, so why would he even plan the play and order all the scripts without her approval? I believe there is pole-dancing or something in the play, which she probably connected to prostitution. And wow, he’s getting the script pretty fast this time, I thought he said it would take two weeks.
And if he was really committed to doing the right thing, I don’t think he would have gone and told his students:
Regardless, āshe had already told me that she would not let it proceed because of the homosexuality in it,ā Martin said.
Seems like he’s just vindictive to me.
Faux Asrani
Well, my, my.
I never anticipated such an outcry, and during the Presidents Week break no less. It must be a slow news week; Iād hoped that drug-resistant head lice issue at the elementary school wouldāve stolen the spotlight by now. All I was trying to do was protect the community from a play with unseemly characters, and their dreadful homosexual behaviors. All this stress, I long for my home country. President Ahmadinejad is right when he states that there are no homosexuals in Iran.
That Martin, he thinks he can go on with this play? Weāll see about that. And if any students dare to show up next week wearing āRENTā t-shirts, well they had better be very careful. Iād hate to see any graduating seniors expelled for having marijuana found in their locker. Zero tolerance, remember.
Damon
@Faux Asrani: Well, she’s actually Indian, but that was a pretty funny post.
Burned-before-by-Asrani
Fal’s Fall
Read the front page coverage in today’s New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/theater/20rent.html?ref=todayspaper
Sebbe
@Burned-before-by-Asrani – Thanks for the heads up. It in the top 10 emailed articles on nytimes.com!!
Faux Asrani
Get over it!
Quit all this whining. I’m back and the school’s going into lockdown. And if I see that KCAL-9 satellite truck sitting in the parking lot tomorrow all I have to do is tell Officer Monarch to chase them off.
But I do want to apologizeā¦ to everyone at the district who had to cut their vacations short to deal with this brouhaha. Thank you for stone-walling. And to the NMUSD webmaster who had to come back to work to add that pathetic commentary to the home page, but, did you notice? It’s all scrubbed away, as if it never happened. You can all worry about the state budget now.
So write all the letters to the district you want. They’ll protect me because I’m one of them.
And to all you kids, no funny business tomorrow. If I see any form of protest I’ll have my flying monkey Fernando cart you away. You’ll wish you hadn’t messed with me. Zero tolerance, remember.
rupert
I think that the entire event is being blown out of proportion. I don’t see why anyone cares about this, considering nobody at CDM actually watches the plays except for the drama kids.
Betty
The fact that the play wasn’t actually cancelled and was only postponed until Fal could get a copy of the script shows how overblown this subject has become and how dramatic these kids can be. Pun intended. The sad fact is that theatre at CdM is underfunded because there is simply a lack of talent, which means too small a group of kids actually care about this play. It’s all just a ploy to get back at Fal because the drama kids want to find their place in life, which will be challenging, because they have none.
Betty
Sebbe
Well Betty looks like the kids “ploy” is working. Like I said, Asrani will never work again after all the bad press specifically in the NYTimes after Queerty broke the story!!! No one is going to hire her with all that baggage. Drama kids score!!
Betty
@Sebbe: You know queers used to be stoned in ancient times. It’s too bad we’ve moved on. And she is a highly intelligent person about to receive a doctorate, it’s bigger places for her, not rich kids at high school.
Damon
@Sebbe: I’m glad you guys are happy to ruin someone’s occupation and career over canceling a play (which I highly doubt it will). No wonder no one goes to those drama things, its a bunch of vindictive retards.
Betty
i need to use this huge bag as a condom for my gigantic and incredibly well developed brocolli like penis. it is quite bushy with huge purple veins. imagine spaghetti and meat balls, just purple with maroonish overtones. i could easily drive it through a brick wall, ladies you wet yet? i know my pussy is, its dripping down into my satin panties. hit me up
Damon
And what the fuck is with these random posts…I know its a gay blog, but really?
Sebbe
The high school’s principal doesn’t even have her doctorate? What kind of place is that? No wonder she allowed this to get so out of control. Hope she can still get a refund since she won’t be able to use it, this has tarnished her record and will follow her whenever and wherever she applies for a job!!!
Betty
@Sebbe: Does gay also make you stupid? Apparently so in your case. Our school had to go through a transitionary period after the last principle and there were no phd’s available at the time. But Fal has greatened our school and increased test scores across the board, so she is doing something right, even if the lazier and somewhat slower students are resentful.
Betty
My hand easily fits my hand while i stick all five fingers deep in the anal cavity of mr. manslave. it protects my hand from getting stray feces into the crevices of my finger nails causing smelly unsanitary hands which can cause serious illness. over all these gloves are great for tickling the innermost passages of the small intestine!
Betty
as a real women with an incredibly huge package i can say that this club set is great. the different types of wood are great for secreating my women fluid upon, while i stroke my massive cock. the headcover works great for disguising my cock when i am trying to seduce men. while walking around with the giant wood (pun intended) is great for the ladies!
Marta
I honestly dont get why the press is calling this drama teacher a hero. He didn’t even do anything, except lie and try to get Asrani fired because he’s mad that his play is getting cancelled because its a lacluster play and is equivalent to the second caddyshack movie. (Which sucked by the way). Asrani is a good woman although many hate her for her ethnicity and cancellation of the sadie hawkins, but who cares about that, school dances suck anyways. She has improved the status of CDM so stop being little bitches about this situation, its childish and a low blow
Sebbe
Well what can I say, don’t f*ck with the gay mafia. A win will mean Asrani is unemployable. WIN ACCOMPLISHED
Hopefully she has learned her lesson. That’s what you get when you settle for someone without the proper qualifications. Hopefully the school board has learned their lesson as well.
Marta
@Sebbe: Ya clearly you do not know what you are talking about buddy.CDM is one of the highest rated public high schools in the country. She helped us get there. And NO ONE at CDM even knows about this event except the kids in the drama department, who are apparently livid for some reason, and a few normal kids who read the horribly written article in the ocregister. These writers are completely magnifying this insignificant problem and I am tired of all the whining going on
vernonvanderbilt
@Mary, @Betty, @Whatever the fuck your name is supposed to be You know, if you want to troll, it usually works better if you don’t pick a virtually dead thread to do it on.
Cunt.
@rupert: @Damon: @Marta: Which one of you is Assrani in disguise? Maybe all of you? How much is she paying you to come here and defend her honour long after most other people lost interest in this thread? You people are buffoons.
Betty
@Marta: This thing is completely overblown. The drama kids are the only ones who really care, the rest of the students find it comical to be in the news for something so gay, pun intended. And To sebbe, Fal has done great things with the school that have been noticed, and she will be rewarded for that. And she will win. P.S. God gave you guys AIDS, you lose.
Sebbe
Well your right, I don’t know that much about “public” high schools, but everything I ever suspected seems to be true. Plus, CDM is not listed as being in the top 200 schools in the country.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380
Betty
@vernonvanderbilt: The fact that we are posting makes it alive. Please go back to anatomy class. And Vanderbilt is an overbuild rich kids play land. 1, 2 3, stop talking.
Sebbe
@vernonvanderbilt – they r all asrani & co. it is funny, but kind of sad. Maybe she should write an editorial and see if David or the NYTimes will publish it. Doesn’t really matter all the bad press is out there already so no one is going to want to bring that baggage into their district.
Betty
@Sebbe: That is flawed. That lists my father’s high school in the top 20, when it’s education is clearly not better than CdM’s, his words. Those judge on how they cater to the lower income as well as many other factors, education is just one. CdM is almost like a private school, therefore the education is good, but it doesn’t score high in national OVERALL surveys.
Betty
The media is liberal, as are the fags and dykes, therefore the minority has control over what is said. Go out into America and take a poll, you will lose. And people will take her because the baggage is fictional, just like you guys saying you have equal rights.
Sebbe
Almost like a private school? LOL
I saw the pictures of the school.
Ever been to a private school / boarding school?
vernonvanderbilt
@Betty: “The fact that we are posting makes it alive. Please go back to anatomy class.”
I think, in your flawed analogy, you meant to say “biology class.” Makes sense that you wouldn’t be able to put together a logical metaphor though. You haven’t shown that you have any meaningful activity going on in your cranium.
@Sebbe: I would love to see any of these half-wits try to string together enough sentences to create a complete, cogent editorial. I’d love even more to be a fly on the wall of whoever would be the first to read it.
Sebbe
Well Betty, we will see who wins.
Betty
@Sebbe: Almost, would be the key word. Learn to read. Or is that another handicap that comes with being gay?
Betty
@vernonvanderbilt: No, my cranium is messed up from all the weiners I’ve sucked. My forehead is perpetually caved in. And I said anatomy because I was thinking of the human body, aka weiners.
Sebbe
Isn’t being dead almost alive?
thugzzz 4 liffe
@vernonvanderbilt: oh snap son, u be comin 2 our hood in da oc, we don’t kindly to that sort of talk down her on da streets yo. u aint no-in nothin about us fool. we bbe cdmmzz 4 life ya dig. oh snap what now. yea yea you got served fool, shazzam!!!
Betty
@Sebbe: Isn’t being flacid being almost hard? Hoo-hahs.
vernonvanderbilt
@Betty: And what does the human body have to do with something being alive or dead? I would think that’s a matter of biology, the study of life, rather than anatomy, the study of physical structure in living things. Your analogy makes even less sense after you attempted to explain it. You are a fool.
On the plus side, thanks for the amusing diversion. I was bored anyway, and pointing out your idiocy could conceivably occupy me for the rest of my life, or at least a few more minutes, until you bore me.
Sebbe
Its also rather funny how these kids are under some false logic that they live in some rich area. If you look it up, the OC is not even in the top 75 richest counties in America, nor the top 10 even within California.
They really need to get out more and see how the better half lives.
Marta
Ew thats gross…you suck weiners?
vernonvanderbilt
@thugzzz 4 liffe: Wow, Betty’s a racist too? Go figure. Learn English, hon. It might help people take you seriously.
vernonvanderbilt
@Sebbe: Not to mention they named their county after one of the ugliest colours imaginable.
Marta
@Sebbe: HOW THE BETTER HALF LIVES????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Dont be so inclined to call yourself the better half. Youre gay
thugzzz 4 liffe
@Sebbe: woaaah waooaah we live in da newport beach yo, not da oc. huge difference. newport beach is one of the richest areas anywhere, but you probably wouldnt no that as you a poor foo. we liv by da beach wher do u liv??? probably by like factories and pollution. we got ferraris and lambos and audi r8s and mroe merceds bmw and landrover den you could evr be dreamin of. you aint noin us. we richer and better den you fool. we sooo rich yo
Sebbe
Yeah I’m shocked Betty is a racist, especially since her real name is Asrani.
Sebbe
hahahaha, clearly you’ve never been to Connecticut
Sebbe
vernonvanderbilt – snaps!!
thugzzz 4 liffe
@Sebbe: obviously not, connecticutt is known 4 nothin fool. what do u gotzzz maple syrup or somtin??? doezz yo hom hav its own private security guarrrrd. dats how i roll babyyyyyy. i gots like 10 landroverzz whattt now!!!! i gotzz mo bling den anything yo got hommeboi
vernonvanderbilt
Okay, I’m bored now. I suppose I’ll remove this thread from my subscriptions now, since nothing of value is happening on it. I’ve fed the trolls more than enough for the evening. Peace out, bitch! š
Betty
@Sebbe: Ever been to Santa Ana, look up shit hole in the dictionary, and you will see it. Right along with picture of my corn hole, don’t get too horny. š
sally
ok first of all this is sooo stupid from what i understand cdm has zero diversity what is there like 4 gay kids and they all happen to do drama and obviously self respecting straight man is in to drama. and now all these gay kids are crying out for attention because maybe their church hates them or their parents are mormen and hate gays these kids all over reacted to nothing all fal wanted was to see a copy of the script which she received today so she could make sure it was ok for high schoolers to veiw lets not for get about the other issues in the play such as drug use and selling your self for sex. Plain and simple cdm’s drama program needed some attention because most of the students probably dont give a shit about crappy play. This just proves gays need to calm their shit and if they want equality act liek normal ple for five min then ull get respect and really cocks into assholes grosssssssssssssssssss who is into that is just grossssss sounding and btw lets not forget wat happen on prop8 maybe the majority of the population just doesnt like gay people
Steve
Please note that this story needs updating. It was not the principal who canceled, but the drama teacher. And apparently, it was an administrative issue, not one of content. In fact, “Rent” may actually go into production at the school. Here’s the link:
http://dailypilot.com/articles/2009/02/25/topstory/dpt-rent022609.txt
cdm
I go to CdM and my english teacher told us that Mrs. Assrani didn’t want the play to go on because she doesn’t want to have homosexuals. But she doesn’t understand that there are homosexuals at our school to begin with so she is just discrimanating students that go to our school. And now it is May 23, opening night. The play was not canceled and I am going tonight. Tomorrow protesters at 2:15 are coming to protest against it though. Go to godhatesfags.com. All the details are there.
sasha
i go to cdm and the play is still going on tonights opening night… there will be protesters at my school tomorrow and they are protesting about how god hates everyone and that soldiers are dieing bc of gays and they go to funerals and celebrate and stuff like that but the play is still going and it will be amazing