Mel Brooks with The Producers has made it impossible for all time to parody this sort of thing. But here is The Producers come to life. "London opera on Qadhafi hits right note," from AFP, with thanks to Fjordman:
LONDON -- Once seen by Washington as "the most dangerous man on the planet" but considered a charismatic hero by others, Libya's Colonel Muammar Qadhafi is the main character in a dazzling modern opera in London.It has everything to keep spectators on the edge of their seats: images of the desert covered in oil and blood, documentary footage on war and revolution, bombs, missiles, rap music, and beautiful female bodyguards in red high heels.
More of an audiovisual spectacular than an opera, Gaddafi: A Living Myth, follows step by step the enigmatic Qadhafi and his times to the hip hop beat of the British group, Asian Dub Foundation....
The project was born three years ago when the musician Steve "Chandrasonic" Savale persuaded the then director of the English National Opera (ENO), which in turn asked the Asian Dub Foundation to do a piece on Qadhafi.
Savale, who wrote the script, was fascinated with Qadhafi because of his "dramatic duality."
"Who is Qadhafi?" asked Savale, speaking at the theater near Trafalgar Square.
"Is he a brutal tyrant, sponsor of some of the most destructive acts of terrorism of the last 50 years? Or is he a steadfast anti-imperialist champion of the oppressed peoples of the Earth? A misrepresented national hero? Or a paranoid narcissist? Or is he just a marginal figure that would be irrelevant if he did not have control of what so many powerful forces want: oil."
"Is he a brutal tyrant, sponsor of some of the most destructive acts of terrorism of the last 50 years?"
YES.
"...is he a steadfast anti-imperialist champion of the oppressed peoples of the Earth?"
NO.
[is he a] "misrepresented national hero?"
YES. Every time he's depicted as a "champion of the oppressed peoples of the Earth..."
[is he a] "paranoid narcissist?"
YEAH. DUHHHHHHHH.
[or] "is he just a marginal figure that would be irrelevant if he did not have control of what so many powerful forces want: oil."
UMMMMM..... YEP.
Asian Dub Foundation have actually made some really powerful music, if you are into this sort of thing. I did listen to them a lot few years ago, but I became quite fed up with their forcing of extremist views down the listener's throat.
If anyone except Mr. Spencer had told me about this, I'd assume that person was crazy, or perhaps hitting his bottle of Warner's Safe Liver Cure a bit too frequently. This is unbelievable - an opera (I use the term under duress, I might add)about Qadafi. Thank God that William and Arthur have tucked in for their long slumber, as such a spectacle would surely have given them the pip, and worse.
I wonder if Savale was forced to take the sacred Siegfried oath.
Opera is renowned for its use of far fatched, if not downright silly, plotlines and subject matter.
"Is he a brutal tyrant, sponsor of some of the most destructive acts of terrorism of the last 50 years?"
Well, the first impression is usually the correct one.
Prophet Geoff
What next?
Will the English National Opera offer free tickets to relatives of Lockerby victims?
First of all, there were Lenin. Later had come Stalin, then Mao Zendong, later came Pol-Pot, Che, and now Quadaffi, islamists and Chavez. Left is always in need to have "charismatic" anti-western hero, regardless how many people he slughtered or how many misery he created.
IS THIS MADNESS EVER CASE TO EXIST??
First of all, there were Lenin. Later had come Stalin, then Mao Zendong, later came Pol-Pot, Che, and now Quadaffi, islamists and Chavez. Left is always in need to have "charismatic" anti-western hero, regardless how many people he slughtered or how many misery he created.
IS THIS MADNESS EVER CASE TO EXIST??
Good point Leiba. I doubt the family of WPC Yvonne Fletcher are much impressed either.
To our British Friends:
I have gathered from my online readings that this opera company "ENO" is supported mainly from public funds -- to the tune of $30,000,000 USD, as near as I can tell. Is this the way you want your tax dollars spent -- examing the "dramatic duality" of a mass murderer set to music?
Surely if such an affair is worth producing, then let it be funded by private dollars -- I somehow doubt there will be any tax payers from Lockerbie (11 killed by Qadhafi) or those UK families of the dead on the plane (259 killed by Qadhafi -- how many were British I do not know) attending the festivites...
And a decent interval would be nice too. "The Producers" was produced 25 years after Hitler died -- Qadhafi still stalks this distracted globe...