Opera as a Metaphor to Society?

By Bobby

It continuously hit me throught performance Saturday at the Festival dei Due Mondi USA (as the great Gian Carlo Menotti would say) in Charleston (a short drive from home, considering I have friends there from college, and that's where I usually attend everything from minor league hockey -- Congratulations to the Stingrays for that third Kelly Cup -- to professional opera) that Gustave Charpentier's Louise. set to an original libretto by the composer, had me wondering about the current State of the Union, and how the opera's main characters symbolised this nation when thinking of the people (Louise), the values of the Grand America (her parents), the attractiveness of the Obama Administration and Staff (Julien and the Bohemian lifestyle of the people in Paris), and the battle between the worldviews.

As I watched the verismo opera, Louise, her parents, Julien, and the entire Paris, I had myself thinking how art could truly imitate life. I could see how an entire country (Louise) is lured into the "dark side" by the attractive Obama administration (Julien) and its values (the entire Bohemian lifestyle of Julien and his gang) going after the entire factory where Louise worked), and the resulting anger of those in support of strong Biblican values (the parents). I also noted unfortunately how the "free love" thoughts of that era could have led to some of the ugly culture of today, especially with the "freedom to marry" of the librettist that unfortunately has become code for the deviants who want to rewrite marriage to fit their own feelings, instead of what's in the Bible.

The Bohemian lifestyle, shown with the burlesque outfits and questionable behaviour, of Julien and the poets society that lured those workers, is seemingly to me shown as one which I would never want to be, while the parents are just angry at what has happened to their daughter, and it seemed that the parents' anger at the end with that has happened to Louise reminded me of what many have seen with the people (Louise) being attracted to the bad values of the Administration (Julien).

Sometimes, opera does seem to be a metaphor for our society. Louise, her parents, and Julien show what I've seen in this country with the Obama administration -- loss of common sense in favour of the attractiveness of something that's dangerous, and wrong.