Calgary Opera has removed bass-baritone Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega from future performances of "Tosca" after he unveiled a Palestinian flag during the curtain call on opening night.
As much as I might agree with the political stance, I can understand them not wanting one of their members to hijack the performance to make a political statement.
If I was in the 1930s, and being horrified day-in day-out about the genocide that everyone is constantly being reminded about, and I went to the opera to mentally escape, just for one night. A single night where it's not on my mind and I can go out to try and enjoy myself, and then someone made it about the genocide. I'd be less than thrilled.
Ohh boo-hoo. So you have to put up with being "less than thrilled" for a few minutes while people are trying to prevent genocide. You poor selfish thing.
I mean an entire people and culture is being destroyed and you're upset about having to be "less than thrilled" to have to learn about it??? By seeing a flag for 10 seconds?
Everyone already knows about it. Showing a flag achieves nothing. Maybe your mental health is good enough that you can deal with constant depression all day every day but some of us need an escape once in a while.
You went to see an opera about Italians escaping Napolean's armies as they invade Italy in which the newly appointed chief of police uses his power to kill the lover and family of the woman he chooses to be his bride, only for her to kill him and then herself in order to forget about genocide?
On the one hand, the genocide needs extensive and copious pushback.
On the other hand, he is inside of a play, as a performer, doing contracted work. Where in his contract does it give him this leeway?
If this happened outside of the performance, then fine. But inside of it? Yeah, I’ve got mixed feelings on that one. It just seems… immature? Not sure that’s the right word, but it’s the closest one I have so far.
I am sure you didn't mean to say pointing out a genocide is immature.
There is something going on here and it is probably along the lines of discipline or tactifullness. Having the discipline to not bring something political into the play. Having the tact to know when to show it and when not to. These are both judgement calls though.
Actors are human beings with complex emotions, so I don't really see the problem with his expression. I would have asked him not to display the flag again and if he did then discipline him, but the stakes are apparently much higher probably due to organizational politics.
Tact occurs in the absence of maturity, so immaturity is certainly adjacent to your superior term.
And it’s not so much about the person breaking out a soapbox, but more along the lines of breaking out a soapbox in a venue that is neither theirs nor public, especially when they are a contracted rep of that venue. That person was there on contract to entertain the patrons according to a clearly-defined program. That alone means they don’t air anything beyond what is defined in that program. It’s exceptionally rude to the patrons, who came there to see the program, not the person (specifically) or their protest.
Things get blurrier when the artist is the focus of the program, like when a band is playing, and they - as a group - pull out the soapbox. There I see a point in their favour, as patrons came to see them, specifically and exclusively, perform.
Even supporting artists have more of a leg up than this guy, because people will pay money to see a specific band even if it’s only an opener.
I personally see tact as a separate skill from maturity. I know plenty of grown adults who lack tact. I wouldn't call them immature myself.
This simple display was not really that disruptive, it really reminds me of when the NFL players were taking a knee. Your argument against this display is very similar to the argument conservatives used to shutdown them down during that controversy.
You seem to be saying that this actor took away from the production by doing this. I don't think this is accurate. I don't think this quick display of a flag without even saying a word took away from anything. In fact, the overreaction is more of a problem than what the actor did.
I think you are probably right about bands and other single acts having more leeway to make their politics known, but even then you have artists like the Dixie Chicks who got blackballed for saying an offhand comment many Americans agreed with at the time.
My first thought is What if it was a flag representing some group I disagreed with? How would I feel then. If your support changes based on which flag then your support isn't valid. Now if he had gone out on the street right after the performance and waved his flag as viewers were leaving the property, I'd say he every right and MGMT could fuck off. But on the stage at the end of the performance, it wasn't his right to do so.
Okay, well how about if someone unfurled a Dallas Cowboys flag on stage while you were on it. I would be furious. Do you now understand the point I was making?
Ok, I'm probably going to be downvoted for this, but this is the expected outcome. They knew this was going to happen. Is it the good outcome? Obviously not. It is expected though. Orchestras, and I assume operas too, are very strict. You have to be in uniform, and you can't have anything that stands out. Even things like water bottles can't stand out, if they're even allowed those. You aren't allowed to do anything like this, regardless of if it's political or not. If it was just a sign that said their name or something the result would likely be the same.
Now, the opera should make a statement saying they support the stance. That would be good. However, members aren't allowed to do things like this. They agree to that when they join. This is more like a web developer putting a Palestinian flag on a website for a corporation they're working for than a rockstar being removed because venue owners complained. Sure, both people are making a good statement, but one of them is doing something that isn't allowed, and the other is just facing backlash by Zionists.
Sure, yeah, protest, but this is the expected result is the point. Protest doesn't mean there are no consequences. That's my point. This was still a good thing the perform did. It'd be great if there weren't consequences, or at least less severe, but it's pretty expected.
This brings up an interesting discussion really. Is everything a proper venue? There will always be injustice in the world. We should strive to address it. But should we have spaces that are untouched by protest?
52 replies
Where’s the right wing editorialist crying « cancel culture » ?
It's coming and it's gonna be about antisemitism.
You mean the fake bullshit lying kind of antisemitism.
Israelis are nuclear armed Nazis.
Careful! Public Safety of Canada might deem this hate speech.
right? i mean he could have set fire to the place to have made a proper protest a la France n'est ce pas? vive la revolution!
Hero
classic canadian move
just like with indigenous people.
As much as I might agree with the political stance, I can understand them not wanting one of their members to hijack the performance to make a political statement.
Nobody is really in the wrong, here.
So in 1930s if someone put an anti nazi sign up, you’d be there grumbling about hijacking the performance too?
The genoside is already happening.
If I was in the 1930s, and being horrified day-in day-out about the genocide that everyone is constantly being reminded about, and I went to the opera to mentally escape, just for one night. A single night where it's not on my mind and I can go out to try and enjoy myself, and then someone made it about the genocide. I'd be less than thrilled.
Ohh boo-hoo. So you have to put up with being "less than thrilled" for a few minutes while people are trying to prevent genocide. You poor selfish thing.
I mean an entire people and culture is being destroyed and you're upset about having to be "less than thrilled" to have to learn about it??? By seeing a flag for 10 seconds?
WTF?
Everyone already knows about it. Showing a flag achieves nothing. Maybe your mental health is good enough that you can deal with constant depression all day every day but some of us need an escape once in a while.
These kind of acts keep the genocide in the news and force people to be aware of what's happening at the very least.
Zionist medias absolutely want to keep the palestinian genocide under wrap and this actor put his livelihood on the line for what he believes in.
This is more than a lot of people have done, and comments like yours perpetuate the status quo
Good thing most germans didn’t even know about the gas chambers until after the war, it was just politics for most.
You went to see an opera about Italians escaping Napolean's armies as they invade Italy in which the newly appointed chief of police uses his power to kill the lover and family of the woman he chooses to be his bride, only for her to kill him and then herself in order to forget about genocide?
JFC
What do you think curtain call is
Assuming the title is accurate, the performance was over at that point.
Art is supposed to be political tho
Art is supposed to make you feel something. That something can be political, but certainly doesn't have to be.
Unless this is one of those "literally everything is political" arguments, in which case the shit I took this morning is political too.
But was it art?
Nothing a human in society has ever done is unpolitical.
My shits are for the Republic! For democracy!
Where do you shit? How is the sewage system constructed? Who owns it? Who operates it? What wages are they paid? Entirely unpolitical, yes?
The show was done, and from the sound of things, the audience cheered even louder at the political stance. Doesn't seem like anything was "hijacked".
Agreed.
It's not his megaphone.
I'm glad every human being in our history didn't think as you do.
The most egregious thing about this post is the grammar.
I've read this many times now and the most charitable translation I can come up with is thst you meant "not every" and "did think."
But its truly a baffling sentence in the english language.
No it isn’t. You just aren’t very good at reading.
So you agree with the previous comment that every single person disagrees with me?
Edit: not juet every single person... every single person... that EVER LIVED!
And every single person that ever will live, into infinity. And also, why not? People have agreed with much stranger things.
You have a lot to learn.
I’m of two minds on this one.
On the one hand, the genocide needs extensive and copious pushback.
On the other hand, he is inside of a play, as a performer, doing contracted work. Where in his contract does it give him this leeway?
If this happened outside of the performance, then fine. But inside of it? Yeah, I’ve got mixed feelings on that one. It just seems… immature? Not sure that’s the right word, but it’s the closest one I have so far.
I am sure you didn't mean to say pointing out a genocide is immature.
There is something going on here and it is probably along the lines of discipline or tactifullness. Having the discipline to not bring something political into the play. Having the tact to know when to show it and when not to. These are both judgement calls though.
Actors are human beings with complex emotions, so I don't really see the problem with his expression. I would have asked him not to display the flag again and if he did then discipline him, but the stakes are apparently much higher probably due to organizational politics.
Tact occurs in the absence of maturity, so immaturity is certainly adjacent to your superior term.
And it’s not so much about the person breaking out a soapbox, but more along the lines of breaking out a soapbox in a venue that is neither theirs nor public, especially when they are a contracted rep of that venue. That person was there on contract to entertain the patrons according to a clearly-defined program. That alone means they don’t air anything beyond what is defined in that program. It’s exceptionally rude to the patrons, who came there to see the program, not the person (specifically) or their protest.
Things get blurrier when the artist is the focus of the program, like when a band is playing, and they - as a group - pull out the soapbox. There I see a point in their favour, as patrons came to see them, specifically and exclusively, perform.
Even supporting artists have more of a leg up than this guy, because people will pay money to see a specific band even if it’s only an opener.
I personally see tact as a separate skill from maturity. I know plenty of grown adults who lack tact. I wouldn't call them immature myself.
This simple display was not really that disruptive, it really reminds me of when the NFL players were taking a knee. Your argument against this display is very similar to the argument conservatives used to shutdown them down during that controversy.
You seem to be saying that this actor took away from the production by doing this. I don't think this is accurate. I don't think this quick display of a flag without even saying a word took away from anything. In fact, the overreaction is more of a problem than what the actor did.
I think you are probably right about bands and other single acts having more leeway to make their politics known, but even then you have artists like the Dixie Chicks who got blackballed for saying an offhand comment many Americans agreed with at the time.
How do so many people not know what curtain call is
There's no gray area here.
He's opportunistically hijacking the platform that is the opera company's viewership.
He, alone, had no right to this platform and the company is well within their rights to remove him.
As a thought exercise, (and I can scarcely believe this needs to be said) imagine he came out waving an Israeli flag.
If that last sentence got any of this crowd irritated, we might admit what this instance did for the operators of the opera company.
My first thought is What if it was a flag representing some group I disagreed with? How would I feel then. If your support changes based on which flag then your support isn't valid. Now if he had gone out on the street right after the performance and waved his flag as viewers were leaving the property, I'd say he every right and MGMT could fuck off. But on the stage at the end of the performance, it wasn't his right to do so.
I wouldn't want to be on stage while a coworker unfurled a MAGA flag.
False equivalence - MAGA is a party in the US that is the oppressor. Palestine is a country and people that are oppressed and genocided.
"Well akchewally"
Okay, well how about if someone unfurled a Dallas Cowboys flag on stage while you were on it. I would be furious. Do you now understand the point I was making?
I honestly recomend not engaging with people this far gone.
Ok, I'm probably going to be downvoted for this, but this is the expected outcome. They knew this was going to happen. Is it the good outcome? Obviously not. It is expected though. Orchestras, and I assume operas too, are very strict. You have to be in uniform, and you can't have anything that stands out. Even things like water bottles can't stand out, if they're even allowed those. You aren't allowed to do anything like this, regardless of if it's political or not. If it was just a sign that said their name or something the result would likely be the same.
Now, the opera should make a statement saying they support the stance. That would be good. However, members aren't allowed to do things like this. They agree to that when they join. This is more like a web developer putting a Palestinian flag on a website for a corporation they're working for than a rockstar being removed because venue owners complained. Sure, both people are making a good statement, but one of them is doing something that isn't allowed, and the other is just facing backlash by Zionists.
Orchestra musicians are a different breed for sure. But the opera are still actors and not that strict.
As others have said, there's no platform or venue that is closed off to protest
Sure, yeah, protest, but this is the expected result is the point. Protest doesn't mean there are no consequences. That's my point. This was still a good thing the perform did. It'd be great if there weren't consequences, or at least less severe, but it's pretty expected.
If it's expected then it's an even braver act by Gabriel because most opera actors are not paid a lot.
This brings up an interesting discussion really. Is everything a proper venue? There will always be injustice in the world. We should strive to address it. But should we have spaces that are untouched by protest?
No.
It’s not a debate about tax policy or something. Children are being murdered daily.