Faith and theater

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>I find this an interesting discussion because with my D we when she was young we used decisions about what to audition for or not as points of clarifiication for her about our values and hers. D some commercial and industrial work in middle school and from 10 on theatre work outside of school, so there were many chances to talk about auditions. She did Ragtime for the first time in 6th grade (this was school production because she was in a 4-12 school). There was a great deal of discussion about language in the show, eventually they kept it all in and talked with the kids about it’s context and the range of racial slurs, it was an educational experience appropriate for school. Some parents pulled their kids, most didn’t.
We have never told D she could not audition for anything, although I actively discouraged Grease which I find personally a horrible message for young women, but we did ask her to consider the overall themes of the shows, how do they fit with her values and would these themes or particular actions/scenes be difficult for her to reconcile. Asking her to be sure she could separate herself from the part. We figured these were the skills she needed to learn if she was going to pursue an acting career.</p>

<p>We probably had more discussions about commercial work than theatre, because they were both more abundant (at least the auditions, not necessarily the casting). Things like, should she do Bible camp industrials (we do not believe) or political adds for candidates we oppose? Sometimes her choices surprised us, but I always felt she was making a decision based on her sense of self and values, not just money.</p>

<p>Now as a college sophomore, I am confident she has a strong sense of her own values and where her “performer self” starts and ends, which is one of the things I am eternally greatfull for her early theatre experiences for.</p>

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<p>alwaysamom…I was really not talking to anyone in the group, and I am sorry if I came off that way (pretty obvious why I am not a professional writer…I have trouble getting my “tone” across).</p>

<p>What I meant was, of course we all consider appropriateness when our kids take on a role…I know it is just theater, but we can’t say that our own moral “thermometer” doesn’t come into play. It’s just that we all may “draw” the line at a different spot in the sand.</p>

<p>I agree with sassystage that most high schools keep it “age appropriate” but everyone has their own definition of that word. One of our local high schools did Urinetown…there was a pretty big stink (sorry) about that one, with lots of moral people on both sides of the debate. </p>

<p>Even in college, the VERY FIRST play I went to see at my son’s new college was “Angels in America”…I had not heard of it before, and I was sickened by some of what I saw as unneccesarily graphic scenes…a man with aids purposely going to a park to infect someone, and the “act” being played out on stage with pants partially pulled down. Not with nudity, but still…</p>

<p>Was that necessary to the plot? Or was it just edgy and for shock value? When I contrast that with the way aids is covered in Rent…the two do not compare. I would hope he would choose one and pass on the other, even if he is in college. (He was not in the show, so luckily did not have to choose, but someday he may)</p>

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<p>nicksmom, did your son’s college do both parts of Angels in America? I’m a little surprised that you’d never heard of it. It’s a fabulous play that won back to back Tonys in the early 90s, part one produced in one year followed by part two the next. It also won the Pulitzer, and then the Drama Desk both years. The HBO film production of it was much acclaimed with a star-studded Hollywood cast, it was a show that everyone was clamoring to do. I imagine that your son was familiar with it. It certainly deals with issues in its social commentary that are uncomfortable for many, so your reaction is probably not unique but it’s one of the most important pieces of theatre from the latter part of the 20th century. Tony Kushner is a good example of a playwright who produces thought-provoking work. Another of his great successes is Caroline, or Change. Different issues than Angels in America but no less powerful in its exploration of social issues. I highly recommend it! :)</p>

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<p>I thought about this thread last night. My high school daughter came in last night from going to see the opera “Dead Man Walking” and mentioned the first scene was intense, with a nude male and female in it. My wife and I were pretty surprised, as this is not the norm for our community. I guess that’s what I get for not looking into the subject matter beforehand. She handled it fine though.</p>

<p>As for working for Disney, they are all about the villains! I always say Disney loves to scare the heck out of those kids.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry, I don’t know how to make the next two paragraphs look like a quote from someone else… but they are:</p>

<p>"Even in college, the VERY FIRST play I went to see at my son’s new college was “Angels in America”…I had not heard of it before, and I was sickened by some of what I saw as unneccesarily graphic scenes…a man with aids purposely going to a park to infect someone, and the “act” being played out on stage with pants partially pulled down. Not with nudity, but still…</p>

<p>Was that necessary to the plot? Or was it just edgy and for shock value? When I contrast that with the way aids is covered in Rent…the two do not compare. I would hope he would choose one and pass on the other, even if he is in college. (He was not in the show, so luckily did not have to choose, but someday he may)"</p>

<p>The short answer is “yes” that scene is necessary to the plot of the play. It does not need to be done graphically, and if memory serves wasn’t on Broadway. “Angels in America…” is one of the best plays of the last half of the twentieth century. It is an important play about politics and is considered a seminal piece of literature. That scene is difficult to watch. It should be. </p>

<p>I don’t bring this up to stand on my soapbox. I bring it up because this is an excellent discussion regarding the work. One aspect of theatre is entertainment. But many times the reasons we tell stories are so that the audience can experience things they might not otherwise understand. Actors do that by embodying a character and bringing the world of that character to the audience. If you believe that the stories we tell (and by “we” I mean those of us who work in the art form) are too strong, too graphic, or too something else I would argue that you may be missing the issues at hand. </p>

<p>The simulacrum presented on stage is often quite entertaining. But there is an audience that craves more and deserves more. I was drawn to the theatre so that I can bring the beauty of plays like “Angels in America” to the audience. To tell that story, to ask the audience to discover those metaphors, that language, live those lives. </p>

<p>I’ve managed to do most every large, happy musical written. I enjoy the mindlessness of “Anything Goes” and the depth of “South Pacific.” But sometimes, forcing the audience outside of the comfort zone – well --I think that’s a good thing. </p>

<p>Students will be asked to do this. No, the vast majority of undergraduate programs will not allow nudity on stage. But some do. And there are shows out there that almost require nudity. But the sheer vulnerability of seeing a live actor naked in the right moment is stunning. And that vulnerability is very often the point. Sure, sometimes it is about the sex, but I hope to avoid those moments on stage. And by and large, so do most audiences. If nudity for the purposes of sex sold tickets on Broadway, it would be on Broadway. (Goodness knows there was a time it sold quite well on, in and around Times Square before the Mouse took over.) </p>

<p>Actors can hold on to their morals and values and still portray characters that are not like them. That’s why it’s called acting. If something isn’t possible for them to do, then don’t do it. But they do need to begin the journey of discovery that tells them when to say yes and when to say no.</p>

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<p>They just did Part 1, and I had not heard of it before I went (my son is a walking MT encyclopedia, so no doubt he knew all about it.) After the play, I asked some people about it, and obviously found out it was highly acclaimed.</p>

<p>I guess some things are personal preference, but I walked out after intermission, not because I was overly shocked but because I thought it was truly a bizarre play…I had trouble following the plot, and I was really bored. And some of it was just over-the-top weird. Plus, I really did have a problem with some of the edgier stuff…not because of the subject matter, but in the crude way it was presented. It sort of turned my stomach, and not in a thought-provoking way just in a was-that-really-necessary way. If I had known it won Tony’s would it have mattered? Meh… I am sorry if I sound small minded…I am not a prude, I just didn’t like it. And I pretty much like everything (except South Pacific) :slight_smile: Maybe I should rent it and give it another try.</p>

<p>I was talking to my husband about this thread last night, and he sort of summed it up in a funny way…“Hey, somebody’s got to play Hitler.” Well said.</p>

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<p>Great post kjgc. </p>

<p>Out of all the productions my daughter has been involved with, the two that she states have meant the most to her have been THE LARAMIE PROJECT and RENT. She wrote a few college essays about how those shows affected her (for the good) . . . this was also a quote that she referenced in a couple essays . . . thought it was kind of fitting for this thread:</p>

<p>“The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation. The theatre is a spiritual and social X-ray of its time. The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation.” - Stella Adler</p>

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<p>nicksmtmom, not everyone liked “Angels…”. In fact, many critics disliked it intensely. No Tony matters to me, nor would it to you. What matters to any audience member is the experience they are having with the play. You clearly didn’t have a good experience in the first 75 minutes, so you left. It is a difficult play to be sure. </p>

<p>But our job as faculty is to teach the art form. Making someone cry or tap their toes really isn’t that hard. But making people think, truly take them on the journey and sustain that journey from start to finish. That takes an artist, with craft, discipline and talent. Training is about craft, talent and discipline and to achieve those things we need to take the students outside of their comfort zones. Nobody can understand where they are unless they leave that place. Everyone needs to understand where they are willing to go, and where they cannot go. They need to define themselves as people in order to define themselves as artists. That’s not an easy journey. But it in many ways begins to separate entertainers (and I don’t use that term in the pejorative) from artists. </p>

<p>"When you come into the theater, you have to be willing to say, “We’re all here to undergo a communion, to find out what the hell is going on in this world.” If you’re not willing to say that, what you get is entertainment instead of art, and poor entertainment at that. -DAVID MAMET</p>

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<p>Whiile we are not a religious family, we do have strong moral values and try to impart them to our kids. That being said, I have always felt that an actor’s ability to take on a role that is completely contrary to their normal character is such an amazing ability to possess. I don’t think it would be appropriate for a high school or middle school to take on a play that has obvious sexual or inappropriate content. I know that a lot of high schools and youth theater do Grease- pretty inappropriate when you listen to the content- but I like to think that these kids are thinking human beings and have developed their own sense of right and wrong by then. My D was a prostitute in a Regional production of J&H her senior year- she gave up her senior musical at her high school for that opportunity. A couple of people did comment that it seemed to be an awfully mature role for her (the next youngest cast member was 22) but my D was a very mature high schooler and has very strong moral values. We felt she could easily handle it. </p>

<p>One lesson we did learn- both she and her younger brother were in a Regional production of Ragtime when they were 14 and 8; her as immigrant ensemble and he as the little boy US and ensemble. Of course this show contains the very offensive “N” word, and his teacher called me to say that he was singing at school and saying that word. While we had sat down with him to explain the show and the history behind it, I guess we never specifically told him NOT to sing certain songs. Anyway, fortunately the school knew about the show and also knew we would never condone such language or ideas, and after we all explained why he should limit his singing, it was OK (although VERY embarassing!)</p>

<p>I think every actor has to define his/her own limits. I guess it is always a bit startling to parents the first time you see your child in a role with shock value, but I put it in perspective by recognizing that my D is a very strong and mature person with good values, and that if she chooses to take on a role, she does so on a professional basis.</p>

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<p>takeitallin, my daughter played Lucy (the lead, also a prostitute) in Jekyl and Hyde when she was 16. She was a Kit Kat Girl in Cabaret when she was 12 in a high school production and again at age 17 in an adult production. When she was 19, she played the lead in the mainstage musical at her college, which was the premier of a new musical called Only Children, in which she played a 12 year old girl who was turning tricks and she was nude on top and had simulated sex on stage. She was in an adult production of Grease (played Frenchy) right after she turned 16. When she was 15, she played Anita in West Side Story which includes the rape scene. When she was 19 or 20 in college, she was in an original workshop and the cast elected to start the show off where everyone was naked at first (not the entire show). Recently right around her 23rd birthday, she played a virgin in the premier of a sort of rock opera, called Stop the Virgens in NYC and in the final scene had to splatter fake blood all over her white costume.</p>

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<p>IMHO</p>

<p>Theatre and acting and story telling is about the human condition - in all it’s conditions - the good, the bad, the ugly, and all shades in between - and yes, the sexual. My daughter, age 18 has not yet been put in a situation with any nudity involved - and at this point the decision would only revolve around her own ability to handle it emotionally and would be her decision - would have nothing to do with morality or religion. At a younger age we of course would be hesitant - but because of the harm it might do her, how it might make her feel or expose her to something she isn’t ready for, not for any religious reason. She has had however many occasions to let some profanity rip and has done so with no hesitation and no ill effects, except maybe a slightly shocked father!</p>

<p>We are Jewish and if we had limited her to the local kids Jewish junior theatre which doesnt have rehearsals on Friday night or Saturday it would have enormously limited her opportunities. Would this have been a bad thing - of course not - I know families who’ve made this decision and I respect it. But, this profession is intensely difficult and she’s extremely dedicated - I wanted to give her every opportunity. </p>

<p>I also know that I have raised a giving, mature, moral, beautiful human being who has immense empathy for other people. A lot of this I attribute to her theatre experiences. I also know that she has her Judaism and community to rely on for wisdom and strength, without any resentment because the religion’s rules wouldn’t let her take a job. I wouldn’t change a thing- but is a very personal decision. The truth is she could never be an adult actor who didn’t work on Friday night or Saturday, so I never saw a point in enforcing that on her as a kid.</p>

<p>Just my 2 cents.</p>

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<p>I think the point of this issue is to respect all persons decisions on how they reconcile their faith with their art. There is no right or wrong, it is a personal decision. Those who choose to put the tenets of their faith first may have to sacrifice certain opportunities and vice versa. I just hope and pray that my D and S can continue to practice their faith without undo prejudice or contempt from those who are not religious. What a boring world it would be if we were all alike. BTW, my S is gay and, as a Christian minister, I celebrate that and support him fully. Just thought I should say that as oftentimes all Christians get painted as “antigay.” I thought Angels in America was an important work, although certainly for mature adults.</p>

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<p>We saw ANGELS IN AMERICA on the national tour and there was indeed full frontal male nudity. We found the play challenging and gripping. </p>

<p>I think nudity on stage is different than nudity on screen. On stage, the actor has a direct relationship with the audience. We are all in the same room, and we can appreciate (through our attention, through our applause) the vulnerability the actor shows in stripping off. </p>

<p>On screen, it becomes a bit more prurient on the audience’s part, I think. We are detached from the actor, we start paying attention to the body as a body (for comparison purposes, for sexual arousal, whatever), and not to the person inside the body. Not to mention the fact that the scene can now be copied and disseminated all over the world with the touch of a few keys!</p>

<p>I would not be crazy about my kids performing nude onstage, but I would understand it. But I would caution them against on camera nudity… (Not that I have much to worry about – my D is incredibly modest, overly so for an actress, and I find myself in the awkward position, for a mom, of suggesting that she buy clothes that are a bit <em>more</em>, as she puts it, “slutty”!)</p>

<p>Great discussion here…</p>

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<p>Michael Kostroff in a recent Backstage.com article about nudity says, “Even if nudity fits with your artistic philosophy, you might want to wait until it’s in connection with a project you know is 100 percent legitimate, safe, and worthy of such intimate exposure, like an HBO project or a first-class feature film with a known director.” </p>

<p>He also says, “The decision whether or not to work nude is a personal one. While I know some disagree with my point of view, I don’t believe actors should ever think of nudity as an inherent requirement of our profession. It should never be assumed that just because you’re an actor, the world gets to see your naked body. Many actors—myself included—have had successful, busy careers without shedding their clothes.”</p>

<p>You don’t have to subscribe to Backstage to see the whole article, found in the “Working Actor” advice column.</p>

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<p>I have to agree with Nicksmom… I like many “edgy” shows but I really did not like “Angels”. I thought it was too long and quite boring. I realize the message is important, but I couldn’t make myself like it.</p>

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<p>and (from another thread)

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<p>Interesting discussion. Sharing our experiences, DS was cast in his first adult play in the 5th grade - “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The first lines he ever spoke in real theater were:
“Hey Scout - how come your daddy defends n***ers?”
He learned early that roles he plays on stage are not reflective of our family values. </p>

<p>Fast forward to the spring of his junior year in HS. DS was now cast in an adult play based on the true-life murders of two Dartmouth professors about twelve years ago - murders committed by a couple of HS teenagers. DS had the ringleader role, with a lot of vulgarity and graphic violence depicted on stage. Had this been a movie, it certainly would have been rated “R”. After he had been cast, DS wanted to go the maximum security prison to meet the real-life murderer who he was going to portray on stage. I did put my foot down on that idea. :wink: FWIW, of the two teenage actors in that play, DS is now at NYU/Tisch, the other is at Julliard.</p>

<p>The summer between his junior and senior year, DS (now age 17) went to the Tisch Summer High School theater program in NYC, where the students (HS juniors entering their senior year) really stretched their acting chops. DS kept a blog on his experiences, and here are some quotes from him:</p>

<p><a href=“a”>quote</a> This morning I did a scene with another boy in which I bought drugs from him. Our professor, J***<strong><em>, told us that he wasn’t supporting drug use, and told us that he only tried pot once. Somebody asked him how it was and he told us that he was in a really bad play a while ago and during a long lunch break a young guy invited him over to his house where he had a huge stash of joints. I guess they smoked and J</em></strong>*** hated it. The young guy was H******* F***. HAHA!</p>

<p>(b) Our rehearsal with J*** (the director) tonight was really powerful. He gave us this packet with poems, quotes, and thoughts about war, and we broke off into groups and had to make three 10 second long skits about war. One in a war zone, one on the home front, and one that combined them. It was amazing how powerful some of the skits were, and they were only 10 second long. GOOD NIGHT! Sorry for all the serious subject matter. To end on a happy note, I just ate my weight in chips and salsa. </p>

<p>(c) Last night, we showed our skits/performance art pieces to the rest of the group. Everyone really liked ours, especially the director. The four of us were so proud, it wasn’t really a big deal but we were really committed to it and it felt so good to blow them all away.<br>
Our assignment was to create a 5 scene skit about our current wars, and the war at home. There was also a huge list of requirements of random things we had to have in it somewhere, like a family at dinner, a passionate kiss, a surprise entrance and so on. We started off with the family at dinner scene, and when we set it up, it kind of looked like the Last Supper, so we ran with the idea of biblical imagery. Every scene had some sort of allusion to the story of the last days of Christ. We had to have a slap in a scene, and the space was really intimate and a ‘stage slap’ would have looked so fake, so we were like “Lets just actually slap someone”, and then for our kiss scene, we thought of when Judas kisses Jesus to mark him as the one to arrest, so we thought “lets have two guys kiss”. We soon realized that we were incorporating a lot of shock art (art that makes the audience say: “did I really just see that”?) so we also ran with that idea. We had (girl student) smack (boy student #1) across the face SO hard, We “broke the frame” a lot (once I delivered lines from inside the audience). (Boy student #1) and I wrestled like 100 feet in the background of one scene through a doorway. (Boy Student #2) and (boy student #1) really did the ‘passionate kiss’. (Boy student #2) and I actually water-boarded (girl student) - we thought it was more sick to have two guys doing it to a girl, apparently it really hurts - and then in the last scene when the lights came up it was me being crucified in the classic Jesus little loin cloth number and dog tags, nothing else. All the scenes had to do with the war but I won’t write the whole script.
Everyone was really shocked we did all that, YES! Oh and I sang in one scene. J*** (the director) really liked it and the four of us were really happy afterward. The feeling we had afterward is what I want to feel forever! Sorry, none of this probably makes any sense. I know I’ve said it 29457 times, but you really do have to be here to appreciate any of this.</p>

<p>(d) Mom, now I know why you told me I had to come back for my senior year. This is the most fun/amazing/powerful thing ever! Today we had a long heart to heart and again had some emotional breakdowns. Then we rehearsed and performed at a
theater on Broadway. We KILLED it. The audience was dead silent, it was amazing. The power in that room was beyond words.

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<p>Thus, DS has had some exposure - thanks to theater - to issues and viewpoints much different than he would have had from our family and community. The most important thing we can do for our kids is to teach them the skills to make good decisions, then allow them to use those skills in real life. DW and I take comfort that DS shares these theater experiences with us. For that, we’re both thankful.</p>

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<p>I agree with soozievt… I am a Christian Musical Theater Major… currently a sophomore… before this year I had never said a swear word, and absolutely refused to… but then I was assigned scene work that had language. It was a battle for me in the beginning… but I realized that this is MY CHARACTER, NOT me. I am living as my character, but I personally do not share the same beliefs and morals as my character. I find connections between myself and the character, and put myself in her world and emotions. Even though I have said every bad word in the book now in different scenes and songs, I am still the same girl with the same strong faith, and I personally do not say these words unless I have to in a scene… Actors need to be able to do edgey material, be okay with it, realize that these are not their personal words/ beliefs, and in the end love themself and know that everything is going to be okay.</p>

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<p>I’ve also learned a lot about myself through a lot of the edgier characters that i have played.</p>

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<p>I tripped across this thread as I was looking for something else; and the comments caught my attention. I’ve never been a serious actor, only things like a skit for a church function or a bit part in my high school senior play. I want to comment on how people are using the defense of “it is my character doing ________ , in the play, it’s not me.” The blank is filled with whatever issue the immediate question is about, be it foul language, kissing somebody, nudity, or simply playing rotten person (such as Adolph Hitler). In college, I, like most students, was required to attend several theater performances as part of course requirements for humanities classes. A few of the productions were tedious, but most were enjoyable; I’m a math and science person, and I only “appreciate” a play/musical if it is actually entertaining.</p>

<p>Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I went to medium sized university that has about 4,000 undergraduate students. While I can’t say that I knew everyone, there is a certain level of familiarity with maybe half the people on campus (had a class with them, lived in the same dorm, see them in the cafeteria all the time, etc.) So, it was common that I recognized a few of the faces that were on stage in any given performance. With respect to simply playing a character, you folks are all correct – I never associated the persona and language of the characters they were portraying as actually being the way they were off stage. For a few of the people I knew personally, it was quite obvious that the character and the off-stage person were certainly not of the same attitudes or behaviors, and I had no problem whatsoever separating the two. As for physical actions, such as kissing or shaking hands, while I recognized that the role called for it, I was also very aware that the actor was actively going through the process of the physical act of kissing or shaking hands – the lips of two actors touched in a romantic style or the hands of two actors grasped one another followed by a brief up and down motion, just as my lips and a girlfriend’s lips might touch as we were “saying” goodbye or like I would shake the hand of someone that I was just introduced to; the actors/actresses likely had no personal romantic affection for their kissing partner, but still, they did actualy do a kiss. At one performance (I can’t remember the name), it was a bit on the edgy side, and yes, there was some nudity. This is where the notion of separation of the character from the actor was totally lost from the “guy in the audience” perspective. Just as with on-stage kissing and hand shaking, I fully realized that the role called for the nudity; the actoress (as an individual) didn’t randomly decide, in the middle of the play, that she felt like baring her breasts for all who were present to see, she planned/agreed to it long in advance of that evening. None the less, I saw a real girl’s breasts, and I wasn’t thinking to myself “those are only the breasts of her character,” but rather, it was more like “damn, Elaine has a nice pair.” </p>

<p>I recognize that actors like to compartmentalize and rationalize things, and I suppose if I had a role/job that called on me to bare it all and I wanted to keep that role/job, I would do it. If I had an internal moral or social conflict with the notion of getting naked in front of a room full of random people, that could very well include people like fellow students in my Chemistry class, I would simply tell myself (and all who would listen) that it wasn’t me displaying my ***** for all to see, but rather it was my character (e.g., a gay man who likes horses, a rapist, a horny college student ala American Pie) who just showed everyone “his” *****.</p>

<p>In summary, the “its the character” thing works just fine for general application (somebody has to play the part of Hitler when you do a WW2 movie, or the outlaw in a Western). The “its the character” can be somewhat applied in cases of non-faked physical acts, such as kissing and shaking hands (I accept that you really don’t get that warm fuzzy feeling when she kisses you, it’s merely the touching of the lips in the form of a kiss). But for those who want to even try to pretend that “its ONLY the character” who is baring those “private” body parts, give it up. Those are YOUR breasts, butts, labias, *****es, and (for those who don’t shave) pubic hair that you are showing to all who happen to be there. It’s been at least 10 years since I saw that play I spoke of earlier – I can’t remember much of the plot or even the name of it, but I can vividly remember Elaine’s breasts – not her character’s breasts, ELAINE’S breasts.</p>

<p>For all you moms out there, it is time to stop rationalizing about your “mature” daughter (or son). She is showing her breasts (or more) to the world. It is not her character, it is her. I’m not making a moral judgement in the least bit, in fact, I’m happy to look at your daughter’s breasts (or more) if she is willing to show them to me. Some women will only show their breasts to their husband after they are married, some (most) will let a boyfriend see them after dating a few weeks/months; some will briefly flash them at Mardi Gras (typically with the aid of some alcohol), others will go topless at a public beach where there are others also going topless; I suppose your daughter’s “place” where she likes to show her assets is on a theatrical stage, with the spotlight on her and a bunch of people watching. Like I said, I have no judgement for a person that fits any of those examples listed, I just ask that you not be in denial about the fact of your daughter’s nudity on stage – she is doing it because she likes doing it, just like that married woman, that teenager on a fourth date, that semi-drunk lady at Mardi Gras, and that gal at the beach.</p>

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<p>Wow. I’m pretty stunned at your thinking here. Your “logical progression” appears to be that you remember seeing an actress’s breasts and can only think of them as the actress’s, not the character’s…and therefore any actress who plays a role requiring nudity is indulging in the moral (and artistic) equivalent of flashing passersby at a Mardi Gras parade…? </p>

<p>Also find it significant that your observations are directed specifically at “all you moms out there.” </p>

<p>I hope nobody takes this seriously.</p>