Dear mozart

Well, I guess I should start this with
Dear Emanuel Shikaneder,
You are sexist, fam.

I had to look it up, Shikaneder was the librettist for The Magic Flute. So it's mostly his fault that it was sexist and racist as all hell.

I know I know I know.

"It's a classic"
"It was a different time"
"Oh come on Kim, lighten up"

These are things I've heard too many times.

Yes, we've come a long way from women not being allowed to act, and white actors wearing blackface on stage.
But we still have a ways to go.
Art doesn't exclude. So why revitalize art that perpetuates so many awful sentiments?

Don't get me wrong: I really enjoyed tonight's performance. It was one of the better shows we've seen, and it was a great experience going to my first real opera.

However, I find it hard to excuse sexism and racism on stage unless it serves an actual purpose, i.e. Teaching a lesson, moving forward, speaking out against sexism/racism/homophobia etc.

Equality can't be reached when people are still singing songs about how "blackness is ugly" and having plot lines about how men are entitled to women, and if no woman wants them then they'll kill themselves.

I can appreciate music.
I will not appreciate the plot.