The ultimate in political correctness has arrived, and the result is rather sad/frightening. I sincerely hope it’s a trend that dies on the vine - parents in Japan were successful in convincing their childrens’ school that the entire cast of the school play’s production of Snow White should play…Snow White.
The stage was set, the lights went down and in a suburban Japanese primary school everyone prepared to enjoy a performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The only snag was that the entire cast was playing the part of Snow White.
For the audience of menacing mothers and feisty fathers, though, the sight of 25 Snow Whites, no dwarfs and no wicked witch was a triumph: a clear victory for Japan’s emerging new class of “Monster Parents”.
For they had taken on the system and won. After a relentless campaign of bullying, hectoring and nuisance phone calls, the monster parents had cowed the teachers into submission, forcing the school to admit to the injustice of selecting just one girl to play the title role.
Across Japan teachers are reporting an astonishing change in the character of parents, who, after decades of respectful silence, have become a super-aggressive army of complainers. The problem is that nobody can decide whether this is a good thing or not. Japan’s mass media has opted to demonise them: a lavish television drama starting next month will present the monster parents as a vile symptom of a society that has lost all respect for its traditions and decorum.
Sadly, it doesn’t stop there. While the US is full of litigious, reactionary parents, it seems that Japan’s really trying to one-up us. The article talks about parents trying to have teachers fired if their kids get int trouble, insisting that other children are suspended if they - even accidentally - hurt another child while playing, etc. Frankly, it sounds pretty scary.
Full story here.
