By Eric Utter
Comedy or tragedy? What would The Bard think?
The Globe Theatre in London, a purportedly faithful reconstruction of the Elizabethan Era playhouse where William Shakespeare’s plays were first presented, recently tweeted a video clip from its current production of the trans positive play I, Joan. The play is essentially a counterfactual, propagandistic transgender version of Joan of Arc. The Globe quickly deleted the tweet after it was rightfully subjected to much ridicule but did not at first take down a YouTube clip of the prologue from I, Joan. But it is now unavailable.
If you had watched the YouTube clip when it was available, you would have seen that the play opens with actress Isabel Thom (who specifies her pronouns as “they/them” on her Twitter page) stating: “Trans people are sacred. We are the divine. We are practicing our divinity by expressing authenticity. By enjoying our multiplicity. Elevating our humanity, finding the unity hidden inside community, remembering our collective connectivity fuels courageous creativity, unlocking the blessed spirituality that we all seek. Yeah, this s**t’s about to get spiritual.”
“Finding the unity hidden inside community, remembering our collective connectivity?” Did Thom (they/them) attend the Kamala Harris School of Public Speaking? The narcissism of the more militant members of the LGBTQIIA+ community is breathtaking. And off-putting to say the very least.
Rejecting and defacing God’s design is anything but divine. Engaging in chemical castration, the lopping off of body parts, and causing or celebrating the permanent sterilization of young people is neither “spiritual” nor “divine.”
Holding oneself/theyselves up to be special, somehow above the rest of us boringly heterosexual mere mortals is disingenuous, depraved, and despicable.
As happens so often with the tragically woke, Thom’s alleged attempt to get serious or “spiritual” is completely derailed by use of inappropriate, derogatory, or profane language. “This s**t’s about to get spiritual?” Really? (Methinks “they” doth profess too much.)
If I were to take a page from the Playbook of the Perpetually Oppressed, I would say, as a non-trans person, Thom comes off as The Merchant of Menace. I don’t feel safe when I hear the words she/they spoke. In my opinion, she/they is one/or more shrew/or shrews that should be tamed.
If I, Joan, the play, never saw a “Twelfth Night,” I would say: “All’s Well That Ends Well.”