Defending Into the Woods - Reflection 2

After reading this guy's review of Into the Woods, I left a rather lengthy comment to tell him why he was wrong. To give credit where it's due, this all came about due to my friend Paul Elison's response to a mutual friend's sharing of the review. This constitutes my second reflection on Into the Woods:

(His review is linked below.)

http://taylormarshall.com/2014/12/into-the-woods-movie-a-dads-critical-review.html

Dear Dr. Marshall,

Not only have I seen the movie, but I have played in the stage version of Into the Woods and am very well acquainted with the text and music of this show. It’s obvious to me from your remarks that you are less well acquainted. It is also obvious to me that your agenda trumps your vision. Please allow me to open your eyes a little.

The passage you quote to make your point about nominalism/moral relativism is incomplete. You have taken part of a thought out of its context and made it look like another thought. Far from leading people away from true religion, the ethos put forward in Into the Woods clears away two millennia’s worth of cobwebs and helps reveal Christ’s message in its pure form.

Once the Baker and Cinderella have told Jack and Red that they have a responsibility to “decide” what’s right and good, they balance that with the warning “Just remember, someone is on your side (our side), someone else is not. While we’re seeing our side (our side), maybe we forgot they are not alone. No one is alone.” The meaning is that while trying to discern/decide right from wrong, we have to consider things from more than just our perspective. Not only does this help build bridges of love and understanding between people, but in so doing, we actually strengthen our own position by identifying our own weaknesses.

We are human. We are very rarely given the grace of seeing the entire picture. Even when it happens, we often misinterpret what we’ve seen. This is why it is so critically important to regularly examine our perspectives and positions for flaws in the light of someone else’s eyes so we can address those flaws and correct them.  Motes and beams, anyone?

I was taught to be wary of evil calling itself good and good evil. We see it happening all around us now. The theme of the novel and musical Wicked, as well as the storyline of Maleficent, both gave me pause when I first encountered them, and I was very careful when I examined what they had to say not to swallow their premise uncritically. However, as the Wizard says in the song “Wonderful” from Wicked, “A man’s a crusader…or ruthless invader. A rich man’s a thief or philanthropist…it’s all in which label is able to persist.” There are many sides to any story, and we would do well to consider them all. Some might say this is leading us to have sympathy for the devil, but what it actually does is help us to judge actions separate from people, gain a better perspective, and in doing so, discern a more effective and less morally-questionable response. Neither these two shows nor Into the Woods promote the nominalism you accuse them of.

Some actions are just evil, and the unrepentant who commit them should be held accountable, but things sometimes truly aren’t what they seem on the surface. For example, during World War II, Caucasian Americans were taught to distrust all Japanese people and we consequently treated Japanese Americans horribly. A more careful examination might have helped us avoid that error and identify who our enemy truly was…those who were seeking to deprive other humans of life and liberty. Instead, we became our enemy, doing many of the same things the Nazis and Japanese did.  Similar demonization of all Muslims is going on, but not all Muslims are guilty of terrorism.

Learning to love others unconditionally is the core message Christ imparts to His disciples. Anything that takes us away from that love is what we need to question. We especially need to love those with views different from ours or those who maltreat us. Getting past the blame game so beautifully depicted in the show is what allows us to love in a Christ-like way.

There are so many philosophical statements in Into the Woods, both overt and implied, that have actually helped me draw closer to Christ’s love and see through the sectarian and dogmatic confusion that shrouds Christ’s message of what love and virtue really are. I think you would do well to take a closer, more open-minded look at the entire text for the stage version of Into the Woods before making such an ill-informed condemnation.

Sincerely,

Trent Clegg