13 the Musical

I saw a preview of "13" today. The music was incredible. The kids found to play the roles were extremely talented---they could all dance, act, and sing---true triple threats. The show itself, however, is a threat to any attempts at dispelling stereotypes and uniting diverse groups of people.

The show begins with teens lamenting the struggles of young adulthood. Most everyone can relate to the campy, sing-song list. Then the storyline is revealed---in New York, a young Jewish boy named Evan is about to be initiated into manhood, and his big party plans are thwarted by his parents' nasty divorce. He suddenly finds himself stuck in small-town Indiana and is willing to do anything to get the popular crowd to his bar mitzvah, which, of course, no one has heard of or understands in this "lame" town.

First of all, the stereotypes running throughout the show are horrendous. Every day students and schools fight against ideas of jock and nerd. Even the word "crip" gets thrown around when a boy with a muscular-degenerative disorder comes into conversation. If the show was meant to be a parody or satire, that's one thing---but the show is written as a serious, true look into the lives of teenagers. This show perpetuates stereotypes, and in the end, everyone gets together with "their kind." The "nerd, Jew, and crip" form the 'outsiders' clique, and the jock and cheerleader leave with their entourage. At one point Evan stands up to the school bully, but in the end, the bully gets the glory and the girl.

Secondly, the portrayal of Small Town, USA is highly inaccurate. It is depicted as drab, backward, and sparse. Sure, there may be towns like that, but they are few and far between. The smallest town I lived in was Elmer, NJ---home to less than 2,000 people and a Land O'Lakes dairy farm. The town also boasts one of the greatest music festivals in south Jersey and is host to an incredible annual street fair.

Thirdly, not a single character in the show grows, changes, or learns. The audience is under the illusion that Evan grows, but this is a cheap trick. Evan only learns that if you screw up and say you're sorry, you're forgiven and if you stand up to a bully, you get hit in the face and made fun of. So basically, the show says that if you are your authentic self, the people who don't like you will never see you for who you really are, no matter what you do. The show also teaches that if you reveal a person's true character as something contrary to popular belief (in this case, a popular jock is revealed as a bully and a best friend as a back stabber), no one will ever believe you, you'll be ganged up on, and you'll be made an outcast.

Fourthly, this show makes its girls out to be petty, catty, and willing to do anything for a guy. How sad after all the research and info on young girls...girlfighting is a big problem that educators, researchers, and girls groups are trying to remedy---only for it all to be thrown out the window by a show that glamorizes and normalizes it all. There is even a song completely dedicated to a girl who is considered "bad news" and it is sung by the guys! There is no song chastising the bully, however. (although they do make the bully out to be stupid, which also irks me---the stereotype of the dumb jock who flunks math, but is happy because he won the football game isn't fair to all the incredible young athletes out there who are required to get a high GPA to stay on their sports teams)

The writer of this show really missed the mark. Sure, there were funny lines, lines that made you gasp, up-to-the-times lines incorporating slang and text talk...but where was the story? Here was an opportunity to dialogue about what issues teenagers are facing in a real, raw, artistic way; an opportunity to showcase true talent and give teens a much-needed voice. What happened? Stereotypical characters in a stereotypical place doing stereotypical things only serves to further divide already fragmented teenagerdom. What a disservice to this nation's young people who deserve to be shown in a more real light than this.