Acts of Exclusion

April 10, 2003 12:39 PM

Axing Foreign Acts— Now that immigration control falls under the rubric of Homeland Security [+ | +], ticket sales should pick up for Broadway shows: foreign culture exchange is on the wane down the drain, says the Voice's Don Mattingly this week. Students, too. Bureacratic transition pains or police-state policy? More info? Paranoid surmises?
posted by hairyeyeball (6 comments total)

yah, we certainly don't want no steenkin' furrin ideas, possibly terrist in nature, befouling good ol' 'murkin entertainment.
posted by quonsar at 12:50 PM on April 10, 2003

Did you just say merkin entertainment?!
On a much smaller level than the Voice's piece, I know anecdotally of at least three simple hand-to-mouth touring bands that have had to cancel shows thanks to border tightness and vague pings in their background (i.e. one member was Iranian-Canadian).
I know it's anecdotal, but that's all I got right now.
posted by chandy72 at 12:59 PM on April 10, 2003

Canadian band Godspeed You! Black Emperor (where does that exclamation point go these days?) got into a bit of homeland security trouble a couple of weeks ago.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:25 PM on April 10, 2003

Not to nitpick, but Ms. Mattingly's first name is Kate, not Don. Though I'm sure she'd appreciate the comparison.
posted by anildash at 1:52 PM on April 10, 2003

I have been part of several cultural exchanges. I have performed in China and helped some Chinese groups out when they have performed over here.

Maybe it is just my experience, but most of the folks involved in the performing arts groups of both China and the USA are very protective of their prestige and reputation. As a result of this, we are loathe to leave the comfort and fame we enjoy in our own home countries - except to get even more prestige and reputation by touring. Tours enhance our home reputation which, in turn, tends to attract more audience members.

I mention this because the thought that a Chinese performing arts group - especially a theatre group - would want to abandon a touch of prestige, fame and work in China for obscurity in the United States is laughable.

That all being said, we are cutting all the income we get from taxes, so I suppose the US government has got to make money some way...
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:39 PM on April 10, 2003

Let's see, an immigration lawyer, several directors/producers of artistic events, and an anti-war Senegalese musician. That's what I love about the Village voive ... it is so good at presenting all sides of the story.
posted by MidasMulligan at 4:01 PM on April 10, 2003