The weirdness

[fbhjr]

The show my wife and I went to last night was weird.  I’ve been pondering
it since we were there and still think it is weird.
I’m not saying bad or good.
It’s like shouting “hello” where you expect to hear an echo and getting a
“dude!” back.
Not good or bad, just not what I expected.

It started with the first act.
The divine right of kings portrayed in dance.
That isn’t what it was titled, but that’s what it was.
Kings of the earth start off in heaven with “the creator” then are
transported (by something that looks a lot like warp drive) to earth where
they take over the kingdoms granted them by “the creator”.
Of the dancing kings, my wife and I were able to identify an Egyptian
pharaoh, a Russian tsar, a Byzantium emperor and (of course) a Chinese
emperor.  There were several other dancing kings who were not distinct
enough for us to identify.  But, the blond wigs they were wearing would
make me think they were not supposed to be Chinese kings.
You don’t hear a lot of pro divine right of kings arguments these days.
And, I’ve never even considered one in dance.
I’m torn on this one myself.  After all, some of my ancestors pulled off
that divine right stuff.  So, maybe it is hypocritical to knock it.
But, weird.

Then they moved away from the subtle stuff.
First the songs about how their religion is the only true way.  And, “why
are we so hard to save?”

Then three different acts where members of their religion were killed by
communist party police (you could tell by the red sickle on the back of
their jackets) for practicing their religion and then were brought back,
avenged or both by supernatural forces.
The weird part is they were all set in modern day China.  (I guess they’d
have to be as the religion in question is less than 20 years old and had
only been on the forbidden list for 12 it would have to be set in fairly
modern times…)
And, at least for me, the really weird part was when the narrator/host/mc
said “this is happening in China right now”.
Really?
Supernatural beings are appearing in school rooms and resurrecting teachers
in front of their whole class?
Hundred story high tidal waves destroying cities where members of the
religion are being beat up by the police?  Only the people who tried to
defend the religious person are spared when a supernatural person shows up
to stop the wave?

Maybe they meant that the persecution is happening right now.  But, that’s
not how it was presented.
It was presented as right now glowing supernatural people are flying around
China saving the faithful.
And, what is really weird is that if that really is that if this really is
going on as they say, I’d find out about it through a touring stage show in
Worcester, MA.
The tidal wave alone I would think would make the news.  Especially if a
glowing person showed up and stopped it half way through a city.
(I’m not even going to get into the thought of “we’re all about truth,
compassion and forbearance, but if you persecute us our supernatural pals
are going to trash your city.)

To be clear, the idea of supernatural folks hanging around and helping out
people isn’t what I think is weird.  That’s actually very common.
It’s the idea that they’re telling me it is going on right now and no one
noticed that I think is weird.
It’s like someone telling me if I get on a plane to Athens I can see Apollo
hook up his chariot in the morning to get the sun going.  And then showing
me a computer animation of what it looked like when they saw it last week.

I do have a tendency to like stories, shows, movies and such that say “the
world is a lot stranger then you think”.  Tales where strange stuff goes on
and most people remain unaware.
So, I should like this too, right?
But, I find it weird.
Maybe it is the way it was presented.
If glowing supernatural dude shows up in a back alley in Shanghai to help
someone being mugged that’s fine.  But, not the tidal wave.

Don’t know.
Weird.

Even with all that I don’t feel I was ripped off for my ticket price, which
is what a lot of on line reviews seem to say.  I also find it hard to
believe that all bad reviews on line are the work of the Chinese government
trying to discredit the group.
It was very different from what I expected.
But, I also found it interesting to watch.  If nothing else just to see how
they were choosing to project their message.
But, it was weird.