But hold on. She said there were already enough teen suicides without English teachers bringing this ultimate, romantic depiction of the act into their classrooms, and then praising it as a classic. Ok, it may seem farfetched to compare Hollywood slasher films and Marilyn Manson to centuries-old folklore and Shakespeare. But perhaps the issue is worth thinking about in another context than the condemnation of pop culture. There may be more parallels than we think between the entertainment we love, and the stuff that appalls us.
Truth is, the most successful entertainment is almost always unsettling on some level.
It was also far from the last. That's the operatic style in which the sheer beauty of the singing is supposed to be the whole message alone. Then stay tuned for NPR World of Opera , and The Capulets and the Montagues , performed by Opera Orchestra of New York.