Creative Challenge 247: Playtime
Sorry folks for
going a bit serious here. What comes to mind is a play and a playwright, Henrik
Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People.
In this play, Dr. Stockmann makes the
discovery that the town Baths were poisonous and polluted by the tanneries from
a neighbouring town. The public Baths were the major economic base of the town,
as well as “the” tourist attraction.
When Dr. Stockmann shares his discovery with
the editor, assistant-editor and printer of the town newspaper, all three
respond in what seems to be a very liberal-minded way. Mr. Havstad, Mr.
Billing, and Mr. Aslaksen all appear to be in favour of publishing the truth
about the Baths. It would appear that all three men accept the doctor’s
discovery and stand behind him all the way.
However, when the town’s Mayor, Peter
Stockmann, the doctor’s brother, talks to Hovstad, Billing, and Aslaksen, they
quickly change their opinions. The Mayor browbeats all three men into
submission, threatening that their newspaper would die out and the town would
be destroyed if they printed the truth about the Baths. All three men quickly
conclude that they cannot print the doctor’s discovery. Their own selfish
interests were more important than the truth.
Dr. Stockmann’s insightful response to these
three liberal media men was to reach the conclusion that expediency ultimately
turns morality and justice upside down, ultimately making life unbearable.
Read more contributors to this Creative Challenge here.
