What are you talking about, Opera Man?

       Some opera critic named Zachary Woolfe wrote a ridiculous article for the New York Times Arts Section entitled, "How Hollywood Films are Killing Opera."  The movies he mentions are some new Fox Searchlight thing about a troubled teen girl that is titled Margaret, as well as Pretty Woman which opened 22 years ago, and Moonstruck which was made 25 years ago.  According to Zach, all the pretty dresses and swanky dates nights depicted in the opera going scenes in these movies make the American Opera going public want old fashioned big sets and screaming sopranos instead of real artistic substance.  Woolfe states:

Though both films have been given credit for helping to popularize opera, the idea of the art form they have popularized has profoundly damaged it in this country. The films have taught Americans a particular idea of what opera is, so that is the kind of opera Americans think they want.

Woolfe complains that the opera that Americans demand is less than inventive:

The repertory is largely stagnant, focused on the same small group of hits. The few big stars who remain — the Plácido Domingos, Renée Flemings and Anna Netrebkos — are needed to sell almost anything that is not “Aida,” “Carmen” or “Turandot.”  The typical production style is blandly nostalgic escapism rather than vibrancy or relevance. This was the case through much of America in the 20th century, and there hasn’t been much change so far in the 21st. 

Ok, Woolfe, you want something more dynamic in contemporary American opera than what you see a character watch in a movie.  Problem is, Zachary, a movie that Cher made when Ronald Reagan was president is not really relevant to much of anything.  

       What is incredibly relevant, movie-wise, to modern American opera (but which our dear friend Zach forgot to mention) is that since 2006, the Metropolitan Opera in New York has broadcast its operas simultaneously in HD in various movie studios and released them on DVDs.  Could HD opera simulcasts make opera more accessible to new audiences?  (Hooray!!)  Could HD simulcasts cause casting directors to choose opera singers based more on physical attractiveness than singing ability?  (Booo!!)  Those issues seem way more relevant than mentioning what happened in a fairy tale prostitute movie from the era of the first gulf war. 

       So, is contemporary modern opera all about big sets, big wigs, big stars, and one more repetitive La Boheme and one more staid old Madame Butterfly?  Well, it wasn't in 2007 when I went to see the new American opera Grapes of Wrath to a sold out house without a single dry eye.  The CD is out of stock on Amazon.  American Opera wasn't stagnant last year when I drive 8 hours to see the new opera Silent Night, which actually put the opera goer in the trenches during World War One and which won its composer a Pulitzer Prize. 

      To be fair, the last opera I saw in Germany featured a naked octogenarian, a violent gang rape, and a robot-filled sweatshop - and most of that sort of thing isn't too popular in the American opera scene today.  But, Zachary Woolfe doesn't mention anything he would like to see contemporary American opera do differently.  He just says that movies from over 20 years ago are messing it up.  I understand that you may have had a deadline, Zach, but let's try to stick to actual news and analysis in the future.

Update:

I tweeted Zach Woolfe to ask why he mentioned Pretty Woman and Moonstruck but not the new MET HD simulcasts.  He deleted my tweet.