is the return of Burlesque.
I'm serious. We [b][i]need[/i][/b] vaudeville and burlesque. There, everyone was fair game. Everyone was stereotyped and ridiculed. And there, everyone was [i][b]Equal[/i][/b].
Burlesque made fun of Blacks, Asians, Irish, Italians, Germans, Scots, English, French and Latinos. The Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Baptists, all stood equal in the court of Burlesque. Burlesque mocked the Judge, the Jury, the Cop and the Criminal. The Bank President and the Bar Maid both took their lumps. No one got a pass, no one got by. All were fair game. All were equal.
Burlesque taught us to laugh at ourselves. It took the foibles of each group, blew them up to magnificent proportions and then played them back to us. Burlesque was for us, like the slave that rode in the Roman Heroes chariot, who whispers softly in his ear, "This too shall pass".