Daniel just can’t win…
Not only are critics up in arms over Daniel Radcliffe appearing nude on stage in Equus, they’re now up in arms over his onstage smoking.
Keep in mind Daniel doesn’t smoke in real life…it’s just what his role in Equus calls for.
I’m a personal critic of smoking…I think it’s disgusting, unhealthy and anyone who smokes is basically a…well, it rhymes with witch…to Big Tobacco. It may seem cool and rebelious, but basically you’re just letting Big Business control your life, health and well-being. That doesn’t make you cool…it makes you a big, smelly, unhealthy loser. It’s rather sad, really.
If a prescription drug is shown to cause heart attacks in a handful of the people, it’s immediately taken off the market. Cigarette smoking is the direct cause of 1600 American deaths per day…yet the Tobacco Industry isn’t going anywhere soon.
So I can understand why anti-smoking organizations are up in arms. But I also feel in this case…the play calls for it. It’s in the script and any change to appease critics is akin to censorshiop. Censorship is not the answer.
Plus…this is an adult play: nudity; sexual themes; smoking. There shouldn’t be any impressionable children seeing this play, anyway.
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February 28th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Guess Daniel Radcliffe gets the last laugh on this one. Have you seen the reviews for “Equus”? Critics are raving about Daniel’s performance! They’re actually saying he’s better than the play itself, which they don’t think has aged well.
June 7th, 2007 at 7:14 am
Not impressed with your review. Daniel Radcliffe was almost unanimously described as a fantastic performer. You let smoking get in the way of any kind of actual opinion about the play… I got bored on about the third paragraph of you grilling smokers. I don’t like smoking either, but an Equus review is not the place to vent my feelings.