Dutchman Posters Criticized for Imagery

Offensive language and erotic photographs on posters promoting the play The Dutchman raised complaints about insensitivity this week.

A photograph on one of the three The Dutchman posters depicts a naked Black man and a naked white woman in an embrace. The word "Nigger," followed by information about the play, is printed on another. The word "Whore" appears on a third.

Charles D. Guerrero '93, the director of The Dutchman, said he designed the posters to catch the public eye. He said several of the posters have been pulled down.

"Some were torn down in the process of cleaning the boards, but in other cases, I'd put up all of my posters and only certain ones were torn down," Guerrero said.

"Strangely enough, the one with the photo of the man and woman on it was the one torn down most often," he said.

Guerrero said the posters are based on the play's plot and text. The photograph, for example, symbolizes sexual tension between black and white characters.

"It goes back to slavery, when it was a crime punishable by death for a Black man to sleep with a white woman," Guerrero said.

The words "Nigger" and "Whore" on the other two posters come directly from the text, Guerrero said. They are forms of address the characters use with each other, he said.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said Guerrero should think about III said Guerrero should think about removingthe posters.

"I have seen the play and understand the wordscome out of the text," Epps said. "However, theuse of `whore' and `nigger' could be interpretedas insensitive, and he ought to reconsider usingthose teasers."

Radcliffe Union of Students Co-Chair Minna M.Jarvenpaa '93 said the posters seem to follow adisturbing campus trend.

"Among plays on this campus, there is often atendency to sensationalize with racy quotes fromthe play," Jarvenpaa said.

"As a general trend, it's really offensive thatthe advertising focuses on using degradinglanguage about women."

The Black Students Association President ZaheerR. Ali '94 said he was not aware of the postercontroversy