Free to Be ... You and Me es un proyecto de entretenimiento para niños, concebido, creado y producido por la actriz y autora Marlo Thomas . Producido en colaboración con Ms. Foundation for Women , [1] fue un álbum de discos y un libro ilustrado lanzado por primera vez en noviembre de 1972 con canciones e historias cantadas o contadas por celebridades de la época (acreditadas como "Marlo Thomas y sus amigos"), incluyendo Alan Alda , Rosey Grier , Cicely Tyson , Carol Channing , Michael Jackson , Roberta Flack , Shirley Jones , Jack Cassidy yDiana Ross . Un especial de televisión de ABC , también creado por Thomas, usando poesía, canciones y bocetos, siguió dos años más tarde, en marzo de 1974. El concepto básico era fomentar la neutralidad de género posterior a la década de 1960 , saludando valores como la individualidad, la tolerancia y la comodidad con uno. identidad. Un mensaje temático importante es que cualquier persona, ya sea un niño o una niña, puede lograr cualquier cosa.
Libres para ser tú y yo | |
---|---|
Transmitir grabación de Varios artistas | |
Liberado | Noviembre 1972 |
Grabado | Mayo-julio de 1972 |
Estudio | Media Sound Studios, Nueva York (música); CBS Studios New York (overdubs vocales / palabra hablada) |
Etiqueta | Bell Records (número original) Arista Records (reedición) |
Productor | Carole Hart , Stephen J. Lawrence y Bruce Hart |
En 2021, el álbum fue considerado "cultural, histórica o estéticamente significativo" por la Biblioteca del Congreso y seleccionado para su conservación en el Registro Nacional de Grabaciones . [2]
Descripción general
La idea original de crear el álbum comenzó con Marlo Thomas , [3] quien quería enseñarle a su entonces joven sobrina Dionne sobre la vida, en particular que es aceptable refutar o rechazar los estereotipos de género expresados en los libros infantiles de la época. En una entrevista de Emmy Legends, Thomas explica:
Le dije a mi hermana Terre "a Dionne le tomaría 30 años superarlo (historias que presentan roles de género tradicionales), lo mismo que nos tomó a todos nosotros. Necesitamos encontrarle algunos libros diferentes para leer" y ella dijo "Ve y encuéntrelos ". Bueno, no había ninguno. Y no solo no había ninguno, estaba en la librería un día mirando a mi alrededor y encontré este (libro de imágenes - ¡Me alegro de ser un niño! ¡Me alegro de ser una niña! De Whitney Darrow Jr . ) que mostraba un piloto en una página y una azafata en una página opuesta (con una leyenda) que decía "Los niños son pilotos, las niñas son azafatas". Bueno, casi me da un infarto allí mismo, en la librería. Entonces dije: "Haré un disco para Dionne. Les pediré a todos que donen sus talentos y será divertido". [4]
Producida por Carole Hart , con música producida por Stephen J. Lawrence y Bruce Hart , con historias y poemas dirigidos por Alan Alda , el título nunca ha estado descatalogado.
Las ganancias fueron a la Fundación Ms. para Mujeres . El álbum fue lanzado originalmente en Bell Records en 1972 y desde 1975 ha estado disponible en casetes y CD de Arista Records .
Las canciones más conocidas incluyen "It's All Right to Cry", cantada por el héroe del fútbol Rosey Grier ; la canción principal de New Seekers ; "Ayudar", un poema de Shel Silverstein interpretado por Tom Smothers ; "Hermanas y hermanos" de Voices of East Harlem ; y "When We Grow Up" interpretada por Diana Ross en el álbum y por Roberta Flack y un Michael Jackson adolescente en el especial.
Otros bocetos, algunos de ellos animados en el especial de televisión, incluyen "Atalanta", co-narrado por Thomas y Alda, un recuento de la antigua leyenda griega de Atalanta ; "Boy Meets Girl" con Thomas y Mel Brooks dando voz a los títeres, diseñados, interpretados y manipulados por Wayland Flowers , que se asemejan a bebés humanos, que utilizan estereotipos culturales de género para tratar de descubrir quién es un niño y cuál una niña; " William's Doll ", basada en el libro ilustrado de Charlotte Zolotow sobre un niño cuya familia se resiste a sus pedidos de un muñeco hasta que su abuela le explica que William desea practicar el ser un buen padre; y "Dudley Pippin" con Robert Morse y Billy De Wolfe , basada en historias de Phil Ressner.
A number of pieces from the record did not make the special, most for lack of time, although "Housework" was left off due to the somewhat condescending tone it lent to its description of domestic workers.
Thomas says in the Emmy Legends 40th anniversary interview:
In among all the praise we got for the project as a whole, we kept getting all these letters and phone calls talking about the track sounding as if it wasn't normal to be fond of cooking and cleaning and caretaking etc. So we left that off the special for that reason.[4]
The children pictured on the original LP jacket were schoolmates of Abigail, Robin, and David Pogrebin, children of Letty Cottin Pogrebin, then editor of Ms. Most of the children attended Corlears School.
"Marlo Thomas and Friends" followed Free to Be... You and Me with a 1988 sequel, Free to Be... a Family, the first primetime variety show created and produced in both the United States and the Soviet Union.
Recepción
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Christgau's Record Guide | A–[5] |
Reviewing the LP in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "I've been giving this high-minded feminist kiddie record to various young Americans on the theory that it is not necessary, or easy, to like the New York Dolls at age five. I figured it would be good for them, like baths. Surprise number one is that they all love it, to a person. Surprise number two is that I myself would much rather listen to Carol Channing on housework than to Robert Klein on dope."[5]
According to Thomas, "Larry Uttal at Bell Records told me, this kind of record might sell 15,000 copies tops. Well it went Gold right away, went Platinum within two years and went Diamond in under ten years. EVERYBODY was amazed it had touched such a nerve. It's still in the top 100 albums of all time over 40 years later."[4]
Free to Be faced backlash from some conservative religious leaders, including Evangelical author and psychologist James Dobson.[6] Kyle Smith from the New York Post claimed the project emasculated men.[7] The Daily Beast issued a rebuttal.[8]
In her 2010 memoir, Growing Up Laughing, Thomas reflected on the astonishing impact the Free to Be projects had on the culture.
The show won an Emmy and a Peabody, the book became number one on the New York Times best-seller list and the record went gold. We were floored by the impact it all had. My little message for Dionne had gone straight to the hearts of moms and dads and aunties and uncles and, most of all, teachers, who embraced it as a way to teach the kids in their lives a new way of thinking about themselves.
Especial de televisión
The television special, produced by Marlo Thomas and Free to Be Productions, in association with Teru Murakami-Fred Wolf Films, Inc. and cosponsored by the Ms. Foundation, first aired March 11, 1974, on ABC. It earned an 18.6 rating/27 share and went on to win an Emmy. Sixteen-mm prints of the special were also struck, and some schoolchildren from the 1970s and 1980s remember seeing the television special, or the filmstrip based on the special, in their school during that period.
The special appeared occasionally on HBO in the 1980s. It was released on VHS and Betamax videotapes through Vestron Video subsidiary Children's Video Library in 1983. It was also seen on the cable channel TV Land, yet has not been aired on any network since.
A Region 1 DVD of the television special was released in November 2001, and in 2010, a newly remastered version was released featuring a number of new extras including a deleted scene showcasing Dustin Hoffman.
TV cast
- Marlo Thomas
- Alan Alda
- Harry Belafonte
- Mel Brooks
- Rita Coolidge
- Billy De Wolfe
- Roberta Flack
- Rosey Grier
- Dustin Hoffman
- Michael Jackson
- Kris Kristofferson
- Robert Morse
- The New Seekers
- Tom Smothers
- Cicely Tyson
- Voices of East Harlem
- Dionne Warwick
- Jack Cassidy
- Carol Channing
Lista de canciones (álbum de Cast de Nueva York)
Some material here is left out of the TV special and vice versa while other material appears only in the accompanying hardcover book.
Act One
- "Free To Be... You And Me" – Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, Lyrics by Bruce Hart, Performed by The New Seekers
- "Boy Meets Girl" – Written by Carl Reiner and Peter Stone, Performed by Mel Brooks and Marlo Thomas
- "When We Grow Up" – Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, Lyrics by Shelly Miller, Performed by Roberta Flack and Michael Jackson on the special and Diana Ross on the Original Cast CD.
- "Don't Dress Your Cat In An Apron" – Written by Dan Greenburg, Performed by Billy De Wolfe
Act Two
- "Parents Are People" – Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall, Performed by Harry Belafonte and Marlo Thomas
- "Housework" – Written by Sheldon Harnick, Performed by Carol Channing
- "Helping" – Written by Shel Silverstein, Performed by Tom Smothers
- "Ladies First" – Performed by Marlo Thomas (based on a Shel Silverstein poem about a girl whose insistence on always getting to "go first" simply because she is a girl ends up making her the chosen meal of hungry tigers)
- "Dudley Pippin And The Principal" – Written by Phil Ressner, Performed by Billy De Wolfe, Bobby Morse, and Marlo Thomas
Act Three
- "It's All Right to Cry" – Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall, Performed by Rosey Grier
- "Sisters and Brothers" – Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, Lyrics by Bruce Hart, Performed by The Voices of East Harlem
- "William's Doll" – Music by Mary Rodgers, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, Performed by Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas (based on the children's book of the same name, about a boy whose family is perplexed by his desire for a doll to care for)
- "My Dog is a Plumber" – Written by Dan Greenburg, Performed by Dick Cavett
Act Four
- "Atalanta" – Written by Betty Miles, Performed by Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas
- "Grandma" – Written by Carole Hart, Performed by Diana Sands
- "Girl Land" – Music by Mary Rodgers, Lyrics by Bruce Hart, Performed by Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones
- "Dudley Pippin And His No-Friend" – Written by Phil Ressner, Performed by Bobby Morse and Marlo Thomas
- "Glad To Have A Friend Like You" – Music and Lyrics by Carol Hall, Performed by Marlo Thomas
Epilogue
- "Free To Be... You And Me" – Reprise
Bonus tracks
Different performances from those included in the film – and not included on the original LP or CD
- "Let's Hear It For Babies" – Words and music by Edward Kleban – Performed by Marlo Thomas and Mel Brooks
- “The Sun And The Moon” – Words by Elaine Laron, music by Stephen J. Lawrence – Performed by Dionne Warwick
- "Circle of Friends" – Music by Stephen J. Lawrence, lyrics by Bruce Hart – Performed by Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge and cast
40 aniversario
In March 2014, The Paley Center for Media hosted an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of Free to Be, co-moderated by Marlo Thomas and Gloria Steinem, which included many of the participants in the original project.[9]
Book
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original project, a book called When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children's Classic and the Difference It Made was published.[10][11][12]
Referencias
- ^ Martin, Rachel (December 7, 2012). "40 Years On, 'Free To Be' Still Resonates" (Audio interview). Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (March 24, 2021). "Janet Jackson and Kermit the Frog Added to National Recording Registry". The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ Thomas, Marlo. "Birth of 'Free to Be... You and Me'" (Video interview). Makers. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ a b c "Marlo Thomas". Television Academy. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: T". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Rotskoff, Lori; Lovett, Laura (2012). When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children’s Classic and the Difference It Made. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-1905-7.
- ^ Smith, Kyle (8 March 2014). "How 'Free to Be … You and Me' emasculated men". New York Post. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ Shire, Emily (11 March 2014). "'Free to Be…You and Me' Did Not Emasculate Men". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "The Paley Center Celebrates: Free to Be…You and Me at 40" (Video - moderated panel). The Paley Center for Media. March 11, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- ^ Kois, Dan (23 October 2012). "Free To Be: Forty years ago, a bunch of feminists made an album. They wanted to change ... everything". Slate. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ Thomas, Marlo (30 January 2013). "Free to Be... You and Me -- Forty Years Later". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ Gumbrecht, Jamie (11 March 2014). "Remembering 'Free to Be... You and Me,' 40 years later". CNN. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
Otras lecturas
- Mickenberg, Julia L., and Lynne Vallone. The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-195-37978-5. OCLC 608034148.
- Paris, Leslie. "Happily Ever After: Free to Be ... You and Me, Second-Wave Feminism, and 1970s American Children’s Culture". pp. 519–538.
- Rotskoff, Lori, and Laura L. Lovett. When We Were Free to Be... Looking Back at a Children's Classic and the Difference It Made. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-807-83755-9. OCLC 819070475.
- Thomas, Marlo. Free to Be—a Family. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1987. ISBN 978-0-553-05235-0. OCLC 16089376.
enlaces externos
- Free to Be Foundation
- FTB Foundation on YouTube - videos available for viewing
- Free to Be... You and Me at IMDb