For as long as an established government is being run and artists are putting out good, thought-provoking work, there has always been a backlash due to a clashing of opinions amongst both the government and the people. One of the more beautiful things about the human mind is that we are able to make decisions and form opinions on certain issues and things we experience everyday and things we encounter with others or by ourselves. In doing so, we subject ourselves to the work of others and everything they have to offer us. With these experiences come our opinions and our stances on certain issues. These opinions often clash with the opinions of others and that is when true conflict arises and, hopefully, a useful and beneficial outcome.
Over the course of the 20th and so far in the 21st century, there have been a number of contentions about theater and its reputation in the public eye. Theater is a form of art that is unparalleled and cannot be compared to any other art form. It challenges the mind and offers real life situations to the public for entertainment purposes and for the purpose of making the audience think. As theater became more progressive and moved forward in the idea that plays can be about literally anything, the influence of the oddities of life began to play a major role in the playwright's minds (no pun intended). The far reaches of writer's imaginations have been explored, put on paper and eventually personified by actors on a stage. Situations never thought possible are brought to life on stage and are open to be viewed by anyone wishing to. By challenging the work of artists, you are keeping them from expressing their thoughts and ideas in a tasteful manner, which is something the United States was founded on. The ideas that are challenged and criticized are often the ideas that scare people the most, due to the fact that they are the situations we as humans face every single day.