After the initial outrage over the Public Theater's production of Julius Caesar with a cartoonish version of Trump as the titular figure, defenders struck back by listing other productions that featured presidential stand-ins including Hillary and Obama.
But of course that's not the point.
Other productions may have chosen to butcher the Bard in tacky fashion. But the real dividing line is not just whether Caesar is linked to a particular president, but the larger depiction and message.
The Public Theater's Trump is a vulgar and contemptible figure. His killing is bloody and grotesque in ways that are satisfying to a ghoulish leftist audience. Antony and Octavius are uniquely contemptible. The audience is pushed to identify with the conspirators played by minorities. The political messaging is not subtle.
The production does everything possible to tilt the production short of actually rewriting the lines. It limits this to a few tacky insertions.
The Acting Theater's Obama production did not set out to caricature and then cheerfully kill him on stage. Had it done so, the backlash would have been immediate and ruthless as a certain rodeo clown who wore an Obama mask during his routine found out.
The governor of Missouri stated that the performance, which involved Obama being chased by a bull, did not “reflect the values of Missourians”. The lieutenant governor “implored” the governor to “hold the people responsible for the other night accountable”. Senator McCaskill called it “shameful.” Congressman William Clay called it, "an ugly face of intolerance".
The Kansas City Star described the bull run as “borderline illegal”. “The U.S. Secret Service takes threats against the president seriously,” its editorial said. “While the president himself was in no danger here, it’s the kind of stupid activity that could give nuts ideas about harming the president.”
Asked about it Wednesday, a White House spokesman said that it was not one of Missouri’s “finer moments.”
This is what the left did when it was in power. It quickly decided to forget that.
The issue is not simply that Trump is killed on stage. It's whether the audience is meant to sympathize with the act. And in the Public Theater's production, despite the protestations that it's a warning about the dangers of extremism, the audience is at least meant to feel pulled toward the motives of the killers.