Notre Dame

Haochung Hsu '25

Edited by Kelly Lee '25

A few weeks ago, I went to watch Notre Dame de Paris at the Shanghai Culture Square. It's

a stunning musical adapted from Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame, filled to the

brim with incredible music, choreography and production elements, all centred around a

poignant love story between the outcasts of society. It's truly a musical worth watching just

by the merits of its performance alone. But more than that, it's a musical that asks us age-

old questions that society still has not solved to this day, 600 years from its setting.

Central to the story is a struggle between the powers of the church and the refugees.

Persecuted because of a difference in class and religion, the refugees are barred from

sanctuary and asylum, constantly hounded by the guards, and taken advantage of by the

head of Notre Dame himself. It strikes close to home for me, seeing similar stories of how

queer folk are constantly harassed, used as political pawns, fetishized in pornography and

more. I think more than anything, this is a musical that highlights the way the difference in

class and power will always be a corrupting force in our society. We see it in the musical,

with Frodo assaulting Esmeralda, giving her an ultimatum because he holds material and

physical power over her, we see it in how the conflict in Palestine no longer discussed as

the genocide and tragedy it is, but as a talking point for different political parties to deliver

empty promises of peace. (I'm looking at you Democrats). In SAS, we are beyond lucky. We

live in a safe bubble where material concerns largely do not affect our student population,

we come from families with highly educated backgrounds, we order enough take out every

week to form micro-landfills in our hallways. In many ways, we are a school that fails to

meet our mantra of being “ethical global citizens”.

To me, this musical was a call to action. I strongly believe that as a school, we must

develop better class consciousness, both in our curriculum but in the everyday actions

that we take. Something simple I think we can all choose to do is to have more empathy for

one another, so we are a kinder school. Look up to Esmeralda, who was willing to see past

Quasimodo's physical ugliness, and lift a bowl of water to his parched lips. Say hello and

thank you to the guards and ayis when you pass them, when you buy your food. When you

order take out, make sure to clean it up, and try to order from a sustainable company or

even better, order less often! Trust me, cafeteria food won't kill you! At the same time, have

empathy for yourself, know that even if you don't live in a war zone, you still have struggles

that are difficult, and take effort to overcome. In this honestly messed up world, we are all

villains, we are all victims, and helping each other, being willing to sacrifice for one another

is the only way we can overcome difficulties as seemingly impossible as climate change or

the next exam season.