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They said American education was circulating the porcelain bowl of defecation. They said American children were falling behind the world and would soon serve others rather than be served themselves. They said America was growing soft and lazy. They were all wrong. For Japan, mighty Japan--the country burgeoning with genius children of mad intellectual skillz--is undergoing a cultural change more amenable to an American model of education with much "success":

For the audience of menacing mothers and feisty fathers, though, the sight of 25 Snow Whites, no dwarfs and no wicked witch was a triumph: a clear victory for Japan's emerging new class of “Monster Parents."

For they had taken on the system and won. After a relentless campaign of bullying, hectoring and nuisance phone calls, the monster parents had cowed the teachers into submission, forcing the school to admit to the injustice of selecting just one girl to play the title role.

How dare a play cast a lead role. How dare one individual shine above others, casting the rest in dreary gray mediocre tones. The horror! The INHUMANITY!

What a sad commentary on culture, values, and self-worth.