The universality of Fun Home?

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 9:45am

Fun Home marketing for some time has been promoting the universality of the tale. The current stop of the tour in SF features a cartoon drawing on the "playbill" cover with the caption "That was exactly like MY family! But totally different..."

While some elements, like the relationships between parents and children and the journey of reviewing your memories to reconstruct history after a parent dies are common, in general, the Bechdel family was not like mine AT ALL.

I understand the need to reach out to theatergoers who might not be enticed by "the lesbian cartoonist with the suicidal gay father" story, but the "it's just like your family, only different" pitch rings false.

Opinions?

 

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 10:49am

I feel the marketing campaign could be used for most shows.

I had a dear aunt, Connie, a spinster who lived with her mother after the father died, and who lived to celebrate us kids, and made us feel we were the most special kids on earth. She always sent me a box of See's Candies just for me on St. Patrick's Day, reminding me this was my day. So, "Mame" and its source material resonate with me. Some of it, but not all. Connie was not quite as madcap as Mame.

We had a neighbor growing up, Bob, who was always building furniture and sort of Rube Goldberg-esque things in his workshop. He was short and a little chubby, so Maurice in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" reminds me of our sweet and eccentric neighbor. But our forks and candlesticks only danced in my imagination. 

"Fun Home" brings back memories of my struggle to come out to my folks and family. There are elements that really hit 'home' but was everything just like my family. Nope. Mom and Dad have been married 66 wonderful years and still in a very loving, highly trusting relationship. Our family is so normal and traditional we're almost boring! 

With any Broadway show or film, book, or TV show, I can find elements that are just like my family and experience and yet nothing like it. But I understand FH's campaign. Would "The story of a lesbian and closeted father who commits suicide" sell in Des Moines?  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 10:51am

I think it's more that we all have family "stuff".  Stuff we don't talk about, stuff we suppress....relationships, dreams, secrets...etc.   

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 11:43am

I think one of the most universal themes in Fun Home is the exploration of transitioning from childhood to adulthood and how that often includes coming to terms with your parents' flaws for better or for worse. And in turn, recognizing that some of their flaws may even be your own.  "I can't find my way through. Just like you. Am I just like you?" 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 12:34pm

I have said a couple of times, "Every parent/child relationship probably has a 'Telephone Wire' moment..." To me, that number (brilliant, it still kills me on the recording every time) is so specific and so extraordinarily universal all at once.  When Allison says "Tell me you see me!" it's heartstopping, a truth that we all probably face, in both roles -- parent and child.  I think it's the great power of the show: that it all feels both alien and familiar. 

Updated On: 2/11/17 at 12:34 PM

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 1:43pm

Lots of shows try to plug universality on tour so that they can attract casual theatregoers who may not be attracted to the plot. I remember when In the Heights was touring and did a morning news performance in Chicago, the reporter asked what audiences could expect from the show and the performer playing Benny heavily emphasized the ideas of love, family, and finding your home without mentioning much about the plot or premise. It's a classic tour marketing tactic. 

[green waver]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 3:43pm

Auggie27 said: "I have said a couple of times, "Every parent/child relationship probably has a 'Telephone Wire' moment..." To me, that number (brilliant, it still kills me on the recording every time) is so specific and so extraordinarily universal all at once.  When Allison says "Tell me you see me!" it's heartstopping, a truth that we all probably face, in both roles -- parent and child.  I think it's the great power of the show: that it all feels both alien and familiar. 

 

Very perceptive and very eloquently stated,CB2. All I know is that I saw this with my fifteen year old daughter. We were intensely moved by it, and I think it drew us closer. Not bad for an hour forty minute one act musical!

 

[green waver]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 3:45pm

Thats funny. I thought I was addressing cupid boy 2. But yours was excellent as well

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 8:01pm

MarkBearSF said: "I understand the need to reach out to theatergoers who might not be enticed by "the lesbian cartoonist with the suicidal gay father" story, but the "it's just like your family, only different" pitch rings false."

Yeah, you are too granular on interpreting this. Pull up a level and it's secrets, stories we didn't tell, things we try to understand after the fact, etc., etc., and then it is pretty common. I doubt they mean every family has a lesbian cartoonist and a father who killed himself, heh.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 2:00am

Obviously the broadest themes have broad relatability, but I would venture to say that the specific details (especially the hinted underage trysts and the suicide) alienate the story for a lot of people. It's not hard per se to look past these details and relate to the underlying themes but a lot of people have trouble ignoring or looking at those sorts of topics with an academic eye like many here can.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 12:50pm

It's universal if you've ever wished you could be transparent with your family. It's all about seeking that perfect sense of familial love, when you're connected totally and utterly to your parents, with no walls or boundaries between you, no lies or falsities, no niceties. It's why the "airplane" bit closes the show, because it's one of the only moments she can remember where she and her father shared something that was totally, purely together.

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 1:04pm

Mr. Nowack said: "Obviously the broadest themes have broad relatability, but I would venture to say that the specific details (especially the hinted underage trysts and the suicide) alienate the story for a lot of people. It's not hard per se to look past these details and relate to the underlying themes but a lot of people have trouble ignoring or looking at those sorts of topics with an academic eye like many here can."

I completely agree - conversations surrounding how hesitant audiences can be eased into stepping into worlds unlike their own are more important than ever in this political climate.  

 

Updated On: 2/12/17 at 01:04 PM