My issue with DEH is when I thought about the show afterwards, I felt like I'd just seen Next to Normal, with the ages and genders swapped, plus a different diagnosis.
Yeah, the score even sounds like Next to Normal and If/Then, though the quality of the DEH score lies somewhere in between those two.
Do you really want me to believe a 17 year old who barely can put words together came up with that "falling in a forest metaphor?
That's just Musical Theatre 101. Do you really think Annie thinks in terms of clearing away the cobwebs and the sorrows while forming her New Day philosophy of optimism?
-In act 2 there isn't a single event or character growth that happens that you wouldn't predict at intermission.
There was for me!
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I never thought the main character would get a full Hail Mary pass on committing fraud to the tune of $50k and that the consequences of committing such a crime (for either him or his mother, especially depending on his age) were never raised in this show. It was not only ignored, but basically excused as the ends justify the means.
-and most upsetting of all: the shows moral is essentially "if you get a girlfriend you'll cure your social anxiety"
To me, that's a lesser offense than "It'll all work out as long as you mean well". The show proved that ultimately, you can be reckless and completely irresponsible with everyone's lives, in person and especially on the internet, not only get away with it, but improving everyone's lives as well as your own in the process. YAY! Afterwards, I kinda felt sick.
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So, I'm assuming this has been discussed before, but I haven't read every page of every DEH thread. Did I miss something or did they just forget about the fact that he was seeing a therapist once a week and his mother was so concerned, she wanted him to go even sooner at the top of the show? Because I don't remember therapy visits ever being brought up again except only when referencing his medication once in the second act. Did he stop going? Wouldn't she notice if she's having to pay? Or did he continue to go and lie to his therapist? There seemed to be this importance placed on his mental/emotional health at the top of the show (and his behavior seemed almost aspergers or something). And if he was spending so much time with the other family, including often spending the night, the other family waited MONTHS before ever reaching out to his mother? But then somehow just found her contact information to invite her to dinner without Evan knowing?
I was ready to be all aboard the DEH love train until I watched it and to be honest, all these questions popped up for me as I was watching the show. It was some sort of after-the-fact bitter pill or anything. By intermission, my husband and I were both raising eyebrows at what we were watching. I'm actually rather disheartened that the show was so easily embraced. As much as I hated Spring Awakening, its message was a lot easier to take than this one.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Updated On: 6/12/17 at 01:28 PM
I just wanted to comment on that particular topic. I like both shows, but to me, that's one advantage that DEH has above N2N. At least, I see it as an advantage.
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