Bruce Bechdel and the loaf of bread- Page 4

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 9:21am

Rereading the graphic novel, and google-ing Bruce Bechdel, this thread popped up, mysteriously.  I now find myself contemplating the same basic question here, the open question of suicide vs. accident. But more BWW-centric, what's extraordinary about the libretto is the way Kron's lyrics for "Edges of the World" manage to serve the moment either way. Of course they suggest abject despair. Yet the words reflect Bruce's state of mind, his no way out recognition of the price he's paid for his duplicity. Whether he jumps in front of the truck or merely behaves recklessly (and erratically leaping back and forth across a highway with brush doesn't bespeak clarity or mental soundness), he comes to a very dark place. It's Allison's prerogative to interpret that moment as she does, because Bruce's behavior is inherently self-destructive.  That is a given, that is the truth.  The novel builds a persuasive case that the world was closing in on Bechdel, whether he leaped or merely allowed himself to be vulnerable to tragedy.  "Why am I standing here?" certainly could also mean, how have I allowed myself to be so without resources, so lost and -- on the heels of divorce, the latest house completed -- alone. Rudderless.  

Thoughts on the libretto? 

Updated On: 6/15/15 at 09:21 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 9:40am

I wish everyone would stop going on about "spoilers." It's called "discussing literature like ADULTS," and people have been doing it since Aeschylus.

Here are some spoilers:

* Oedipus sleeps with his mother and puts his eyes out.

* Hamlet dies.

* Rhett walks out on Scarlett and Melanie dies.

* The witch in Hansel & Gretel gets shoved in the oven. SO DOES MRS. LOVETT.

* Everybody dies.

Deal with it.

 

 

[broadwaytbay]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 9:45am

PalJoey, this is my favourite comment on any board ever.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 9:56am

And dear theatergoers: there's a solid reason a sequel was never written to "Jesus Christ Superstar."

[South Florida]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 6:21pm

It is misleading, one thing the musical has changed is the sense that Bruce definitely committed suicide.  Auggie is right, he was in a world of s***, but the account in the graphic novel leaves it wide open.

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 6:26pm

Spoilers culture exists right now because we came from a few decades of the big literature being about ideas, with plot as an afterthought or nonexistent, while now the big literature is all about plot, not ideas. This isn't a bad thing, nor a good thing. But right now the zeitgeist is on narrative, not philosophy.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 9:38pm

Tell the zeitgeist to suck it.

[kristinchenofan570]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 10:40pm

I saw an interview recently with Beth Malone, who mentions his suicide saying that it wasn't a spoiler because its mentioned right away. Not to mention, is it really considered a spoiler if its from a book published 8 years ago and concerns a real person?