Dear Evan Hansen Previews — Page 6

I think that this falls into the same category as the original Spring Awakening (the musical). While imperfect, it hits some audience members very emotionally. That goes a long way.

I was always aware of the flaws with SA, and am also aware of them in this show....loved them both anyway. As a teacher, I see kids struggle with all the things we are shown here, and my own son certainly has a less then involved dad.

Will this garner the attention and awards of SA? Doubtful, there are better shows this year.

Are you saying you DO think DEH is the best new show?

It didn't bother me either that we don't know exactly what Evan's problem is. He goes into the situation so gradually, it's kind of easy to see how it happens, and it's hard to blame him for what he does. I felt a lot of empathy for him. That was my reaction anyway.

Updated On: 11/18/16 at 12:01 PM

I know very little about Dear Evan Hansen, but I have several friends with adolescent kids who have issues similar to those attributed to the leading character here. One has mild autism, one has depression / and something they say is akin to Aspergers-like symptoms. But in general, these conditions aren't always conclusively diagnosed and the behaviors do share similarities in common, so I think its probably best they don't give his issues an official diagnosis.

"I understand the confusion/concern about wanting to pinpoint Evan's problems, but I found the vagueness of it to make it more universal."

This is fair! I think though, when you're writing about mental illness (and to be clear, I'm always happy to see more shows tackle it because there's still a lot of shame and stigma around it), you run the risk of over-generalizing and end up with a sort of flattening out portrayal- correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there were similar criticisms made of Next to Normal. Ultimately, that's my issue with the show, but it's clearly resonating with a lot of people and that's a good thing.

I know this can be a sensitive topic and I never meant to offend by using the word "condition."

I think why this issue plays such a big role in Dear Evan Hansen is that Evan eventually commits real crimes here and since I'm struggling to have any empathy towards him and his actions I'm wondering if there are mitigating medical/neurological conditions at play here.

Mac- I agree that at first Evan is brought into the situation unwillingly and even attempts to tell Connor's parents the truth. It's a shocking moment for him that he understandably gets caught up in. But then he willing chooses to go to dinner at their house and consciously lies to them. I began losing empathy for him here, but where it all went out the window for me was when things surrounding Connor began to die down and Evan had an easy out to end the situation, and yet he doubled down by starting the Connor Project.

I had a lot of empathy for all three parents and Zoe, but by the end I had completely turned on Evan.

If it must be given a medical diagnosis, it honestly sounds most like Aspergers which does often play out in criminal behavior.

I mean, I think Evan obviously commits a pretty serious crime...



SPOILERS in order to continue this discussion



He commits fraud in the amount of $50,000 by soliciting money with false stories, and then to juice the donations when the money slows up, fraudulent documents that he helped create are used to re-invigorate the cause. Worse yet, the bulk of this fraudulently raised $50,000 is going to fix up an orchard that plays a central role in the lies he continued to perpetuate.

This is a serious crime with real legal ramifications. Anyone who contributed their $50 to the campaign should be able to sue and get their money back, IMO.

If I see an obituary in the Times of someone who died from cancer and come on here claiming he or she was my best friend and attempt to raise $50,000 to build a public peace garden in their name, I am committing fraud, even if it is for a "good cause" -peace gardens are lovely- but it is still fraud.

I wouldnt necessarily classify Asperger's or autism as a mental illness, but if I were a juror and I knew a defendant was somewhere on the spectrum would most likely affect my judgement/empathy towards the situation. A mental impairment, for lack of a better word, can physically impact your judgement. Simply being shy and awkward does not.

Updated On: 11/18/16 at 02:19 PM

I think it's going a bit too far to call that "fraud" and think that someone could actually sue. If he had lied and then used the money for something other than what he said it was for, like to take a vacation or something, then sure yes that would be fraud. But the money raised was used in exactly the way it was purported to be used.

(And he wasn't even the one who set up the charity and started raising money. That was the girl, I forget her name.)

I think diagnosis of a condition of Autism or Aspergers essentially clues that normal operational behavior may not be possible without some kind of medication.If a lawyer in a lawsuit could make that case on behalf of a client with those classifications, I think the jury would likely take it into consideration when ruling.

But it is true again that autism and Asperbegers are often medical explanations for social disfunction rather than mental illness.

Diana in next to normal seems to suffer from more overt symptoms of mental illness: bipolar and even schizophrenia.

dramamama611 said: "Are you saying you DO think DEH is the best new show?"



Yeah.

Updated On: 11/18/16 at 03:32 PM

I have seen this show five times now, and I do feel a sort of sympathy for Evan. I am in high school and I understand how Evan feels, and starting with waving through a window, I begin to root for him. He is a nice guy and always wants to apologize and do the right thing. The whole mess he gets himself into is due to the fact that he wants to help the murphys... he has no one to talk to and has trouble assessing emotions so he took the advice of the only person he did talk to, Jared, and lied. And then he couldn't stop until it became a huge thing. I found it hard to dislike Evan after waving, because I intified so strongly with that song. I was really upset by his actions yet I did feel that he truly didn't know how to handle the situation based off of his mental condition and his emotions. I don't think it matters what that exact condition is, and I don't think we should judge him off of it. Mental illnesses aren't clear cut, and his actions should be observed how they are presented in the production. I don't think Evan is necessarily supposed to be likeable or despised... it is up to you. Sort of like in dogfight how the male protagonist does bad things yet you still sort of like him and root for him. it is up to the viewer, regardless of the exact medical condition