FUN HOME Reviews — Page 10

"It's about what is proper for a child to be singing about to an audience."

This statement is ridiculous. As the others have pointed out, the song is not about sex. But even if it was, why would that be so wrong?! As a teacher of middle-high school, these feelings and questions arise at a VERY early age. This depiction of a young girl confused/excited/intrigued/anxious by future possibilities of herself is so incredibly spot on (and matched with BEAUTIFUL music). The song is tasteful, realistic, delightful, and, in my opinion, one of the best new songs of this and probably the past five Broadway seasons.

Wow interesting. I find it one of the most melodic songs in the show.

The chorus:

Your swagger and your bearing
and the just right clothes you're wearing
Your short hair and your dungarees
And your lace up boots.

And your keys oh
Your ring of keys.

Has been stuck in mind for approximately 5 months!

The only song I wasn't crazy about was the song they cut for the youngest Alison.

It's a beautiful song. I never felt that it was sexual in any way at all.

But if it were up to After Eight, the only songs children would sing in a musical are cute little nursery rhymes and songs about having tea with jam and bread.

Eight-year-old children can have and do have these feelings, just ask Alison Bechdel.

I'm seeing the show in a few weeks. Would those of you who have seen it suggest reading detailed synopses or maybe even the original graphic novel beforehand? I have a rough understanding of the plot and have been reading all the threads about it. However, my husband knows absolutely nothing about it, so should he read up on it? I usually like going in cold to a show but I've seen lots of comments about how that is a bad idea for this specific show.

""It's about what is proper for a child to be singing about to an audience."
This statement is ridiculous. As the others have pointed out, the song is not about sex. But even if it was, why would that be so wrong?! As a teacher of middle-high school, these feelings and questions arise at a VERY early age. This depiction of a young girl confused/excited/intrigued/anxious by future possibilities of herself is so incredibly spot on (and matched with BEAUTIFUL music). The song is tasteful, realistic, delightful, and, in my opinion, one of the best new songs of this and probably the past five Broadway seasons. "

Stop trying to meet After Eight's screeds with logic and facts. His mind is still stuck in the era when children were to be seen and not heard, and certainly weren't allowed to express any feelings or emotions. You know, kind of like how Bruce Bechdel treats Alison. And of course the song has nothing to do with sex.

But why even automatically sexualize a song sung by an 8 year-old? When I first heard it, I did not once think that she was fetishizing over the woman she's singing about. Sydney puts so much depth into that song, as I've mentioned before, that it's impossible to translate it into something other than a song of awe and confusion at finally recognizing that, yes, you can be different, and that it's alright. This is a song sung by a young girl who has never met another person like herself, or someone who urges her [Alison] to acknowledge who she is. Not only is this a monumental, groundbreaking moment for Small Alison, but it's even more emancipatory for her considering her complicated relationship with her father. When listening to the song, I think you really need to also consider how stifled Alison felt from an early age because of her father and his need to maintain a perfect image.

I think "Ring of Keys" is one of the best musical theatre songs in years, simply due to its honest rendering of such a human moment of recognition. Every queer person had a moment like that growing up. There's nothing sexual about it. It's recognizing yourself, the you that you are discouraged from being, openly displayed in someone else. It's something that has not been depicted in musical theatre.

Anyone who assumes (or projects...) a sexual aspect to the song has other issues going on. And that's that.

Updated On: 5/1/15 at 01:28 PM

"But why even automatically sexualize a song sung by an 8 year-old?"

The only person here who has actually done that is A8, and it speaks volumes about his damaged psychology.

Saw this again last night, standing room. Great to see that this show is selling out on a Thursday!

Speaking of "Ring of Keys", did anyone pick up the little bit where Bruce is swinging his car keys in the scene where he asks Alison whether they want to go on a drive later? He kept twirling the keys in his hands with a smile on his face and only then did I realize oh right, "ring of keys"!

There are little gems like this hidden throughout the show and only after seeing it a few times have I started picking up on them.

That's why Ring of Keys is important, and not at all "improper". She's not standing there singing "hey lady, I want to suck your manly clit", she's singing about this woman's masculinity, realizing that there's another way to be. To be butch, or to be a lesbian, to realize that maybe you want to live your life with a woman, or maybe you don't want to wear dresses. Sydney Lucas is not singing about sex, though Alison eventually will, she's singing about the realization of what she, herself, is and could be, which is tremendously important for young queer individuals.

To assign that as being "improper" is offensive and homophobic. We need audiences to learn that this is something a kid can feel, and often does feel. I felt it, and so have many people here, and I wish I'd know it was something I could feel because it would have saved me a tremendous amount of confusion as a kid and teenager. If I'd know that that was something I could be, then I wouldn't have gone through so much turmoil finding it out and feeling guilty because people like you, After Eight, told me it wasn't something that I should be feeling. Because people like you told me it was improper. That I was improper, that I was feeling something that was dirty and adult and wrong for a kid to feel.

"If I'd know that that was something I could be, then I wouldn't have gone through so much turmoil finding it out and feeling guilty because people like you, After Eight, told me it wasn't something that I should be feeling. "

Okay, now that you've got that off your chest, get off your high horse as well, and mind your manners. I would also highly recommend not using ugly smears to discredit people. It's not very nice, and not very "proper."

I don't tell anyone what they should be feeling, or what is proper to feel. That includes you, and the character in this show. I'm talking about what is seemly to present on stage, and the manner in which it is presented. And it has nothing to do with sexuality either. If a little boy started whining a rapt paean to hideous music to a soldier and his combat boots and camouflage fatigues, not as a source of sexual attraction, but as an image of who he is and who he wants to be, it would be equally offputting.

It seems that the one who is dictating to others what is "proper" to feel about this show is you.

Don't dictate.

Updated On: 5/2/15 at 04:22 AM

"I'm talking about what is seemly to present on stage, and the manner in which it is presented. And it has nothing to do with sexuality either. If a little boy started whining a rapt paean to hideous music to a soldier and his combat boots and camouflage fatigues, not as a source of sexual attraction, but as an image of who he is and who he wants to be, it would be equally offputting."

Ok, but why?

I mean if you're talking about exploitation of youth (and people of little means) by the military industrial complex, then that's a very sophisticated reason, but I don't think it seems applicable to the case of Alison Bechdel. So generally, and without reference to the "hideous music" as that seems outside the scope of the topic, what is so improper about a child expressing himself/herself and finding comfort after being exposed to something that, although is outside the norm, makes him/her/zir/etc. feel comfortable and even prideful and accepted for the first time in his/her/zir/etc. life? You already said it wasn't sexual, so then what's so "improper" about it?

Again, for context, I quote what you said last page: It's about what is proper for a child to be singing about to an audience.

So, I'm just confused in regards to what your point is now. If you simply didn't like it, it'd be one thing, but you took it a step further and started talking about what's "proper for a child" and "impropriety", and if you're moving away from sexuality (a point I thought you were making and disagreed with), then what is it that's so improper for young Alison to be singing about? Finding identity? Discovering something different and having the seed planted that she doesn't have to conform and she can instead figure out for herself the type of person she truly is (and even that is a constant on-going process as people evolve and are shaped by their experiences and age, which the show illustrates with adolescent and adult Alison)? What is it that's troubling about "Ring of Keys" if you're moving away from the misinterpretation that the song is about the initial beginnings of sexuality (though again, if it was I still don't think it would be a problem)?

Updated On: 5/2/15 at 08:21 AM