I could see them making Dear Evan Hansen a movie- Page 2

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 9:43pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Elfuhbuh said: "If this ever becomes a movie, I hope they rewrite that ending. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

I agree.  Like many on here I was just waiting for the final scene in which Evan is executed via firing squad due to his crimes against humanity.  Kid had it coming.

In all seriousness, I still don't understand what people expect for an ending.  I do think that the line about the marriage is odd even though I completely understand what it means (people are brought together over a common enemy.  The enemy being Evan of course) and maybe it shouldn't be there.  

 

"

I feel like this is a discussion that's been had one too many times, but my personal issue with it isn't the fact that he doesn't experience repercussions: in reality, many people don't and whether you think that's fair or not is your prerogative – that's where the moral ambiguity of the piece comes into play. 

For me it's the fact that after everything goes to (for lack of a better term) sh!t, the story just skips ahead to "and they all lived moderately happily ever after." I find it to be completely unsatisfying. You know what they say about "going out with a whimper, not a bang?" That's what it's always felt like to me. I get that they wanted to squeeze the "it gets better" message in there, but I think the show would have been much more powerful if they didn't do the time skip, and leave it on a note of more tentative hope rather than hitting us on the head with it. 

And not to bring up the whole "Next to Normal did it first and better" debacle again, but N2N did do the same ending first and arguably handled it better. But the betterness is just my personal opinion, of course. 

(And the "you saved my parents' marriage line," really should not be in there, or at least should be changed to something that doesn't make it sound like Zoë is justifying Evan's actions. I know that it isn't but something about the phrasing is undeniably uncomfortable.) 

Updated On: 6/16/17 at 09:43 PM

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 10:06pm

Interesting.  So the problem that a lot of people are having with the book is that there isn't a clear and defined moral?  I always thought that there wasn't really a moral, but rather a major theme that was overhanging the whole show.  Isn't the show about us feeling so lonely and lost in a world of social media that we cling to tragedies in order to make us feel like a part of a greater whole?  I've always thought that, that was what Evan sings about in Words Fail.  There isn't a clear moral takeaway other than if you're you, you don't need to lie and force yourself to be part of something.  That's what I took away from the show and that's what I'm pretty sure they wanted everyone to take away.  The publicity department has fallen down on the job by making #Youwillbefound seem like the moral, when it clearly is not.

I kind of agree that the tacked on ending seems a bit odd.  It didn't bother me too much, but I could see where that maybe could have been handled better.  I think the point is that high school seems so important while we're there, but once we get out into the real world none of that matters and your life will become better, so by showing a time jump from So Big/So Small to the final scene, I think they were trying to show that idea.  Frankly, I wish the conversation at the end wasn't between Zoe and Evan but rather Connor's mother and Evan at the Orchard.  I think that it would allow for a more emotional wrap up and I think would just be more satisfying.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 10:06pm

"I feel like this is a discussion that's been had one too many times, but my personal issue with it isn't the fact that he doesn't experience repercussions: in reality, many people don't and whether you think that's fair or not is your prerogative – that's where the moral ambiguity of the piece comes into play. 

For me it's the fact that after everything goes to (for lack of a better term) sh!t, the story just skips ahead to "and they all lived moderately happily ever after." I find it to be completely unsatisfying. You know what they say about "going out with a whimper, not a bang?" That's what it's always felt like to me. I get that they wanted to squeeze the "it gets better" message in there, but I think the show would have been much more powerful if they didn't do the time skip, and leave it on a note of more tentative hope rather than hitting us on the head with it. 

And not to bring up the whole "Next to Normal did it first and better" debacle again, but N2N did do the same ending first and arguably handled it better. But the betterness is just my personal opinion, of course. 

(And the "you saved my parents' marriage line," really should not be in there, or at least should be changed to something that doesn't make it sound like Zoë is justifying Evan's actions. I know that it isn't but something about the phrasing is undeniably uncomfortable.) "

 

Pretty much all of this hits the nail on the head. But, to add more, I'm not really in the camp that thinks Evan needed to be tied up and burned at the stake for what he did; he's a kid, and kids can make some awful mistakes without considering the repercussions or even intending to do anything bad. Most of my issues with the ending, actually, are that in all this, we never found out what the real Connor was like, beyond some vague ideas that he was a troubled bully who regularly threatened his sister with violence. I feel like, in a story that aims to explore mental health issues, we should know more about why Connor acted the way he did, what led him to decide on suicide, all these things. I've heard complaints from people who suffer from similar issues that they're uncomfortable with the way Connor's whole character was kind of brushed under the rug in favor of Evan's arc and personal growth, and I can see where they're coming from. The idea that the family never told anyone the truth or even tried to clear their names feels cheap and uncomfortable, especially since they went ahead and let everyone believe that what Evan wrote was what Connor wrote as his suicide note. In the end, everyone ended up believing and accepting an entirely fictional version of Connor without giving the real kid a voice, and it doesn't really feel right to me. 

But that's just my two cents. I know not everyone agrees, and that's perfectly fine. But if they were to make a movie, I'd personally like it if they considered this sort of thing a bit. 

Updated On: 6/16/17 at 10:06 PM

[MattG3]

Posted: 6/17/17 at 3:27am

"But really, if they were smart they'd film this with Platt after his departure to preserve his performance and release it at a later date. But that will never happen. "

 

I dunno. I think they might be thinking about it. Or at least maybe that's just my wishful thinking. They'd be smart to. The producers have been very social media/internet conscious from a marketing standpoint. I could see them doing it, like Disney did with Newsies, or rather doing with Newsies... Bring it out in theaters every couple years. Very loyal fanbase = $$. I think this is the only way it works. Having Platt and this cast. Filmed onstage instead of a movie. 

[SarahNYC2]

Posted: 6/17/17 at 2:29pm

I wish they'd film it for PBS like Falsettos. I feel bad that my daughter will never get to see it Ben Platt. And while I know seeing it on the screen as a show is not the same as seeing it live it would still be better than not seeing him perform in it at all.