noschultz said: "from looking at lyrics and hearing (unofficial) recordings, i have to admit i’m underwhelmed. while the music is absolutely fantastic, at times even better than comet, and i loved pretty much everything about “little god,” the message of the show ultimately feels dismissive and arrogant instead of analytical and probing. rather than ponder the implications of the internet, dave seems a lot more content to poke fun at people half his age with cloying references and to characterize the whole internet as “a monster” based on a few case studies of particularly damaged users. as a previous poster noted, the ending numbers of hope can’t make up for an otherwise disappointingly one-sided and simplistic view of the medium that’s made dave as respected as he is (and this is coming from someone who respects him a LOT as an artist and a person. he can do better than this).
however, i haven’t actually seen the show live. does the staging and visual acting dampen this message?"
Sorry to hear that you interpreted the show in such a negative manner. I’ve seen it twice now, and it has never come across to me as a shallow condescension of the Internet and its users. And maybe this is just because I know Dave, but he himself is extremely prone to internet/media addiction. I mean, he dropped out of college to play Ocarina of Time for god’s sake. So to me it feels like it’s coming from a place of “I’m addicted to the internet and I don’t want to be, so let’s talk about its issues and figure out how to get away from it.” He’s definitely not just poking at Gen Z; he’s talking about himself, his peers, and really society as a whole as we immerse ourselves into media all of the time.
The show isn’t negative the entire way through. Even near the beginning, songs like “Candy” really explore the joys and possibilities that the internet gives, even as it is specifically imbedded in eliminating addiction.
I never felt that the message of the show was dismissive, mostly because it didn’t really feel like there is a resounding opinion or answer to the issues of internet addiction. As I said before, I felt that the show was simply an exploration of different areas of internet addiction, and while the show obviously sides on getting off the internet, the ending felt as if he were saying “this is where we’re at, this is what we’ve talked about, take it as you will and let’s find our way out of this mess somehow.”
The show felt summated in the lyric of “Beautiful” when she sings “This ugly thing lets me sing so beautiful.” While the internet is dangerous and brutal, it also has wonderful possibilities that allows people unparalleled communication and exploration. And the entire show felt like an exploration of that paradox.
I hope you go see it and give it another chance. I think there’s much more love and optimism in the piece than what you’ve interpreted from it thus far.
Updated On: 5/24/19 at 05:13 PM
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