Overanalyzed Shows

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 1/17/09 at 10:59pm

So I was reading the thread about Into The Woods having themes of aids. What other shows have 'overanalyzed' and have people coming up with strange ideas of what the show represents.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/17/09 at 11:01pm

I don't think there's such a thing as overanalyzing.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 1/17/09 at 11:10pm

Definitely CATS.

It doesn't represent anything! It's about cats who sing and dance and go to heaven! I used to love CATS when I was little, and I still have a soft spot for it, but I've seen some WEIRD interpretations-- and the whole APPEAL of CATS is that it's a spectacle.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 1/17/09 at 11:36pm

schmerg:

describe those interpratations

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/17/09 at 11:42pm

The T.S. Eliot poems were a commentary on British society of the time, that's where the personalities of the cats came from. It was not that random.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 1/17/09 at 11:47pm

I think 95% of Sondheims stuff is WAYYYYYYYY overanalyzed

[broadwayboy101]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 12:04am

I think most of the shows that are analyzed PERIOD are overanalyzed. So that pretty much means every single show.


Completely OT, but Wanna Be, is that Hunter Parrish in your avatar?

[Tevye the Dairyman]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:14am

I'm kind of confused about the use of the term "over analyzed." i think i just don't believe in the concept...there's no reason to stop digging into a work

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:15am

broadwayboy101, yes, that's Hunter Parrish.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:17am

I see cats representing the rich and poor.

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:19am

I think that every show is, to an extent, over-analysed.

People have gotten so accustomed to everything needing to have some deeper meaning. With some shows, things just are what they are. It's okay if they're two-dimensional.
And I love that avatar Wanna Be A Foster!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 12:25pm

I overanalyze everything

[zamedy]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 12:44pm

But that's why we love you, SporkGoddess. I always find your posts very thought provoking.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 1:09pm

Aww, why thank you!

[broadwayboy101]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 1:29pm

I figured it was, but he looks a little different for some reason, so I wasn't entirely sure.

[AfterTheSky]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 8:41pm

I'm with Tevye on this one. One's overanalysis is another's enjoyment of the show. If analysis brings audience members and scholars pleasure, what's the harm? Into the Woods may not be intentionally about AIDS, but if that symbolism gives an audience member a special meaning, what's wrong? Yes, some representations are absurd but I'm all for anybody enjoying any show in any way they can.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 8:46pm

What a ridiculous thread. No one overanalyzes Cats--I always hear people going on about how you can'--it's just Cats or whatever but certainly have never read a critic who's trid to see deep meaning in it

[B3TA07]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 8:48pm

"I don't think there's such a thing as overanalyzing."

have you seen the thread about Into the Woods being about AIDS?

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 8:53pm

Never heard a critic go deeper into Cats, but I have heard quite the stories coming from dancers who have done the show.

The one I have heard from a couple of them is that Grizabella represents an AIDS victim and the fear and hatred that was projected towards them during the early 80s. What those people who have told me that tend to forget is that Cats opened in London in May of 1981, and the first reports of AIDS as we know it was not until June of 1981 in Los Angeles. So clearly, just based on the historical timeline, in the original production at least, nobody, including Trevor Nunn or Lloyd Webber could possibly have written or conceived the show with this in mind.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:07pm

When I think of overanalyzing, it tends to be more along the lines of thinking way too much about it, like... okay, so if every fork/spoon/etc in the Beast's castle is a servant, how many servants does he have? Like a hundred? How is that possible?? And how can the citizens have a prince who turned into a beast and NEVER find out about it?

Updated On: 1/18/09 at 11:07 PM

[gypsy4]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 11:22am

audience members alway look at shows in different views.

[misto625]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 1:59pm

SporkGoddess- I would say that the Beast has 30-35 servants at his castle from my recollection of "Be Our Guest" and ensuing scenes. If you want me to list them all, PM me and I would gladly do so. I love discussing/analyzing Beauty and the Beast! SO glad that I am not completely crazy in that regard.

I think that the citizens never really saw the Prince to begin with, he was always rude and stayed in his castle most of the time, so they never had the chance to see him as a human, and they certainly never saw him as a Beast, so there was no reason for them to find out about it when the Beast/Prince was so secretive to begin with