#51
Posted: 11/26/19 at 5:36pm
Wolfwriter, I’m afraid most of what greenifyme said IS in fact in exposited in the musical. And most of the “filling in the gaps” they’ve done are just a result of following through with the information laid out by the text and the direction. It doesn’t take a whole monologue to understand why Brandon is depressed (though there actually is one).
**I can’t seem to do the spoiler toggle on mobile, so, SPOILERS below***
I will admit that of all your criticisms, I think the kiss, along with Eamon’s physical abuse, are the most valid. And interestingly, neither are in the film IIRC. Both are kind of thrown away and not explored completely. But the kiss is set-up by the fact that Barry calls Conor some homophobic slurs earlier, and I interpret that as subtext for what might really be going on with Barry. But I agree it isn’t addressed enough.
But as for your other main point: I don’t agree with your outlook on what constitutes “depth” and what constitutes a “throwaway line.” Many of the lines you seem to consider “throwaways” are giving us the key insight into what’s going on with the characters. And it’s not that they’re thrown away, it’s that they are established, and they assume the audience is listening carefully enough to not need to established again. And from there, we understand why they make the decisions they do. For example, telling us about the affair isn’t depth - sure. But it tells us what we need to know in order to then see the depth in their everyday interactions, and how it guides their worldview. We don’t need more than 1 scene about financial struggles to see the ripple effects of them. We don’t need them to keep telling us that the parents put pressure on Anna for us to understand what’s going through her head later when she throws the books on the ground. And these insights into the characters might not be wrung out for detail, but they are truthful to the circumstances, and the audience can understand what sort of pain they’re experiencing.
**I can’t seem to do the spoiler toggle on mobile, so, SPOILERS below***
I will admit that of all your criticisms, I think the kiss, along with Eamon’s physical abuse, are the most valid. And interestingly, neither are in the film IIRC. Both are kind of thrown away and not explored completely. But the kiss is set-up by the fact that Barry calls Conor some homophobic slurs earlier, and I interpret that as subtext for what might really be going on with Barry. But I agree it isn’t addressed enough.
But as for your other main point: I don’t agree with your outlook on what constitutes “depth” and what constitutes a “throwaway line.” Many of the lines you seem to consider “throwaways” are giving us the key insight into what’s going on with the characters. And it’s not that they’re thrown away, it’s that they are established, and they assume the audience is listening carefully enough to not need to established again. And from there, we understand why they make the decisions they do. For example, telling us about the affair isn’t depth - sure. But it tells us what we need to know in order to then see the depth in their everyday interactions, and how it guides their worldview. We don’t need more than 1 scene about financial struggles to see the ripple effects of them. We don’t need them to keep telling us that the parents put pressure on Anna for us to understand what’s going through her head later when she throws the books on the ground. And these insights into the characters might not be wrung out for detail, but they are truthful to the circumstances, and the audience can understand what sort of pain they’re experiencing.
