Sweeney and the little white coffin--

[ShineOn]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:01pm

Saw it Saturday night. Heard so many complaints about this damn coffin and thought it was crystal clear what it represented. He was craddling it whilst singing about Johanna for God's sake!

Can someone explain to me what all the confusion was about?

I felt it respresented the loss of innocence (duh, a white baby coffin), but more specifically, the Judge killing Johanna's spirit when he locked her away. She was this young girl, full of life and ready to love and he broke her down spirit and turned her into a timid creature fearful of her own shadow, thus, her the loss of innocence. No?


Perhaps the problems with it weren't so much about what it represented, but the necessity of it being present. I, for one, think it fits in perfectly with the rest of the concept. Perhaps it reads as pretentious, but I think on the whole it's a refreshing take on the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it (and would post a thought out review, but SVU is coming on, so, perhaps later!).

[MoonOnAstring]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:06pm

I agree with you, ShineOn. To me, it also seemed to represent the fact that Sweeney had buried and given up on getting Johanna back, and was now completely consumed by his need for revenge.

Updated On: 11/15/05 at 10:06 PM

[C is for Company]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:12pm

It hit me with its meaning once he cradled it, but what confused me was "Why introduce this during God thats good?" Like really thinking about it, it throws most people off because its introduced at a part where many who know the show expect a chair and go What the hell?! I understnad your side, but it is very misleading I believe

[MoonOnAstring]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:17pm

I think the coffin plays two roles... a metaphorical role and a more physical role. It is used in place of a barber's chair since using a real chair wouldn't have fit with the tone or style of the show. And with this phsyical role come all of the connotations that came with the barber's chair.

It also has a more metaphorical role as described in the posts above. I think that the metaphor would have been clearer if they had introduced the coffin during "Johanna" but they needed it earlier because the barber's chair arrives during "God, That's Good"

[C is for Company]

Posted: 11/15/05 at 10:20pm

Yes very true, but ahh there was the problem that couldnt be fixed. Oh well, doesn't even make it to being a distraction because the performances are just too damn good