Was Evan Hansen punished enough for his sin?

Here's Peter Marks' answer to that question from his column In the Washington Post last week. DEH is now at The Kennedy Center.:

:"That Evan does everything wrong — particularly, in the repulsive invention of a history with a dead student that increases his visibility and popularity at school — does not disqualify him as a winning character. Some observers argue that Levenson, Pasek and Paul have not adequately punished Evan for his transgressions. But on closer inspection, “Dear Evan Hansen” makes plain that any tougher retribution by the authors would be overkill. For no one punishes Evan more than Evan himself."

Bigserver1 said: "Not that thestoryline is perfect by any means, but anyone who gets to "Words Fail" and then "So Big/So Small" and still doesn't think Evan suffers enough internallyfor his actions is missing something."

Agree 100%. Both songs make me cry each time I hear them.

HOT TAKE

This is entirely the wrong question to ask and does not understand why some people are frustrated with the show. And 'sin' is a pretty loaded word to use in itself.

Rather, how does the NARRATIVE treat Evan's actions? Not the plot (He lies, this causes most of the characters in the show to suffer, he admits it and doesn't get everything he wanted) but how the structure of the show tells us how we are supposed to feel about it.

Pretty much every choice made in how to present the plot, is designed to make us empathize with Evan and to take focus off of the harm he caused. Word's Fail is a great example. We don't get to see any of the fallout of the Murphy's reacting to the truth because the show immediately cuts to Evan's internal monologue, explaining why he did what he did and how bad he feels about it. The show then pivots to his relationship with his mother, and we see no more of the adult Murphys at all.

Had the show been structured even slightly differently, with no changes to the plot, I suspect audiences would leave the show feeling very differently about Evan as a character.

Rainah said: "HOT TAKE

This is entirely the wrong question to ask and does not understand why some people are frustrated with the show. And 'sin' is a pretty loaded word to use in itself.

Rather, how does the NARRATIVE treat Evan's actions? Not the plot (He lies, this causes most of the characters in the show to suffer, he admits it and doesn't get everything he wanted) but how the structure of the show tells us how we are supposed to feel about it.

Pretty much every choice made in how to present the plot, is designed to make us empathize with Evan and to take focus off of the harm he caused. Word's Fail is a great example. We don't get to see any of the fallout of the Murphy's reacting to the truth because the show immediately cuts to Evan's internal monologue, explaining why he did what he did and how bad he feels about it. The show then pivots to his relationship with his mother, and we see no more of the adult Murphys at all.

Had the show been structured even slightly differently, with no changes to the plot, I suspect audiences would leave the show feeling very differently about Evan as a character.





"

DINGDINGDING!



"Punish" is also entirely the wrong word here. The problem isn't the lack of punishment, but rather the excessive, over-eager and preemptive forgiveness.

Updated On: 8/12/19 at 02:35 PM

RaisedOnMusicals said: "Here's Peter Marks' answer to that question from his column In the Washington Post last week. DEH is now at The Kennedy Center.:

:"That Evan does everything wrong — particularly, in the repulsive invention of a history with a dead student that increases his visibility and popularity at school — does not disqualify him as a winning character. Some observers argue that Levenson, Pasek and Paul have not adequately punished Evan for his transgressions. But on closer inspection, “Dear Evan Hansen” makes plain that any tougher retribution by the authors would be overkill. For no one punishes Evan more than Evan himself."

Nothing repulsive in his actions, and he instigated very little himself that was wrong--things spiralled out of control. He's a very alienated kid who can't figure out how to develop healthy interactions. He made something up and it got out of hand and then he didn't know how to deal with the results.

I find the judgmental nature of the quote, particularly for what is an entirely fictional story (do Broadway shows need warnings akin the "no animals were actually harmed in the making of this movie" notice on t.v./film?), pretty absurd/indicative of the culture in which we currently live.

Updated On: 8/12/19 at 02:54 PM

Roscoe said: ""Pretty much every choice made in how to present the plot, is designed to make us empathize with Evan and to take focus off of the harm he caused."

This. A thousand times, THIS."

F**K FINALLY. I thought I was the only person who got this

getupngo said: "Roscoe said: ""Pretty much every choice made in how to present the plot, is designed to make us empathize with Evan and to take focus off of the harm he caused."

This. A thousand times, THIS."

F**K FINALLY. I thought I was the only person who got this"

YES. I also just have so many problems with this show and how it handles and portrays certain issues.

Rainah said: "HOT TAKE

This is entirely the wrong question to ask and does not understand why some people are frustrated with the show. And 'sin' is a pretty loaded word to use in itself.

Had the show been structured even slightly differently, with no changes to the plot, I suspect audiences would leave the show feeling very differently about Evan as a character.


I think the extreme majority of attendees at a DEH performances feel extremely sad for Evan as they are leaving the theatre. He made mistakes, but he was so lonely and unhappy that it was believable that a kid like him would have acted as he did.

If your last phrase was correct, I doubt that such a serious show would still be selling out after 1,100 performances, with an average ticket price in excess of $150: translation: selling out with limited if ny discounting underway.

I'm not aware that Evan committed any sins, but as he lost his "new family" and really has no relationship with the girl he cared for (and who seems to have cared for him), it's pretty clear he's experienced as much bad fallout from the experience as everyone else. The idea that he has to "pay for sins" for the evening to be pleasing to someone strikes me as ridiculously judgmental.

He ends the play alone. What do you want him to suffer? What would be "enough"?

Thank you!