Why I think the teenagers are flocking to Next To Normal...And why I think they're wrong- Page 3

[Jane2]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 5:52pm

"The show is not just about mental illness, it's a show about a dysfunctional family trying to cope...."

I think it IS basically about mental illness - and how it has affected the entire family.

This is what I posted earlier.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 5:54pm

I, too, "relate" to N2N in many ways:

As a mother that is not perfect, as a daughter that often felt neglected, as a spouse that felt misunderstood, as a teacher helping kids work through the loss from a suicide....need I go on?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 5:59pm

I don't think I was clear. I should have worded it better. I meant that if the only people who were capable of connecting with this show on any level were those who had experienced mental illness, it would have a pretty limited audience because if that were the case, it would alienate anyone who hadn't such an experience. In other words: if that, the mental illness factor itself, were the only means the show had to draw people into its story, if Next to Normal required its audiences to have been through some particular situation in order to understand it on an emotional level, then it would be alienating. (I say alienating because of something alienates you, it affords you no ability to connect.) I'm talking about relating to the story, not interest in seeing it -- distance from it while you're there, not piqued curiosity to see it. Of course you can be interested in seeing stories about experiences that are foreign to you. How else would you explain audiences loving shows about historical periods or made up places? Was that clearer? I'm sick today.

[light in the piazza]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 6:26pm

I dont understand why you think everyone is relating to Diana.....I think most teenagers are relating to Henry and Natalie.....And no matter who they "connect" too, the content is current and the score is perfection, so why wouldnt we want kids to be interested!!

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 10:05pm

Okay, I guess I could count as one of the teenagers flocking to Next to Normal, but I really feel the show speaks to me and moves me. My life isn't affected by somebody with mental illness, so you could say that I don't relate to the characters, but I rarely see myself in any character in any show. However, what makes this even more powerful is that I really feel like I relate to Natalie--being given way too much work, overachieving for no benefit, being given high expectations, and wanting to escape all the pressure with some form of art. (Natalie through piano, me through theater) I am being pushed further than I want to be pushed, but I don't have enough time with all my work to tell somebody that.

Regardless, I think what makes me feel moved by a musical is to get a real understanding of the characters, and so if somebody dies, I would cry because I felt like I really knew that person and it was at least a loss to me. I've never had a close relative die, so I can't relate to the characters as much. I think Next to Normal really shows you the deep emotions all the characters feel, so in "How Could I Ever Forget", I don't relate to losing a loved one, but I understand through the music and lyrics how sad Diana is, and I feel sad for her loss, and I feel sad that Gabe died.

This is like how I was really moved by Rent. I didn't ever know anybody affected by HIV or drugs, but I understood how the characters felt, and that's what was important.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 10:08pm

Does this thread actually have over 1700 hits?

Are we serious here?

[winston89]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 1:42am

I guess what I am trying to say is that I find it sad that there are teen fanboys and girls who flock to shows like Next To Normal or Wicked etc because for Wicked they feel like they just want to meet someone and fall in love forever a la Elphaba and Fyeiro or they are the smart but overweight girl who doesn't understand why no one likes them and thus they bury themselves in theatre and they don't understand why others don't think it's cool when they talk about the amazing performance the 47th Elphaba replacement gave or the amazing performance they saw from whichever performer in any teenboy/girl fan based musical. I thin that they relate Diana because they feel so lonely due to the fact that they are so obsessed with something that is not at all popular with other teens their age and like Diana don't want to be here anymore.

I strongly feel that there are a lot of teens who bury themselves too much into the fantasy that is theatre to the point that they forget that the are seeing just a show and that the people who are in it have lives and might not care if you've seen them and waited for them at the stage door 42 times.

Keep in mind, that I have been having an interesting PM chat with a poster who wishes to be kept nameless in this discussion and I am just reiterating that which he told me. It also happens to be something that I agree with.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 1:46am

I get it...like I can't appreciate In the Heights because I'm not hispanic, I don't truly understand Next to Normal because I don't have a mental disorder.

[Iluvlizlemon]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 1:55am

So, i think the consensus is that this thread is stupid and useless.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 1:58am

Good lord.

So from now on, in Winston's world, only those with mental illness can see next to normal, only Hispanics can see In the Heights, only witches and munchkins can see Wicked, only black people should see The Color Purple, but I guess WASPs, Jews, and black people can all see Ragtime.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 2:04am

One of the most insightful things I've read in a long while.

[jansal]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 4:10am

Winston, I'm sorry, but I really don't think it's right of you to claim that because you directly relate to certain aspects of the show, you can appreciate it more. But also, the story of 'Next to Normal' is NOT a very unique story anymore...what I mean is that depression and mental illness are both practically epidemics, and it's very rare that a family DOESN'T deal with these issues. I don't see how anyone can see this show and NOT recognize some of their family in it, unless they've lived a very charmed life.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 7:36am

And now, fans of shows are social misfits? Gee, how much more can you insult people. What of all the fans that make up BWW?

Is everyone that sees a show mulitple times either
Lonely
Lovelorn
Suicidal or
Fat?

Oy.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 8:37am

Thanks for that insight. No, I am not a teenager, but I do find theater a very therapeutic thing, just like music. It helps me escape from reality for a couple of hours, and I find nothing wrong with that. Your comments about theater making someone a social misfit is part of the reason I have problems trusting people.

And just so you know, I actually was able to relate to Elphaba in act 1 of Wicked because she was trying to help and save all the animals. But, I guess that message is not important or relevant to anything.

[Elke]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 9:35am

I thin that they relate Diana because they feel so lonely due to the fact that they are so obsessed with something that is not at all popular with other teens their age and like Diana don't want to be here anymore.

That is ridiculous. 10 years ago, I got into theatre when I was 16 and all my friends at school liked Nirvana. I guess I didn't fit in, but the thought of not wanting to be here anymore never ever crossed my mind.

I'm not depressed at all and grew up in a great family, so I'm nothing like the characters in N2N. But I love it because I can *imagine* what Diana and her family feel. Mainly thanks to the magnificent performances of the entire cast.

[Soliantu]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 9:53am

I think maybe some teens can relate to Natalie's character. The song Superboy and the Invisible in particular and her opening lines in "another" So its times like these I wonder how I take it, and if other familys live the way we do.. if they love eachother or if they just fake it, and if other daughters feel like I feel too, cuz some days I think I'm dying, but I'm really only trying to get through...(gabe) for just another day"

A lot of people can relate to bad family lives, or feeling like their parents are more into one of their siblings than they are them. The mental disorders of Diana aren't the only thing people can relate to in this show.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 10:12am

So, i think the consensus is that this thread is stupid and useless.

No, the consensus is that people disagreed with the original post yet carried out a thoughtful discussion and analysis. Pretty much the opposite of stupid and useless.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 10:34am

^Can I have an Amen?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 10:40am

I thin that they relate Diana because they feel so lonely due to the fact that they are so obsessed with something that is not at all popular with other teens their age and like Diana don't want to be here anymore.

So, they are lonely and depressed and find solace in musical theatre, but because most people their age don't listen to it that makes them more lonely and depressed so they want to commit suicide?

[clever name]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 11:08am

Why is it wrong to relate to a show?

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 12:28pm

I was moved to tears by South Pacific but I've never been a WW2 nurse. Well, maybe I was and just don't know it

Jane, I see what you're saying but I see what others are saying at the same time. While Diana's mental illness is at the core of the show it has a trickle down effect in that she's not the only one touched by it. Maybe, just for a moment, you could mentally replace "mental illness" with something similar and wonder how the family would react to it.

[crushgroove]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 2:41pm

Who cares why they are flocking...as long as they ARE flocking?! A show like this needs people to flock to it because it isn't a show that has a built-in demographic.

Maybe they are just connecting with the raw emotion/passion that the characters are portraying because it is the type raw emotion/passion is so lacking in today's society...the same raw emotion that both Rent and SA had as well.

[Jane2]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 5:57pm

Eris, I appreciate your post .

I could imagine a show with something other than mental illness at its core, but we're talking about N2N, which has mental illness at its core.

Hey, no worries-I'm fine with whatever anyone's else's opinion is. I always respect opinions. you can't tell someone their opinion is wrong. I was just posting my views on the show.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 8:00pm

"Is everyone that sees a show mulitple times either
Lonely
Lovelorn
Suicidal or
Fat?"

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This thread IS stupid and useless. Should what the inexperienced, hormone-addled teen thinks is 'awesome' be the standard of ANYTHING for society? You gotta be kidding me! It's typical of this age that the dollar-power of the undiscerning and the underage should hold sway at the box-office. What decadence! NEXT TO NORMAL is a poorly-written, indulgent exercise in faux-emotion that in any other age of taste and sensibility would have sunk without a trace in a second. Only today is such mediocrity tolerated.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 8:10pm

A good show has something everyone can relate to, IMO. I mean, I can't relate to RENT in terms of the HIV or artist lifestyle, but I can relate to its message that we don't really know what will happen in the future, so we should seize the day.