Why wouldn't Connor Murphy's parents check Connor's phone for texts from Evan?- Page 2

[schubox]

Posted: 10/13/17 at 3:21pm

Burner phones dude 

[Rainah]

Posted: 10/13/17 at 3:55pm

schubox said: "Burner phones dude"

because so many 17 year olds have a burner phone??

[loveinnewyorkcity]

Posted: 10/13/17 at 4:04pm

This is why I hate the use of modern technology in shows. Someone could be writing the most amazing musical about Snapchat right now but by time they get it on its feet and premiere it somewhere in say, a year or so, it's likely it will be outdated in some form. It's hard to write something and set it in the present day while using technology since technology is evolving literally every day. 

Maybe ten years from now it'll be easy to look back and write a story based in 2017, using the technology of today but because everything is so fleeting and doesn't last, it's rough. 

I wonder if people felt like this when technology was emerging in the 30's, 40's, and 50's....

[michaelhale]

Posted: 10/13/17 at 4:07pm

This actually doesn't bother me at all because like- OK. What I am mostly confused about is how they'd get off the idea that Connor and Evan were gay what other reason for all the secrecy is there? Jareds points were dead solid. But anyway- if Connor and Evan are using a secret email then that's likely it. If they have already decided to believe that then in what world do they use a secret email and ALSO just text using Connor's regular phone? 

It all really comes down to that the letter and cast were the main proof of Evan and Connor's friendship, he explained the other plot holes the best he could but he had those to back him up. So whatever he said was just holding up an already plausible story to the Murphys. 

[bear88]

Posted: 10/13/17 at 4:07pm

HogansHero said: "ya know, show mesomeone who says they've located a plot contrivance and I'll show you someone who is over-analyzing to make themselves feel smart. Let's play this game with Hamlet, shall we?"

You read my mind, although that's partially because I saw Hamlet a few weeks ago for the first time. I really enjoyed the play, but it's loaded with plot contrivances that sometimes border on the absurd. Hamlet is a great play, but not if you're constantly questioning whether this or that would realistically happen.

I have mixed feelings about Dear Evan Hansen, but the plot devices are plausible enough for musical theater. My teenage daughter saw the show with me, and her reaction was not, 'This could never happen,' even though she has never emailed her friends or even used Facebook unless she has to for school. In the show, the whole phony email account was set up to fool the adults, which it did - for fairly obvious reasons, even though Evan is questioned and even teased throughout the musical about his mysterious relationship with Connor.

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 10/13/17 at 8:07pm

There are definetely holes in Evan's story, some that the musical addresses and some that it doesn't, but one thing that has not been brought up in this discussion is that the Murphys don't question Evan too hard because they want to believe him. It's easy to convince someone of something they really want to be true; that's one of the oldest con techniques in the book. "Words fail" lays this out pretty clearly. Cynthia believes Evan immediately, and Zoe and Larry overcome their skepticism, because it makes them feel better to believe Connor had a rich connection with someone, anyone, than just being a lonely, troubled kid who didn't or couldn't tell anyone why he was suffering. So yes, there are inconsistencies and there is evidence indicating Evan is lying. But why would you listen to that when you have someone telling you something that helps make a terrible situation even a little more palatable? The gray areas in this script are the most interesting things about it. 

Updated On: 10/13/17 at 08:07 PM

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 11:58am

Very true. Connor's parents want to believe Evan's version of Connor so much that they overlook contradicting evidence. They want to live in the world Evan creates rather than the one Connor left them with. This is a show about the power of storytelling to affect real life, not an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

Updated On: 10/14/17 at 11:58 AM

[schubox]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 12:09pm

Rainah said: "schubox said: "Burner phones dude"

because so many 17 year olds have a burner phone??"

Was a joke 

[schubox]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 12:11pm

bear88 said: "HogansHero said: "ya know, show mesomeone who says they've located a plot contrivance and I'll show you someone who is over-analyzing to make themselves feel smart. Let's play this game with Hamlet, shall we?"

You readmy mind, although that's partially because I sawHamleta few weeks ago for the first time. I really enjoyed the play, but it's loaded with plot contrivances that sometimes border on the absurd.Hamletis a great play, but not if you're constantly questioning whether this or that would realistically happen.

I have mixed feelings aboutDear Evan Hansen,but the plot devices are plausible enough for musical theater. My teenage daughter saw the show with me, and her reaction was not, 'This could never happen,' even though she has never emailed her friends or even used Facebook unless she has to for school. In the show, the whole phony email account was set up to fool the adults, which it did - for fairly obvious reasons, even though Evan is questioned and eventeased throughout the musical about his mysterious relationship with Connor."

What plot contrivances in Hamilton? Not saying they don’t exist, just curious which you are referring to

[Harpz2006]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 1:53pm

Not saying there's not any inconsistencies in DHE, but this doesn't seem like one at all. If Connor didn't want anyone knowing he and Evan were friends, he could've deleted the texts and Evan's contact info from his phone before ending his life. Maybe he had deleted everything from his phone beforehand not wanting to leave any traces of his emotional state for his family. And yes, teens these days a LOT of conversations through Snapchat and texting to them has become almost obsolete, some have told me!

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 1:58pm

I mean, connor could have a password on his phone

[Tag]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 3:02pm

Can we all just agree that DEH winning Best Book over Come From Away is the real problem here.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 3:11pm

No.

 

(Maybe if Natasha Pierre won.....)

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 3:23pm

I don't question this at all. When I was a kid, there were no secrets to our parents, they knew what was going on in our lives, who we were friends with, every little thing. It was a different time and also I grew up in a small town where it was perfectly acceptable for all the adults in the town to look after all the kids and if they saw a kid doing something wrong they stepped in. Do that today the parent will yell at you for interfering. And today's parents -- some anyway -- have lost control of their kids, either becuase the parents are too stressed and busy with their own lives, or the kids don't let them in. 

I saw a documentary about mass shootings. The kid that shot up Newtown Elementary and the two who killed at Columbine had locks on their bedroom doors and wouldn't let their parents in. Adam Lanza had taped black garbage bags to his windows so people couldn't look in. If I tried to lock my parents out I'd be TOSSED out of the house and not welcomed back until I lived by Mom and Dad's rules! LOL 

And finally, I've learned to suppress my reasoning at a lot of shows. Too easy to get caught in a spiral of thinking too much about questions in the plot. It's more enjoyable to just go with it as is. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 3:24pm

Come From Away's book is cliche trite.  At least in Dear Evan Hansen I don't leave with a cavity.

Honestly, Dear Evan Hansen answers all the questions that it throws out at the audience.  Many of you seem to not have actually seen the show or maybe you slept through large portions of it because I can't think of any glaring plot holes, then again, I actually pay attention when I watch a musical.  I could go on and on and point out numerous plot holes in every major musical ever and also probably every major play, but guess what?  It's a musical.  People are f*cking singing and dancing.  It's not realism.  Stop thinking so hard when you see a show.  Don't question every single action.  Just watch it for what it is.

Updated On: 10/14/17 at 03:24 PM

[Tag]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 4:10pm

^Your philosophy on musicals seems to be in opposition with your username and the show it references...hmm

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 4:36pm

Are you suggesting that Sunday in the Park is cliche trite that will give you a cavity because that's one of the funniest things I've ever heard.  Sunday does not contradict my philosophy, which is, don't question every little things that a show presents to you.  The actions of a musical are realistic in the world that the show is taking place.  Don't question it.  How is that in opposition with Sunday?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 4:52pm

+1 on #39 except that I took #36 as a joke.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 5:02pm

CallMeAl2 said: "Very true. Connor's parents want to believe Evan's version of Connor so much that they overlook contradicting evidence. They want to live in the world Evan creates rather than the one Connor left them with. This is a show about the power of storytelling to affect real life, not an episode of Murder, She Wrote."

Also look at what kind of state the Murphys are in at the beginning of the show. Connor is hostile, non-responsive, and they Murphys are frustrated with him. I think it's easy for them to believe Connor kept a part of his life completely secret from them because the channels of communication were closed for so long. 

I take the same issue with "Why don't the Murpy's expose Evan at the end?" Because they're nice good people and they recognize that so much of what Evan said about Connor was really about himself -- the loneliness, the suicidal thoughts, the longing for love. They are not the type of people to inflict more pain on a deeply troubled adolescent.

[michaelhale]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 5:13pm

dramamama611 said: "No.



(Maybe if Natasha Pierre won.....)"

Are you implying TGC deserved best BOOK? 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 6:44pm

Best Book? The book that is a near verbatim excerpt of a 150-year-old novel should have won over the book that is a hyper-contemporary analysis of mental health, social media, death, grief and class?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 7:07pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "Best Book? The book that is a near verbatim excerpt of a 150-year-old novel should have won over the book that is a hyper-contemporary analysis of mental health, social media, death, grief and class?"

I don't think TGC had a shot at beating DEH for book, but your characterization of what the book of TGC is/was misapprehends the essence of the book of a musical so colossally that it has to be mentioned. (FWIW, however, that does not alter the fact that CFA's book is vapid and flat-footed.)

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 7:08pm

poisonivy2 said:...I take the same issue with "Why don't the Murpy's expose Evan at the end?" Because they're nice good people and they recognize that so much of what Evan said about Connor was really about himself -- the loneliness, the suicidal thoughts, the longing for love. They are not the type of people to inflict more pain on a deeply troubled adolescent."

In addition, what I took away was that, yes, the tale Evan spun was contrary to events the way they actually transpired - but as many stories do they captured something true about both Evan and Connor. They both underneath did want a friend and want love. All of that was there buried under the rubble of current circumstances and mental health - but the point is that it was actually there. "Maybe then we can both pretend to have a friend", Connor tells Evan in his one moment of human generosity in the play.

This is what the "lie" does to Evan (and you can see him realizing it as he tells his tale in "For Forever" : he is capable of love and being loved. Previously he didn't think that was even possible, so the whole world seemed like a cruel joke dangling treats in front of him that he could never taste. But in his story he sees an Evan that can be a friend. It gives him the courage to step out and take the chance with Zoe. It helps him find hope for new possibilities in himself in the last scene. 

The Murphys have a similar journey. Evan shows them a side of Connor they had lost touch with - something that used to be there but was totally obscured at the end. Yeah, Connor was a jerk - but he was also a kid who wanted to be a part of the rest of the world. Evan found that part, and then just blew it up to full size when he created his version of Connor.

It's kind of like acting - the way you find something that is true in you that matches the writing and then create a whole person based on that aspect. 

Evan did give them their son back - the part of him that others never saw, but was very real nonetheless. That is the value that the Murphys walk away with at the end. They got the opportunity for both them and the whole community to celebrate the part of Connor that was obscured by the illness. It reminds me of that line in Angels in America where Harper tells Prior that deep down inside there is one part of him that is completely pure and untouched by illness. That's what Evan did for the people who loved Connor.

Updated On: 10/14/17 at 07:08 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 7:11pm

Harpz2006 said: "If Connor didn't want anyone knowing he and Evan were friends, he could've deleted the texts and Evan's contact info from his phone before ending his life. Maybe he had deleted everything from his phone beforehand not wanting to leave any traces of his emotional state for his family."

I'm sure someone will assume the Murphys could have restored Connor's phone to its pre-suicide state from his most recent cloud backup and find all of this out, though. Once there's a plot contrivance raised, any other contrivance can easily substantiate it.

[bear88]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 8:53pm

schubox said: "bear88 said: "HogansHero said: "ya know, show mesomeone who says they've located a plot contrivance and I'll show you someone who is over-analyzing to make themselves feel smart. Let's play this game with Hamlet, shall we?"

You readmy mind, although that's partially because I sawHamleta few weeks ago for the first time. I really enjoyed the play, but it's loaded with plot contrivances that sometimes border on the absurd.Hamletis a great play, but not if you're constantly questioning whether this or that would realistically happen.

I have mixed feelings aboutDear Evan Hansen,but the plot devices are plausible enough for musical theater. My teenage daughter saw the show with me, and her reaction was not, 'This could never happen,' even though she has never emailed her friends or even used Facebook unless she has to for school. In the show, the whole phony email account was set up to fool the adults, which it did - for fairly obvious reasons, even though Evan is questioned and eventeased throughout the musical about his mysterious relationship with Connor."

What plot contrivances in Hamilton? Not saying they don’t exist, just curious which you are referring to"

I was talking about Hamlet, not Hamilton.