You know what?
I don't like the musical of Les Misérables.
At all.
I read the book first. It was constant exposure to the musical that drove me to obsession, but the first understanding I had of the story came through the book. Once upon a time I wasn't that aware of what a crappy adaptation of Hugo's story and message it is, and even after that I could ignore it for a time. But it seems like all the attitudes, misunderstandings, and bizarre but commonly accepted perspectives that bug me about the fandom stem directly from the musical, which, though it's got its events pretty straight, isn't a very good adaptation.
LM is more than its plot. Do you think it would've endured as long as it has if it were just a way-too-long novel about a bread thief, a whore with a heart of gold, some slimy innkeepers, and a bunch of students rioting in the streets? And yet the fandom is full of people who skip, not only the fifty-page digressions, but Hugo's little detours into direct social commentary (riot vs. insurrection, for example), as if the plot were completely divorced from Hugo's ramblings. The plot gives LM its length and breadth, and they're both vast, but the digressions and commentary fill in its depth. If you take the plot by itself you get monstrosities of misinterpretation, the entire show being a prime example.
The musical preserves almost all the events of the plot, but destroys the message without really meaning to--it ignores the impact of social class on the characters' interactions, dismisses hope for the future in a flood of whiny angst, gives no historical context, and tries to tie together all its schizophrenic, conflicting stabs at a theme with some vague stuff about how "to love another person is to see the face of god." Whereas if you took the musical minus the tacked-on finale and asked Joe Blow to pick out a line that summarized what it was trying to say, it'd probably be "Nothing changes, nothing ever will." Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle, it's not bad fanfiction that's making Hugo spin in his grave.
And what redeeming values does the show have? Nifty staging, set and lighting design, a few catchy tunes... and that's about it. The costumes are ugly and historically inaccurate. The music is neither absurdly pretty, like Phantom, nor complex--unless you take the incessant repetition of a few motifs for complexity. The lyrics are awkward.
Also, it bashes you over the head with what emotion you're supposed to be feeling at any given point. The first few times I saw/listened to the show I resented it. After I got used to it, the tearjerking effect wore off and I didn't mind as much, but the songs had also lost any emotional appeal they might have had in the first place. Bleh.
I could rant (and have in the past) about specific characterization issues that bug me--Valjean magically becoming a good man and never undergoing a real moral struggle after the Bishop, the teenybopperization of Eponine, Javert the religious psycho, the treatment of the insurrection--but you've heard it all before and probably don't want to hear it again.
So why do I collect bootlegs and recordings of the musical?
Beats me. I need a hobby of some sort, and better Les Mis than Cats.
At any rate, I'm depressing myself. I think I'm going to go read a few chapters of the Brick to cheer myself up.
Edit: In reward for slogging through that, some amusement for the German-speaking: Bloopers from the Duisburg(?) production.
I don't like the musical of Les Misérables.
At all.
I read the book first. It was constant exposure to the musical that drove me to obsession, but the first understanding I had of the story came through the book. Once upon a time I wasn't that aware of what a crappy adaptation of Hugo's story and message it is, and even after that I could ignore it for a time. But it seems like all the attitudes, misunderstandings, and bizarre but commonly accepted perspectives that bug me about the fandom stem directly from the musical, which, though it's got its events pretty straight, isn't a very good adaptation.
LM is more than its plot. Do you think it would've endured as long as it has if it were just a way-too-long novel about a bread thief, a whore with a heart of gold, some slimy innkeepers, and a bunch of students rioting in the streets? And yet the fandom is full of people who skip, not only the fifty-page digressions, but Hugo's little detours into direct social commentary (riot vs. insurrection, for example), as if the plot were completely divorced from Hugo's ramblings. The plot gives LM its length and breadth, and they're both vast, but the digressions and commentary fill in its depth. If you take the plot by itself you get monstrosities of misinterpretation, the entire show being a prime example.
The musical preserves almost all the events of the plot, but destroys the message without really meaning to--it ignores the impact of social class on the characters' interactions, dismisses hope for the future in a flood of whiny angst, gives no historical context, and tries to tie together all its schizophrenic, conflicting stabs at a theme with some vague stuff about how "to love another person is to see the face of god." Whereas if you took the musical minus the tacked-on finale and asked Joe Blow to pick out a line that summarized what it was trying to say, it'd probably be "Nothing changes, nothing ever will." Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle, it's not bad fanfiction that's making Hugo spin in his grave.
And what redeeming values does the show have? Nifty staging, set and lighting design, a few catchy tunes... and that's about it. The costumes are ugly and historically inaccurate. The music is neither absurdly pretty, like Phantom, nor complex--unless you take the incessant repetition of a few motifs for complexity. The lyrics are awkward.
Also, it bashes you over the head with what emotion you're supposed to be feeling at any given point. The first few times I saw/listened to the show I resented it. After I got used to it, the tearjerking effect wore off and I didn't mind as much, but the songs had also lost any emotional appeal they might have had in the first place. Bleh.
I could rant (and have in the past) about specific characterization issues that bug me--Valjean magically becoming a good man and never undergoing a real moral struggle after the Bishop, the teenybopperization of Eponine, Javert the religious psycho, the treatment of the insurrection--but you've heard it all before and probably don't want to hear it again.
So why do I collect bootlegs and recordings of the musical?
Beats me. I need a hobby of some sort, and better Les Mis than Cats.
At any rate, I'm depressing myself. I think I'm going to go read a few chapters of the Brick to cheer myself up.
Edit: In reward for slogging through that, some amusement for the German-speaking: Bloopers from the Duisburg(?) production.
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