Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2006-04-17 12:43 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2006-04-17 12:43 pm
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Some more random meta that Lulu and I were discussing in the car, because I have Arabic homework to procrastinate on:
The ending of the musical version of LM feels so tacked on. It's like they looked at the second act and went "Shit, this turned out wrist-slittingly angsty despite the fact that the book is actually bizarrely uplifting. Oh well, let's toss in something about living again in freedom in the garden of the Lord, that'll make everyone feel better." And really, that last bit is one of the few parts of Act II that sounds like Les Misérables to me--in message, not in events, they got the events right enough and completely screwed up what they're supposed to mean.
I mean, look at the biggest "that didn't happen!"/"how out-of-character!" moments. Bring Him Home, Turning, Empty Chairs, all this fucking existential angst about how people are dying meaninglessly. This is Hugo, ferchrissakes, nobody dies meaninglessly, and when people start kicking the bucket en masse the view is always towards the future, not looking back and going "boo-hoo, they're all dead." And yet the musical has whining and regrets in spades, with only one measly "let others rise!" to indicate there might be something brighter on the horizon. Then along comes the ending with its "But it's all gonna be okay, because Mister Hugo says that even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise!" bullshit, paying lip service to the theme of the novel after just contradicting it and beating it into the dust for the past hour and a half. It's like, okay, if you don't want to endorse the Romantic school's painfully optimistic views of progress, maybe you should be adapting something else. The show ends up telling us that society is advancing towards something better, but showing us a different perspective entirely. And it feels wrong. And tacked on. And augh, I've been feeling some serious antipathy towards the musical lately, what with all the whining and OOCness and blatant contradiction of Hugo's actual message. *twitch*
So yes. This has been your random meta of the day. Carry on.
The ending of the musical version of LM feels so tacked on. It's like they looked at the second act and went "Shit, this turned out wrist-slittingly angsty despite the fact that the book is actually bizarrely uplifting. Oh well, let's toss in something about living again in freedom in the garden of the Lord, that'll make everyone feel better." And really, that last bit is one of the few parts of Act II that sounds like Les Misérables to me--in message, not in events, they got the events right enough and completely screwed up what they're supposed to mean.
I mean, look at the biggest "that didn't happen!"/"how out-of-character!" moments. Bring Him Home, Turning, Empty Chairs, all this fucking existential angst about how people are dying meaninglessly. This is Hugo, ferchrissakes, nobody dies meaninglessly, and when people start kicking the bucket en masse the view is always towards the future, not looking back and going "boo-hoo, they're all dead." And yet the musical has whining and regrets in spades, with only one measly "let others rise!" to indicate there might be something brighter on the horizon. Then along comes the ending with its "But it's all gonna be okay, because Mister Hugo says that even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise!" bullshit, paying lip service to the theme of the novel after just contradicting it and beating it into the dust for the past hour and a half. It's like, okay, if you don't want to endorse the Romantic school's painfully optimistic views of progress, maybe you should be adapting something else. The show ends up telling us that society is advancing towards something better, but showing us a different perspective entirely. And it feels wrong. And tacked on. And augh, I've been feeling some serious antipathy towards the musical lately, what with all the whining and OOCness and blatant contradiction of Hugo's actual message. *twitch*
So yes. This has been your random meta of the day. Carry on.
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(The only thing that's pissing me off is the upcoming cast change. XD)
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By the way, Zoe heard about the Hebrew language cast recording and finds it all kinds of amusing. Meta meta meta. Valjean stole some matzah.
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