• she/they/don't really care || dead poets society || 86% dead •
i made a discord server for dead poets just send me a dm or something if you want the link
TO INDEED BE A GOD
we see it a few times. the most noteable is when he tells Mr Keating that his father was gonna let him do the play, but another time that I think is important is when his father spawns in his room and Neil lies immediately
it’s kind of heartbreaking, really. his dad shows up, and Neil’s immediate reaction is to lie. he withheld the truth from his father and got caught, so the only way he could explain himself was to try and tell a lie. it’s literally the first thing he does. he says “I was gonna surprise you” even though he knew damn well he was hoping his father wouldn’t figure out he was doing the play. Neil is good at lying on his feet. he does it right here: now maybe he had that excuse planned out for in case Mr Perry did find out, but he obviously wasn’t expecting it, you can see it in his face when he first walks into the room and Mr Perry is there. so either he had a lie planned—which is a whole other thing that nobody should have to do, especially with their parents—or he was able to come up with a relatively believable lie on the spot. in my opinion it’s the latter, bc I feel like he grew up in a household where that skill is necessary in order to stay out of serious trouble.
in the scene where Neil is talking to Mr Keating, he lies and says that his father is letting him do the play. now he knows that if he says that his father is super excited then Mr Keating won’t believe him. so instead he backs it up with believable evidence, facts that are twisted to support what he is saying. at some point in his life, Mr Perry DID tell Neil to keep up his grades. Mr Perry is NOT happy with the fact that Neil is in the play. these are all facts that Neil says to make the lie—that Mr Perry is letting him do the play—more believable. this kinda shit comes from experience believe me. he has been having to lie his entire life for various reasons, whether it’s coming up with excuses for why he was out later than he should’ve been or why he didn’t do well on a test or why a vase is broken in the living room or anything in between, so that he doesn’t experience SEVERE consequences. he’s had to lie to his parents for so long that it’s practically a second nature, and nobody should have to deal with that.
can we just talk about how Neil is a good actor? Like he has never been in a play once in his life and he got the lead first try. Hm. I wonder why. Oh wait he’s actually been acting his whole life and ik Mr K kinda talks about that but like I feel like everyone is just like “oh yeah Neil’s just a naturally good actor” at least I think that’s what everyone is thinking and in reality he’s been acting his entire life. Acting like he’s fine. Acting like he doesn’t care about one thing or like he does care about another and it’s just a little heartbreaking tbh