#the fact mendel sings loving our life

[www-pinkhearse]

Making a home fucking sucks I’m sososos sad DONT listen to flasettos:(

[morphean42]

Rewatching Falsettos I was suddenly struck by an epiphany that I’m sure someone else has had at some point, but I needed to write out. This ending scene from “March of the Falsettos” jumped out at me from the first watching, but even though I recognised the nod to the “See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil (and lesser known do no evil)”, I didn’t know what it meant. Today, I tried to piece it together, and I think I’ve gotten it. These poses represent core attributes of the characters, as well as Trina’s view of them, so click the read more to hear the ravings of a mad man wayyyyyy too obsessed with this show

The idea of ‘evil’ to me is very loose. It can represent a lot of things for these characters; their actions towards each other, their character flaws, etc. But, for this analysis, one can replace ‘evil’ with ‘truth’. Each of the characters refuses to see, speak, hear, or ‘do’ the truth (please excuse the lack of grammar for that last one), and that is where the ‘evil’ stems from. Taking into account this is mostly based on Trina’s view of the men, I think ‘truth’ fits in well.

Let’s start with the one who fits in least— Jason. “March of the Falsettos” is a physical manifestation of how Trina views the men in her life (as childish and immature), but some slack is given to her son. He doesn’t sing his lines in falsetto, because we acknowledge he is in fact a child, and has more of an excuse to act as such. So, take his analysis with a grain of salt. The boy has every right to be a little selfish— he’s 10.

So, Jason has his hands over his eyes, representing ‘See No Evil’. This is a direct nod to his character flaw; his view of the world with him at the center. Although his parents are less than good to him, he still sees them through unfair lenses— ‘My mother’s no wife/My father’s no man’. He sings ‘everybody’s yelling and everybody’s ruining it’ in “Everyone Hates His Parents” because he is unhappy with how his Bar Mitzvah is turning out and wants to simply cancel it. He doesn’t have a concept of doing things for other people (again, he’s a child, I’m not blaming him per se), so he is blind to the will of others and refuses to see their side. In addition to this, even when Mendel tells him Whizzer will most likely die, Jason pleads with G-d to save him. He still views himself as the center of his world, thus Mendel’s line ‘Life’s not all about him’.

In addition to this, his ‘See No Evil’ means something when thought about from Trina’s perspective. She thinks her son is blind to the truth of the world, this son who stays inside playing chess alone, this son who ‘seems like an idiot to [Trina]’. She worries Jason will turn out like these other men in her world, blind to everyone but himself.

Now we come to Mendel, who has his hand over his mouth in ‘Speak No Evil’. Mendel’s flaw throughout the show is his refusal to accept the truth of any situation. He tells Jason to ‘feel alright for the rest of your life’ instead of actually trying to help, he is ‘frightened of questions’, he repeats over and over ‘I’ll make you well’ to Whizzer in the hospital. He will never say anything negative, nor will he allow others to do so. Even in the end of the show, he tells Jason they don’t know ‘when or if’ Whizzer will get better— he is still not accepting that it’s a definite thing. He believes that if he and those around him just don’t speak about the real problems, they’ll go away.

Trina’s view on Mendel is complicated here. In the next song she agrees to marry him, of course, and we know she at least likes him (the most of all three adults she knows). She says that Mendel ‘decides the role to assume’. She looks down on the fact that he can’t speak the truth to her, that he’s expecting this happy wife, this perfect new family. He wants her to play along with him and make their home together, even if she sings ‘liking our lives’ instead of loving. Even if he’s better than Marvin ever was, there’s still an element of control here. Mendel wants this family, and he wants them to all pretend nothing is ever wrong again.

Marvin, our titular character, is in the ‘Hear No Evil’ position. This one is fairly straight forward— he wants control and will never listen to the needs of those around him. He can’t hear what they actually need, he simply does what he wants. He also struggles with his masculinity throughout Act 1, his outward misogyny and need for the nuclear family (his treatment of Trina and Whizzer), so he imagines himself at the top of his family system. He will never take any other opinions, or counsel, in his decisions, seeing that as weakness. He’s similar to Jason in this regard, as he only hears what he wants to (like Jason only sees what he wants). He ignores the pain around him to pursue his own desires, he covers his ears and moves on.

Trina, of course, despises Marvin at this point in the show. Her subconscious showing Marvin in ‘Hear No Evil’ can tell us a lot about their relationship, how she was never seen as equal in decisions. Marvin always put her to the side, not listening to her needs, acting without thinking of her.

Whizzer is complicated. I’ve seen people laugh at his pose before, saying we’ve got ‘See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, and Gay’, but I think he represents the ‘Do No Evil’. This final character is not often seen with the other three, and can be depicted with arms over the chest or covering the genitals. It wouldn’t make sense to have Whizzer be the outlier (especially because the fourth depiction of evil does exist), so I’m assuming he is supposed to be ‘Do No Evil’.

This fits in well with Whizzer’s flaws throughout the show. He doesn’t accept responsibility for his relationship with Marvin; seen in the lines ‘I’m not responsible’ during “Late For Dinner” or ‘I will not accept blame’ in “Games I Play”. He sleeps around, despite Marvin wanting monogamy, and clearly did not have an issue hooking up with a married man. Whizzer fundamentally doesn’t think his actions have consequences, he believes he has done nothing wrong (he has done no evil). Whizzer also has a hard time admitting to his love for Marvin. He says it ‘depends on the day’, he flat out says ‘no’ when asked if he loves him. He doesn’t want to show his love for fear of being too vulnerable, so he hides and doesn’t do anything about it.

To take this even further, him being ‘Do No Evil’ can represent his later question of ‘why me of all men’ when he is dying. He hasn’t done anything to deserve his death, and ‘all men get what they deserve’, right?

Moving on to how Trina sees Whizzer. He’s come into her life and ruined her marriage, though she ‘wants to hate him’ she can’t. She views him as the cause of her recent hardships, his actions being to blame. He is ‘Do No Evil’ to her because he has done evil in taking Marvin away (though it is obvious Trina is better off because of it). He has upset the careful balance of her world by breaking down the lies of her marriage and exposing the truth— Marvin never loved her, could never love her. She puts him in ‘Do No Evil’ because what he has done is what the rest of the men won’t— see, hear, speak the truth even at the detriment of her family.

Another way to view this is, of course, the fact that ‘Do No Evil’ is rarely seen with the others. Trina is separating Whizzer from the other men, not putting him in the same category as the rest of the ‘family’. He views himself as an outsider as well, yes he’s part of the group, but only as a technicality. Only as Marvin’s lover. Once he leaves Marvin, he is easily taken out of the equation and the remaining three do not feel the loss.

My conclusion is such: Each of the poses our men do represents the character flaw they must overcome throughout the show, as well as how Trina views them in her mind. I really hope this made any sort of sense, and if someone has already said all of this well… I guess it can’t hurt to be thorough.

I’m way too tired to read through this again so if there are spelling mistakes please print out this post, correct it in red pen, and send it to me by carrier pigeon.

[tjsgreenteamints]

so fun fact for my public speaking class this year I had to give a speech on something I'm passionate about and why it's important to my entire class so I did mine on falsettos (slideshow attached)

"When most people think of a musical, they think of big jazz hands and kicklines and cheesy plots. What they are unaware of is how a musical can be much more than that. While big dance numbers are entertaining, music can be used to convey deep emotions and stories that just can’t be translated through regular words. Because of this, Falsettos is one of the most important musicals of our decade. It touched on topics most people in its time wouldn’t even talk about, let alone make a musical on. William Finn and James Lapine, its writers, were able to remind us that families can be much more complicated and deep than a husband, wife, and 2.5 kids. A lot of people don’t live inside that norm, yet it’s the primary one that is represented. Then you get a show like this, which explores conceited parents, difficult love stories, coming to terms with things that are hard, and coming of age. All of these are relatable topics. In this speech, we’ll get into the history, the characters, and the representation in Falsettos. “Love can tell a million stories.” This is the main idea of the show. Because there really are countless different ways a family can be. The show has some trigger warnings: AIDS, death, abuse, somewhat sexual scenes, and cursing. Also, spoilers ahead!

First, we’ll get into the history. The creation of Falsettos is rather unique compared to other musicals. It was originally a trilogy of three one-act, off-broadway musicals, all created by William Finn. All the shows take place in New York City, in the late 70s to early 80s. They center around Marvin, and him exploring his sexual identity. This is mostly what In Trousers (1978) focuses on, and how the women in his life helped him accept that. It was critically acclaimed as a flop, largely based on the topic it portrayed in its era. In the second installment, March of the Falsettos (1981), Marvin’s partner Whizzer gets more involved, and this act focuses on how their relationship affects Marvin’s ex-wife Trina and child Jason. Finally, in Falsettoland (1990), the dynamics of the family are shown much more, especially with Trina and Marvin planning Jason’s bar mitzvah. In 1992, the last two one-acts were combined into one full length show, simply titled Falsettos. (This was nominated for seven Tony awards that year!) The show had a broadway revival in 2016, which spread its popularity (and also what I’ll be referencing here). Also, the history behind the name of the musical is fascinating as well; According to a 2019 interview with SFist, Finn says he was “inspired by the idea of the falsetto — a man singing in his head voice outside his range — as a metaphor for people who exist ‘outside the normal range.’”

Next, the characters. Almost every character is a primary one, but the main character is arguably Marvin. He’s a possessive and insensitive man. He left his wife and child after realizing he wants to be with a man named Whizzer. He’s not exactly a good father and wasn’t a loving husband, but over the course of the play, his character development is prevalent and interesting to watch. Second, Whizzer is Marvin’s live-in boyfriend. According to Marvin, Whizzer is “delightful, stylish, and romantic,” but also “spiteful, sorta-kinda mean, and evil.” Marvin and Whizzer’s relationship is pretty toxic, but improves. Alternatively, there’s also Trina, Marvin’s ex-wife. She’s often described as insecure. A lot of her conflict is her coming to terms with Marvin and Whizzer’s relationship. Trina and Marvin’s son, Jason, is 10 years old, and thinks he is “too smart for his own good, and too good for his sorry little life.” Friendless, he plays chess all day, and has anger management problems. Finally, there is Mendel, the family psychiatrist. He was Marvin’s long-term therapist, but after Marvin insists Trina sees him too, Mendel immediately falls in love with her. Mendel honestly is kind of manipulative, but also a fun character to watch onstage. There’s also Charlotte and Cordelia, the “lesbians from next door.” They’re close family friends, and godparents to Jason. A large part of it is showing how real people behave, including the good and the ugly.

Now into how they’re all important as representation. The main theme is the various family dynamics and relationships- most of us can see aspects of our own families within the characters and plot. For example, in my own family my parents divorced then found new partners or remarried later and I have good friendships with them. First, there are three different types of gendered relationships as shown: a straight relationship, a gay relationship, and a lesbian relationship. Oftentimes in the media, the only kinds of relationships that are shown are straight ones. And for them to all be parents in some sort of way to Jason is even more important- it’s showing queer parents can be good ones too, which is a misconception many people hold (this is, that lgbtq+ parents are inadequate). Second, Falsettos touches on the AIDS crisis, which Whizzer contracts and later dies from. During the ‘80s it was a very big problem but now next to no one talks about it. How it’s portrayed in the show represents how it affected real families and people. Third, Jewish households. This year we all were able to read Night, which showed what Jewish people went through during the holocaust, but not what regular cultural home life is like. One of the main plot points is about Jason’s bar mitzvah, and how he’s not sure if he wants one or not. Jewish expectations and customs are brought up throughout the whole show.

To conclude, Falsettos is a fantastic installment to musical theater. It has original history, complex characters, and overall is an amazing testament to different types of American families. Not only that, its music and book are award winning, according to Broadwayworld.com. And this speech is really only the tip of the iceberg–there’s much, much more to it. Falsettos is definitely the musical you’ve been looking for!"

[ofpd]

for the ask game hadestown cuz it's the first musical I thought of

ok well i haven't actually listened to hadestown but this is my blog and i do what i want & ik you like falsettos also so im gonna do falsettos instead . ok falsettos has a Lot of songs so im gonna try not to put too much thought into any of these & im combining songs that are combined in the cast recording

four jews in a room bitching: i'm neurotic / he's neurotic / they're neurotic / we're neurotic

a tight-knit family/love is blind: love is very often debris / when you find / what you find / then never never never never never do it over again (see: what more can i say)

the thrill of first love: we ask for passion at all times / we stand to passion and drink this toast / still it's awful trying / and we're not denying / that of all the lesser passions / we like fighting most

marvin at the psychiatrist: does she sleep in the nude / no

my father's a homo/everyone tells jason to see a psychiatrist: i think you like playing chess alone / that's not normal / what is normal / i wouldn't know

this had better come to a stop: chop chop chop chop chop i chopped it / i served his food the asshole forced me / and still the bastard divorced me

i'm breaking down: i wanna hate him but i really can't / it's like a nightmare how this all proceeds / i hope that whizzer don't fulfill his needs

please come to our house/jason's therapy: so you feel alright for about 10 minutes / feel alright for 20 minutes / feel alright for 40 minutes / drop it and smile / why don't you feel alright for the rest of your life

a marriage proposal/a tight-knit family (reprise): oftentimes lovers are crazy people / sometimes they kill each other / just like a biblical brother / did to his biblical brother / back in biblical times / biblical times? / biblical times / oh those biblical times

trina's song/march of the falsettos/trina's song (reprise): they fight too hard / and play too rough / they sometimes love / but not enough

the chess game: life's a sham and every move is wrong / we've examined every move as we move along

making a home: loving our / liking our / hating our lives / making a home

the games i play: play again the music / it's a song that i've been waiting to hear for much too long / years, years too long

marvin hits trina: mendel plans to rub my back / mendel's not a maniac / and he's sweet / and he's warm / and he loves me so

i never wanted to love you: i never wanted to love you / i only wanted to see my face in yours / jason's wild / save that child / how he adores / and hates me

father to son: a man, kid / you'll be, kid / if nothing goes wrong / sing for us all / as you march along

falsettoland/it's about time: one day i'd like to be / as mature as my son / who is 12 and a half / and this tall / that's all i'd like to be / that's all (honorable mention to: shiksa caterers / short insomniacs / hypochondriacs / yiddish-americans / feisty families / radiologists / intellectuals / nervous wrecks)

year of the child: there'll be food / like food never before (this line has always been SO hilarious to me for some reason)

miracle of judaism: would they come, though / if they were invited / and not / laugh at my hebrew / and not / laugh at my father and his friends

the baseball game: just what i wanted at a little league game / my ex husband's ex lover / isn't that what every mother dreams about / having at a little league game / looking at whizzer is like eating treyf

a day in falsettoland: in the 60's everyone had heart / in the 60's we were all a part of the same team / in the 60's we had a new world to start / could this / oh god don't say this / could this be / the new world we started

everyone hates his parents: everyone hates his parents / that's in the torah / it's what history shows / in fact, god said to moses / moses, everyone hates his parents / that's how it is / and god knew / because god hated his

what more can i say: can you tell / i have been revived / it's so swell / damn it / even i'm surprised

something bad is happening/more racquetball: my spirits sag / when i read the magazines / men dressed in drag / next to their moms / passion and fashion and filler / but not a word about the killer / i like the ballgowns but jesus christ

holding to the ground: i hold to the ground as the ground keeps shifting / keeping my balance square / trying not to care about this man whom marvin loves / but that's my life / he shared my life / yes that's my life

days like this: i think you need to play some chess / jason, sit down and begin / i'll let you win, whizzer / don't let me win / i'll let you win

canceling the bar mitzvah: why don't we tell him / that we don't have the answers / and that life can be grim / life's not all about him / and things rarely go according to plan / tell him things happen / for no damn good reason / and his lack of control kills what's best in his soul / and this is the start to his becoming a man

unlikely lovers: i can't help but feeling / i've failed / let's be scared together / let's pretend that nothing is awful / there's nothing to fear / just stay right here / i love you

another miracle of judaism: i don't know if you exist / i can't hear your fingers snapping / are you just a big psychiatrist / or can you make things not happen

something bad is happening (reprise): something that kills / something infectious (this was my attempt to not just do the entirety of this very short song lol)

you gotta die sometime: death's a funny pal with a weird sort of talent / he takes me in his arms and walks me to the bed / he pins me against the wall and kisses me like crazy / the many stupid things i thought about with dread / now delight / then the scene turns to white

jason's bar mitzvah: son of abraham, isaac, and jacob / son of marvin / son of trina / son of whizzer / son of mendel / and godchild to the lesbians from next door / sing, oh sing, oh sing

what would i do: do you regret / i'd do it again / i'd like to believe that i'd do it again and again and again (see: love is blind)

falsettoland (reprise): this is where we take a stand / welcome to falsettoland

send me an album & I'll pick my favorite lyrics from every song

[sasha-whos-askin-racket]

WEST END FALSETTOS WAS SO GOOD.

Don’t ask me which kid it was playing Jason. I think his name was Albert (Yeah it’s Albert Atack). He was amazing. Anyway here’s like cool details and things I liked and stuff.

- The floor pattern was a chessboard.

- The decision to not have Jason come on stage until the line “we got our miracle” was interesting.

- The decision to keep Whizzer on stage constantly after Days Like These and have him die onstage in the opening instrumental of Falsettoland Reprise was infinitely more heartbreaking.

- I want to marry the blocking from What More Can I Say. Soft sleepy Whizzer in his little armchair with his reading glasses and his book and Marvin also being soft over him is my life.

- OLIVER IS SUCH A GOOD WHIZZER.

- The fact that he collapsed backwards during More Racquetball? Andrew Rannels could never.

- Whoever made the decision to have Oliver be shirtless for the start of This Had Better Come To A Stop? A god.

- The fact that it wasn’t Marvin as a “homosexual father with children” but rather Whizzer as a “homosexual” and Marvin as a “father with children.”

- Jason’s “so do I” in Making A Home was because the dog had chewed through the corner of his chessboard.

- Marvin Hits Trina was intense because Jason starts crying and throws himself at Trina and Mendel drags Marvin away and Whizzer turns his head like he can’t bear to watch it.

- Before today, I had never cried at You Gotta Die Sometime, so THANKS OLIVER.

- Mendels cartwheel in Everyone Hates His Parents was flawless.

- They changed “wiry psychiatrist” to “weary psychiatrist”.

- There was different verse to I’m Breaking Down that I didn’t recognise.

- They took the “tell him things happen for no damn good reason, and his lack of control” verse out of Cancelling The Bar Mitzvah.

- They gave Whizzers line of “psychiatrist returning” to Mendel, which is fairs I guess.

- Marvin only moving across the stage one square at a time during The Chess Game while Whizzer just sort of stood whereever he wanted. Sometimes with each foot on a seperate square, sometimes both feet on the join between one.

- Whizzer watching Marvin move around the stage in pawn formation and then looking at the floor and going “Oh, it’s a chessboard, that’s very funny”

- Whizzer grabbing Marvin by the shoulders and pushing him back onto a square like a chess piece when he started to relax and stand more like how Whizzer was.

- March of the Falsettos was played out like Trina’s dream sequence. It was actually really amazing.

- The fact the kid playing Jason went from being furious in the line “hell, lets have a party. Just like nothing happened” to full on sobbing in the line “why don’t you make this dumb decision yourselves.”

- The height difference between Whizzer and Marvin was like a full head and then some. Fucking perfect.

- Marvin is played by a gay man - not sure about the guy playing Whizzer.

- The comedic timing of “Would he kill you?” “...Yes.” was spot on.

- “Sometimes smarmy?” The light shines on Whizzer who is stood on a raised platform in a photoframe. He leans forward and goes “um, excuse me?” and then carries on with the song.

- Marvin looking up at Whizzer during “He loves another.” “I agree.”

- Whizzer putting on a baseball cap and miming pitching in the line “the pitchers handsome.”

- They put up like projections of old Greek-ish paintings and statues and stuff during the line “explore museums” and Marvin basically is supposed to miss his line because he’s too busy staring at them all.

- During Whizzer and Jason’s conversation about Jason going to see a psychiatrist, it’s Trina that kicks Whizzer to get him to agree.

- “Don’t start to cry.” “I’m not.” *Mendel bursts into tears.*

- Mendel, frantically pointing at Marvin “forget that giant man!”

- “Whizzer has unlimited knowledge of-“ *marvin crosses to the wardrobe and tugs on the sleeve of Whizzers shirts that are hanging up* “-dreck.”

- Okay Marvin yanking Whizzers shirts off the hangers and shoving them into the bag before just throwing the bag at him was heartbreaking.

- The lesbians got SUCH a big cheer! It was great.

- In More Racquetball, Whizzer didn’t even make an effort to play, he just kind of lunged forwards on the spot and then stopped.

- His line was “Marvin, I’m ready to go” and it sounded so much like a plea.

- After he collapsed he curled into Marvin and was crying into his shoulder and trying to apologise and like holy fuck dude.

- The first time I heard people crying in the audience was during Another Miracle of Judaism.

- By the time it got to What Would I Do, you actually couldn’t hear the actors singing in places because there was so many people in the audience sobbing. Like not just crying, actual sobbing.

[crazyw3irdo]

ok i was typing about this in the tags of a reblog but deleted it because this deserves its own post

i love falsettos, it’s my favorite musical, and i’m going to quickly gush about one of my favorite underrated parts. it’s not like a moment or a character or even a full song, but tbh “making a home” is amazing and i need it to be recognized as such

note: under the cut is 1,391 words so be sure you want to read this before you tuck into my obsession

for the record, “making a home” isn’t my favorite song or anything, it’s probably #6, but my top five songs (you gotta die sometime, the games i play, i never wanted to love you, the thrill of first love) are all pretty popular so i don’t feel the need to rant about how amazing they are (though i gladly will. this goes for most any musical song ever)

ok, long introduction out of the way, let me start rambling about what i came to ramble about

the beginning of the song is quietly sad, the kind of sadness you see in someones eyes while then smile and say that they’re okay. everyone is singing relatively happy lyrics, but the melody is sad. mendel and trina are singing about their home, trying to make it seem as if they are content with their life, but if you listen, you can tell what they’re really doing. trina and mendel are seeking validation from others, something they often do throughout the musical. i think that’s why the two are quick to gravitate towards each other. they both crave validation and so when they give it to the other, they are drawn to each other.

here it’s obvious that they want people to see their home; it’s well put together with everything homes are “supposed” to have and items they don’t need but make them look better. if their home is put together, then, surely, their lives are. they want someone to come into their life and point out the aspects they point out in the lyrics.

jason finally comes in for one line, “so do i.” jason doesn’t truly click with any of his parental figures besides whizzer, (besides the short periods of time with marvin and mendel. he says he loves trina but we never really see the two connecting and i think that this may just be him acting out against marvin in the beginning, but that’s an analysis for another rant) and this time is no different. he is silent for the majority of this song, saying only this line and one near the end. he doesn’t relate to his mother and step-father’s craving for validation, at least in the sense of wanting to be seen as “normal,” and seems to be afraid to speak this out.

most of the time, when he is expressing negative emotions, he’s speaking to himself/the audience. the only real moments he expresses them to other characters are when he explodes from not speaking about them for so long (same), and here he only sings his lines (both of which are negative) when others agree with him. 

then whizzer comes in. the song before this is “the chess game” and the one after is “the games i play” so he’s... not in the best emotional state. he’s just broken up with marvin after 9-10 months (or longer- falsettos doesn’t exactly have the best track of time besides the two year time skip between act one and two. also i just realized that all of act two happens in less than a year and now i’m even more depressed-) and he’s just at a low point. he doesn’t cover up his feelings through a smile, he doesn’t have anyone to pretend to be happy for, he’s by himself and he has no reason to be or to pretend to be happy.

he first comes in repeating trina and mendel’s lines while changing a few words, dropping that pretense the others put up. “we receive / we deceive” he does at some points sing along with the family, but i love the fact that he doesn’t always. he repeats after them, especially near the beginning, when no one else does in this song. he isn’t part of the group, he’s by himself and doesn’t truly harmonize all the time with the family. (we were robbed of a whizzer/trina friendship y’all) he isn’t part at first, in fact he is just slightly off from joining, but he finds his way in, just like he does through the course of the musical. also, by repeating, he’s filling in the parts of the song that previously had no lyrics and were just left empty. he’s completing the group and not leaving any silence.

then comes “should he / should she / could he love me” oh BOY is this good. here we see mendel and trina as they are: craving validation, unsure of themselves and needing that extra bit of reassurance that the other likes them because neither of them think that they deserve it. these two are so anxious as to what others think of them, they don’t ask why the other loves them, they ask should they love them. mendel seems to have never had a very serious relationship before due to his lines in “marvin at the psychiatrist” and trina had to deal with the fiasco that was being married to marvin, so neither of them truly know if they are deserving of affection and think they are doing something they’re not supposed to do.

on the other hand, whizzer is asking “could he love me”. marvin is not a good person, especially during act one, and his attitude towards whizzer so far has been very much not loving. i can see this question having two meanings depending on what word we focus on, though i like to believe it means both. if we focus on “could,” the question means is marvin capable of loving whizzer, or even loving at all. marvin has been manipulative and petty, always chasing what he wants regardless of others’ emotions, and he’s never been loving. not to trina, not to jason, not to whizzer.

if we focus instead on the word “me,” the question changes to imply marvin can love, just not whizzer. in this case, whizzer thinks it’s not even possible for marvin to love him, that even trying to make a relationship with marvin is impossible because there’s no way for the two to have chemistry. it also carries the implication that whizzer doesn’t like himself or sees marvin’s incapability of loving him to be his fault, something so wrong with him that it means he can’t be loved.

then we get one of the best harmonies in the musical during “loving our / liking our / hating our lives” and if that isn’t one of the best lines in musical theatre i don’t know what is. i could listen just to that harmony over and over again and be content, it is so good.

mendel is singing “loving;” he’s gotten everything he’s ever wanted: as he sings in “tight knit family (reprise),” “i’ve got a nice tight family, son with a brain and nice bright mother ... i just got a family ... i’ve got it all.” trina is singing “liking;” like mendel, she is happy with her situation, but she has had this security snatched away from her in the past with marvin. she likes her life, it’s just that she can’t find it in herself to be confident enough to love it.

then there’s whizzer and jason, singing “hating.” we’ve already covered that whizzer is at a low point, the lowest point so far (if it weren’t for what happens to him in act two i could say this was his lowest point overall, but i don’t think anything can beat the impending dread of death), but now we’ve added jason. jason just had whizzer, the only parental figure he actually seems to like, taken away and now he has someone taking a similar role all too soon. his mother and step-father are acting like everything is fine and that their lives are happy and stable, ignoring every negative aspect, but we know that jason hates this. later on during “canceling the bar mitzvah” he gets angry when mendel and trina suggest having the bar mitzvah while whizzer is in the hospital “hell, let’s have a party! just like nothing happened!”

the song ends with the earlier whizzer echoing i mentioned earlier that shows him being similar to/part of the family despite the fact he is separated and not fully part of them.

basically, this song is amazing and just perfectly conveys the emotions these characters are having and should be more appreciated than it is now.