the-closet-musician

[the-closet-musician]

To exist

[the-closet-musician]

so I got into grad school today with my shitty 2.8 gpa and the moral of the story is reblog those good luck posts for the love of god

[the-closet-musician]

Um both sides of this argument are a little yikes 😳😕

Who is “The Prom” for? - Rant

TW: homophobic slurs, misogyny, sexual assault, 

I was lucky enough to see The Prom (my first on Broadway show) for free through an LGBTQ+ non-profit I work for. I am grateful for that, especially because it was two weeks before closing.

I wanted to love The Prom but I found it so problematic. For reference, I am a queer and trans person of color who uses they/them pronouns. I love queer humor.  Scratch that, *good* queer humor. That means no lazy lamp-shading or cheap SJW jokes.

The music is okay. I especially like “It’s Not About Me” because that sentiment is so prevalent in the work I do and the way it’s framed is hilariously accurate. (However, “Just Breathe” is suspiciously similar in some parts to “Breathe” from In The Heights.) The dancing was awesome; I loved the Godspell scenes! And as a Backstage Manager, the set moved BEAUTIFULLY. But I often found myself cringing rather than laughing. Almost all of the jokes were rooted in stereotypes that are just so overdone.

The Characters

All of the adult characters are written to be way over the top as if compensating for a complete lack of compelling storyline or maybe mildly entertaining satire on society… Look, that was a read but I really didn’t set out to hate on this show. I wanted to see a story about being an LGBTQ+ teen in Ohio but instead I got tips from Broadway stars on how to… be true to yourself? The adult characters start as awful people. Really, what is the message of the show?

When you put a character like Barry (an effeminate gay man) in a piece of media I support it as long as he is owning his truth. That is, as long as embodying this over-the-top effeminate existence is the natural essence of the character and not a result of poor writing or stereotype fufillment. When half of the “funny moments” are at Barry’s expense it gets old really quickly. Yes, we get that he runs around with limp wrists but that’s only funny if we are laughing with him and it’s not funny in every scene.

Slurs = Comedy?

I also had a very visceral reaction hearing the audience laugh after Barry says, “Now, let’s go help that dyke.” There’s violence and history behind that word. If we’re following canon that’s probably a word that’s been used abusively towards Emma. What is the point of that other than a writer who wanted to use that word somewhere in the show? Is that a way of marking how much Barry has changed by the end? It just reminds me of the fear I have when being around white gay men.

Also, remember that time Barry yelled that the other girls were whores and sluts in an effort to make Emma feel better? Yeah that really wasn’t funny. Like at all. After that moment I knew this show had to have been written pre-dominantly by men. 

Groping = Comedy?

There was also that scene where Dee Dee tries to seduce Principle Hawkins and ends up groping him while he protests which set off all sorts of alarm bells for me. And hey, I love that Dee Dee as an older woman is portrayed as a sexual person, more power to the character. But people fucking laughed. I was afraid for him as a black man being propositioned by a more powerful white woman. You can say I’m reading into this but I don’t care because I witnessed people laugh at a sexualized scene where someone was clearly uncomfortable.

In fact, outside of Hawkins I only saw background characters of color unless I’m missing something. Not only that but in the show I often only saw characters of color when they were serving the white characters. When they weren’t, all the kids of color stuck together in big groups. And hey, you might not care about that but I do. Those are two moments that stuck out to me and mind you, they didn’t even involve the apparent main characters. 

In Conclusion…

I saw this show awhile ago and maybe I’m reading too far into it but I had to ask people why they like it. I walked in knowing nothing other than the bare bones plot and I walked out knowing that the show was written by a gay white man kinda for white straight people. And after researching a bit, I think I was right? It’s so disappointing because I still can’t find any clever messaging or jokes. Like, this may have been groundbreaking ten years ago but you’d think by now we could get someone other than cis white gay men to write queer content. In my book, there’s no sense of cultural awareness and you kinda need that in 2019.

Cis-LGBQ+ folx, did you like it? Trans/enby/intersex/Two-Spirit, and GNC folx, did you gain anything from it? I’ll leave asks open.

[the-closet-musician]

Hadestown is a show where people make mistakes, face the consequences for them, and it's allowed to happen without sugarcoating.

Every major character, Hermes aside, makes a crucial wrong decision that leads them on the road to hell:

Eurydice makes a choice based on her gut that condemns her to Hadestown.

Orpheus makes a choice driven by fear.

Hades makes a choice initiated by insecurity.

Persephone makes a choice out a desire to run away from a problem.

And ultimately, we see each other in all of those choices.

We have all acted out of self-preservation and a desire for comfort and security.

We have all been haunted by nagging thoughts that cause us to fail at the very last minute.

We have all sought to control to compensate for feelings of inadequacy.

We have all sought to seek temporary pleasure in vices and neglected those we love to focus on ourselves.

And it doesn't always end happily, that's a fact. It's why the story sticks. It's why we sing it again and again. Because we too are in that cycle.

But there's hope that things can be better. With every cycle comes the chance to make a different choice. There's an opportunity to let go of a chain. And that's the beauty of the way it ends.

[the-closet-musician]

An example of someone acknowledging their white privilege and using it to help. #Love it!

[the-closet-musician]

I have been quoting this tiktok for the past two weeks.

[the-closet-musician]

Fuckajajshebwhaudbsbab

[the-closet-musician]

André De Shields 3 Rules of Longevity

[the-closet-musician]

Let the world we dream about be the one we live in now!

CONGRATULATIONS to HADESTOWN: THE MYTH. THE MUSICAL for winning EIGHT TONY AWARDS in the TONY AWARDS 2019!

[the-closet-musician]

👀

[the-closet-musician]

It’s quite interesting how James Charles been a shitty person since the beginning and WOC been telling you forever, and even gay men don’t fuck with him. And yet it takes a white woman saying he preys on STRAIGHT MEN for him to be like, actually “cancelled” lmao

[the-closet-musician]

Fun facts about your sign here

[the-closet-musician]

good content

[the-closet-musician]

Light is life! | benjhicks

[the-closet-musician]

yall remember taking “am i gay” quizzes when you were 11

[the-closet-musician]

I LOVE OVERSIZED HOODIES!!!

[the-closet-musician]

Lizzo is an artist dedicated to self-positivity. She sounds fucking fantastic. She’s a delightful rapper. She is committed to the MELODRAMA. She plays the goddamn flute. We have no choice but to stan.