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Sun, Nov. 14th, 2004 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterGot Into the Woods from Netflix. Am very confused now. I've never listened to the score before, so it was a little hard at times figuring out what everyone was singing.
Spoilers
There's this very dizzying switch in tones that happens during the musical, from the frothy, funny, but mostly forgettable first half, to the rather disjointed but more interesting second half. The first half is mostly a telling of the stories of Cinderella, Jack of beanstalk fame, and the Baker and his wife, who want children, and how they gallivant around trying to lift a curse. Rapunzel, the witch, and Little Red Riding Hood all make their own appearances. And while much fun is poked at the fairy tales, ultimately everything is tied together in a nice big knot for the finale to Act 1 (which I thought was the finale, period, and was rather glad to find out that there was another act coming). I did like the parallel of Red Riding Hood and Jack's songs, about having found something rather scary and exciting and eye-opening at the same time. I sort of wish that had been followed through.
The second act just really confuses me. There's the sudden serious turn, which was rather welcome after the slight fluffiness of the beginning. But suddenly we have several random deaths thrown in, some of which are taken seriously and some of which are not. And then there's the entire talk about killing the Giantess rampaging through the kingdom, and there is a more nuanced discussion of whether or not the Giantess should in fact be killed or not. The witch also reminds Red Riding Hood that the wolf killed earlier had a mother too. And then they go off singing that no one is alone, that everyone's actions affects everyone else, and then they go off and whack the giantess anyhow.
It didn't quite seem fair to me. I mean, one can see the argument for killing off the wolf, given the eating of various people and malicious intent in general. But the giantess is right -- Jack went off and invaded her house and stole her things and then went off and killed her husband. So they go kill the giantess because she is rampaging and stepping on people left and right. But then, the Baker argues against killing the Steward for killing Jack's mother, and everyone in general seems to think that giving Jack to the giantess to be killed is wrong, despite prior damages. The general consesus seems to be that offing people for prior mistakes is not a good thing to do. But right after that consensus, they go and blind the Giantess and kill her without a second thought. Does the Giantess not apply for some reason?
Maybe I just need to sit down a think a bit more about it. But it felt really rather off to me.
Spoilers
There's this very dizzying switch in tones that happens during the musical, from the frothy, funny, but mostly forgettable first half, to the rather disjointed but more interesting second half. The first half is mostly a telling of the stories of Cinderella, Jack of beanstalk fame, and the Baker and his wife, who want children, and how they gallivant around trying to lift a curse. Rapunzel, the witch, and Little Red Riding Hood all make their own appearances. And while much fun is poked at the fairy tales, ultimately everything is tied together in a nice big knot for the finale to Act 1 (which I thought was the finale, period, and was rather glad to find out that there was another act coming). I did like the parallel of Red Riding Hood and Jack's songs, about having found something rather scary and exciting and eye-opening at the same time. I sort of wish that had been followed through.
The second act just really confuses me. There's the sudden serious turn, which was rather welcome after the slight fluffiness of the beginning. But suddenly we have several random deaths thrown in, some of which are taken seriously and some of which are not. And then there's the entire talk about killing the Giantess rampaging through the kingdom, and there is a more nuanced discussion of whether or not the Giantess should in fact be killed or not. The witch also reminds Red Riding Hood that the wolf killed earlier had a mother too. And then they go off singing that no one is alone, that everyone's actions affects everyone else, and then they go off and whack the giantess anyhow.
It didn't quite seem fair to me. I mean, one can see the argument for killing off the wolf, given the eating of various people and malicious intent in general. But the giantess is right -- Jack went off and invaded her house and stole her things and then went off and killed her husband. So they go kill the giantess because she is rampaging and stepping on people left and right. But then, the Baker argues against killing the Steward for killing Jack's mother, and everyone in general seems to think that giving Jack to the giantess to be killed is wrong, despite prior damages. The general consesus seems to be that offing people for prior mistakes is not a good thing to do. But right after that consensus, they go and blind the Giantess and kill her without a second thought. Does the Giantess not apply for some reason?
Maybe I just need to sit down a think a bit more about it. But it felt really rather off to me.
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Also, specifically...
Mon, Nov. 15th, 2004 07:59 am (UTC)