CLUTCHING HIS PEARLS

Tumblr's all, "we need stories where victims don't forgive their abusers," this and, "more stories where victims take revenge on their abusers," that but when I, Maxim de Winter —

Mark Seibert (left) and Szilveszter P. Szabó (Szabó P. Szilveszter) playing the same character but with opposite energy.

top to bottom - Maxim from Rebecca, Colloredo from Mozart!, Tybalt from Romeó et Juliette, and Der Tod from Elisabeth.

Stumbled upon this video essay on Musical Rebecca and how Kunze/Lévay supposedly departed drastically from the book’s themes by romanticizing Ich and Maxim’s relationship, and I have Des Notes(tm):

The claim that the novel is not a love story but a study of jealousy. Obviously…romantic jealousy. 🤣 Granted, the narrator also has self-esteem issues, but the moment Maxim says he never loved Rebecca, the narrator’s seething jealousy of her literally vanished. It is very much dependent on her love for Maxim and her belief that he did love Rebecca.

While Maxim did murder Rebecca in the book, it should be noted that little to nothing contradicts his claim that Rebecca was a bad person. Outside of Maxim’s POV, Du Maurier wrote numerous red flags. To whit:

Ben is afraid of Rebecca (she threatened to send him to the asylum, per him). Frank, who had a wholeass affair with Rebecca, tells the narrator directly that goodness is more important to a man than beauty. Beatrice, who is depicted as straightforward and honest, doesn’t praise Rebecca outside of her beauty and charm, forgot Gran loved Rebecca, and deals with the narrator with uncharacteristic patience. Even Mrs. Danvers proudly boasted that Rebecca once flogged a horse. And then there is the fact that all of Rebecca’s closest intimates are creeps and sleazeballs. Mrs. Danvers and Favell may have their sympathetic moments (as in, they did care about Rebecca), but that doesn’t mean they are depicted as good people.

And then there is the fact that Rebecca deliberately manipulated Maxim into killing her, lol. The final twist is that she had cancer and was looking for a quick end. Mrs. Danvers confirms, even before she knew of this diagnosis, that Rebecca feared getting sick and would have wanted a quick end. Her pregnancy was a lie meant to push Maxim to his limits, and it worked.

If Du Maurier wanted to make Maxim shady and unreliable, she wouldn’t have done any of this. Instead, she did everything possible to justify Maxim and buttress his claim that Rebecca was bad, which is no doubt part of why the narrator forgives Maxim so easily.

So on that count, what the novel ends up saying in terms of theme is less “traditionalist chauvinist husband murders his flawed but morally clean modern ex-wife” and more “abuse victim finally retaliates against his abuser and struggles to recover from his trauma with the help of another abuse victim.” Problematic? Yeah, highly so (except for the abuse victim overcoming trauma part). But that’s the way Du Maurier wrote it. She absolutely gave Maxim (almost) every reason.

So in adapting the book to a musical, Kunze decided to opt to emphasize out this romantic strain of the novel. Understandable, given that musicals are very romance-friendly and don’t do thrillers easily. But it’s still not a radical interpretation from Du Maurier’s work. You do get Rebecca fans and defenders, but given that a pro-Rebecca fanfic sequel irked most fans, it’s safe to say most fans agree that Rebecca was bad and Maxim was a victim.

Bonus: As for the novel’s queer coding, it should be noted that in the novel, Mrs. Danvers explicitly says Rebecca never loved anyone. Not just men. This supports the whole Rebecca-as-sociopath canonical strain (although ace headcanons are a possibility) and less the interpretation of Rebecca being a possibly queer woman silenced forever by her murderous macho husband. Also, Beatrice is perhaps just as queer coded than Rebecca herself, and it is heavily implied (and Maxim confirms it) that she didn’t like her, found her fishy.

So in sum: This is less Book-to-Musical Wicked and more Book-to-Musical Notre Dame de Paris. Subtle thematic shifts, same plot, some changes to make it more musical-friendly. Sounds like your everyday book-to-musical adaptation to me.

the actual reason I consume mediocre media is because I have bad taste. the deeper secret pretentious reason is because I think there’s something very revealing about bad media that you don’t get with good media. when you watch a poorly executed plot point unfold, you see the machinery behind it. you see the gap between what’s actually on screen and the true goal the author is striving for. if it’s particularly awful, you can even measure just how poorly mismatched the author’s skills are with the story they’re trying to tell you. watching a poorly executed narrative play out feels like you’re discovering something, because you see all the wiring and guts underneath that better authors hide from you, in the same way that movies hide boom mics and books make you forget you’re turning the pages. if a story is good and executed well you just see the story. but I want to see the guts and wires!

Now what have we got here

google show me this guy wet and whimpering

I KNOW HE DRANK A BLOOD

Day 9: Outfit swap!

read more so you do not have to be inflicted by thoughts I've had about these two for ages ahah-

Once again Aphtober is being hosted by @vyladromeave

ALRIGHT SO SO, it is sooo funny to me that there were at least a few people who like. thought these two were the same fucking guy. Like vague gesture I vividly REMEMBER seeing people saying Vylad was Jeffory's shadowknight form. I also remember this all started due to ONE line Katelyn had which pissed me off as a kid but looking back it was SO funny.

I also remember the only ship I actively actually disliked was Katelyn x Vylad, I a baby aspec had basically seen Vylad and instantly started projecting. add to that the fact it was ?? just a single line Katelyn had about Vylad I was sooo unamused. Honestly looking back its super funny mcd was wild.

I do wonder if Aphmau actually had anything planned?? Like were they supposed to be like distant relatives or smt? Because that one Katelyn line is kinda just strange?? idk man.

Either way I think it would be funny if they were like cousins or something on Vylads father side. Maybe even have Jeffory become a shadowknight after his death so at some point a long way down the road they just have spiderman pointing meme.

the funniest part about Love Never Dies is the implications it has for the canon of the ALW Phantom of the Opera. because what do you mean Raoul turned into an alcoholic gambler, lost all of his money, found out Gustave wasn't his son, watched Meg shoot Christine, and STILL had the funds and energy to go back to the Paris Opera House to purchase that silly monkey like 12 years later.

why would you torture yourself like that