A rant about why I love falsettos (well 1 reason at least)
The musical falsettos, in my opinion, is a wonderful example of Jewish storytelling.
“Well, why Jewish storytelling in particular?”- thanks for asking, imaginary person i introduced to ask!
(CW for mentions of historical events that affected the LGBT and Jewish folk negatively, just in case you’re not in the mood)
Historically, the Jewish people were oppressed and in diaspora. And I’m sorry to sound grim, but that’s exactly what made the countless massacres, the most horrific and recent being the holocaust, possible. It wasn’t just Europe, throughout most of the history there’s been constant threat of exile, and stigma around Jews that caused violence. Even our oldest text, while they are largely religious, outlined the objective reality that people didn’t like us that much (that’s an understatement haha)
For that reason, our stories quite often outline having faith, hope. Doing the right thing for the community, and being smart about navigating a terrifying world. It is understood that God is not all kind and all loving, but understanding things go a way because that’s just what’s happening, and to work with an unfair world as best we can.
And Falsettos really shows these storytelling conventions.
Marvin is trying to balance personal need with keeping a hold on his community. He spends the first half of the play trying to figure out how to do that.
Then he ultimately figures out, to some degree, how to hold his family up, and even finds his lover again!
But, the world is cruel, and his lover (and him) become early deaths in the AIDS crisis that plagued the gay community. And while it is a tragedy, and another example of the fact that nothing is guaranteed, the community and faith he built helps him as far as they can.
I have forgotten the name of the story (sorry), but there is a story where god punishes a faithful follower over and over again to test the extent of his faith, and then when he snaps he is punished again. The world, and god, can be cruel, but Jewish storytelling tells us that community, faith, and holding on hope no matter what, is all we can do sometimes. And sometimes that’s enough.
turnnoffyourmind
vaporwave
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
romaincrisis
gummygunk
