#falsettos analysis

[kerokerrrokerroppi]

Ok, so I know they’re not EXACTLY the same but also…That’s basically the same tie. Marvin & Jason (basically) had matching ties at Jason’s Bar Mitzvah.

It’s so much worse because the tie Marvin is wearing was Whizzer’s tie (in the pro-shot whizzer holds up the tie and asks Marvin “Is this mine?” and then Marvin confirms.)

That means Jason and Whizzer had matching ties with each other I’m crying 😭

[morphean42]

I’ve finally figured out why I really dislike Twink Whizzer!

So, in ‘This Had Better Come To A Stop’ Marvin sings the line “that’s what pretty boys should do”, and I’ve always interpreted this as another example of Marvin thrusting Whizzer into an unrealistic role. We all know Marvin treats Whizzer like the woman of the relationship, expecting him to cook, clean, serve him, and be generally feminine. However, Marvin also puts Whizzer in the category of ‘pretty boy’ in addition to ‘woman’.

Whizzer is, in many ways, more traditionally masculine than Marvin. He knows more about and is good at sports, he’s tall, he’s what one might call a ‘player’. Especially how Stephen Bogardus plays Whizzer in the OBC, he is not a stereotypically gay man. This, obviously, is not okay in Marvin’s eyes. He sees his own failings of masculinity through Whizzer’s performance of it, and this makes him incredibly insecure, so he forces Whizzer to be ‘the feminine one’. The gay one. The pretty boy. The twink.

So, when Marvin calls Whizzer a pretty boy, that is a slight against him, that’s Marvin trying to force this idea of a ‘small, feminine, non-athletic lover’ onto him because it makes him ‘the man’ in the relationship. Nearly everything Marvin does that hurts those around him is not done because he hates them, but because he hates himself (that’s a whole other point but anyway). So, Marvin calls Whizzer a pretty boy because it’s everything Whizzer isn’t and Marvin can never accept being the less masculine of the pair.

This analysis is running on a correlation between the terms ‘pretty boy’ and ‘twink’ but I think my point stands even without that.

Whizzer isn’t a twink because just like Marvin is trying to force him into being ‘the woman’ he’s making him take on an effeminate, not traditionally masculine role.

Oh and one more point! Unrelated to all this! The term twink refers to a gay man traditionally between the ages of 18-25, or at least appearing young like that! Whizzer is balding! Whizzer is not twenty years old! If I see one more person make Whizzer like twenty-four and Marvin like thirty-seven I will lose my goshdamned mind!

[lightlysaltedsalt]

I think it's easy to write off Whizzer Going Down as the haha funny gay sex song, and don't get me wrong, it totally is funny and silly, but I feel like we're all forgetting how genuinely beautiful it is.

Its a song about a repressed gay man finally getting to express himself and be with who he wants. It shows Marvin finally accepting that he wants men, and Allowing himself to be with one. It's the first time we see Marvin really, truly happy. It's not a "giddy seizure" or bid for attention, he's really genuinely celebrating life and love and being utterly over the moon about Whizzer and his new-found sexual freedom.

He calls what he has with Whizzer delightful, he loves it so much he says he might just die. Even though they're already fighting, he admits he cares for Whizzer & truly celebrates him.

The name "Whizzer" is said over and over and over again in the song. The other characters in in Trousers don't even get names. Just "wife" or "sweetheart" (except Ms Goldberg, who still doesn't have a first name). But Marvin repeats "Whizzer" so so much because for the first time, he found someone who he truly cares about, who Matters to him. Even though falsettos shows us how toxic they'll turn out to be later, it's still utterly beautiful to see this side of Marvin- how he can learn to love and care and celebrate life and his sexuality- even if it's still going to be a long journey.

[stoner-butch-blues]

Just realized that he took her advice 😭

[therealneilperry]

My analysis on whizzers first move in whizzvin chess game

Ok so, Marvin mentions in ‘this had better come to a stop' that he'd rather Whizzer like him for his smarts; and in "Marvin at the psychiatrist" he says one of the things he likes about Whizzer is that Whizzer makes him feel smart. In "the Chess game" Whizzer is acting dumb, like he doesn't even know the pieces or what they do, asking Marvin for help because he's helpless, but he ends up making a very good first move! I think he was just pretending to be dumb so Marvin wouldn't feel emasculated. We also know Whizzer puts on an act to be loved without having to reveal his true self and be hurt when his true self is rejected (though, this usually causes his relationships to be unstable, flings, or casual when he truly wants something meaningful), and I think-if we're using the chess game as a metaphor for their relationship-this may have been Whizzer letting that act go for a second, showing his true self to Marvin, which is why Marvin looks so caught off guard, and also why Whizzer is so horribly upset in "the games I play"; because his worst fear has come true. He showed his true self, and got rejected for it.

[dance-like-an-idiot]

thinking about whizzer and relationships right now...

cause he definitely loves marvin in act 1 but he doesn't want to/is in denial of it and instead he screws other people cause he can and will.

he says that he values sex and money above everything and constantly degrades his relationship with marvin to those two ideas.

i think whizzer never kept himself monogamous because he was scared of their relationship being more than just sex and money, of there being devotion involved. he didn't realize that he wanted a true relationship with marvin (or at all) until it was too late. that love was the music in the games i play.

then in act 2 there is such an overwhelming feeling of devotion between the two and they love each other so so much it's palpable every time they're on stage together.

hell, in what more can i say? they are physically together, and after hearing whizzers speeches about sex and money in act 1, something between them has changed at its core so they can be physically intimate without the sex (even if its still heavily implied its not the sex of act 1)

the biggest part of whizzer's character though is how he is cared for. he lets himself finally be cared for by marvin (and eventually the company) despite being avoidant of the caring nature of relationships for all of act 1 and much of act 2 as well (ex: his lines in the baseball game, racquetball whizzer pushes marvin away, not admitting he was exhausted in more racquetball)

honestly, marvins admission of "all i want is you" during more racquetball and whizzer's bone-deep physical exhaustion must be when he finally gives into being cared for and adored as much as marvin wants to care and adore him (which is a lot)

and just. what would i do? i don't need to get into that song, it says it all itself.

[shyshyaaaaaa]

Okok, another random blurb, but UGH i keep listening to Making a Home and by GOD is it a good song and represents act 1 perfectly.

For a song I basically slept through on my first watch, I just keep noticing how good and important it is with each watch. Starting with just Trina, Mendel and Jason and eventually adding Whizzer to the mix is in itself a good representation of Whizzers role in the family. His role in the song, with echoing the others lines and not even being apart of the setting, it just really says something about how important and needed Whizzer is at that moment in their lives. And with the fact that one of the only times he says something with another character is when him and Jason say the line “hating our lives” really says something about their bond, cuz it is way stronger than most give it credit for. I mean, Jason is the whole reason Whizzer came back into their lives in the first place!

But there’s another thing in this song that I also think needs to be discussed. In a way, this song kinda reveals that perhaps Mendel is like Marvin in a lot of ways. Perhaps not the gay affair part, but he’s certainly just as ignorant.

“She becomes a happy wife” (Mendel)

“He decides the role to assume” (Trina)

That line is mostly played off for jokes, but it does say something. Perhaps he isn’t as awful or negligent, but it seems Mendel is taking a bit too much pride in the fact he married his clients ex wife (see Tight Knit Family Reprise) to have sense to care about how Trina feels in this sudden new arrangement with a man who though she certainly likes, hasn’t known for too long.

“Loving our—“ (Mendel)

“Liking our—“ (Trina)

“Hating our—“ (Jason and Whizzer)

“Lives.” (All)

Again, another example of Mendel perhaps enjoying his new marriage too much and taking pride in it. He looks off into the distance when he says his line, ignoring Trina and how she says she only “likes” her life at the moment. Again, Mendel isn’t as awful as Marvin, but it can’t be said for certain that in this moment with Mendel, though she loves him, she feels a bit abandoned by this “happy man” who currently “rules her life”, in a way.

But, that’s honestly just me reading into this too much. Still love him, but we gotta admit that Mendel is kinda an asshole. But, he never hits his ex wife, so we’ll take what we can get!

Ok, that went on for too long. If I got anything wrong or misinterpreted anything uhhh make your own post or something. I’m js having fun 🤷‍♀️

[moonlitkilljoy]

i think the reason falsettos gets to me so much is because its so much more than just a story, it was never intended to be entirely “just a story”. it’s a reflection of million of stories that actually occurred, of lives that were cut tragically short by the AIDS epidemic, and that’s what makes it hurt the most— the reality of the story it tells. it’s not just a fictional story, it’s a reminder of the fear those before us had to live with and the many that didn’t make it to today. if i were to settle on one takeaway i think that it would that its important to not forget your history and those that were lost along the way, but also to keep fighting for a brighter future and not take the lives we get to live for granted. there has been so much pain in our past, but there’s been joy too and there can be joy in our future. we have to persevere. everything will be alright, even if it isn’t.