Wanna talk what I got from the LLTBP show because it’s been driving me crazy in all the best ways since my show (thanks mcr)
MCR has made such an elaborate story that it actually completely includes us in it. We are the citizens of DRAAG. Some of us cheer on the dictator. Some of us boo him. Some of us vote “yea.” Some of us vote “nay.” Some of us cheer on the band’s “punishments.” Some of us cheer on their rebellion. Most of us do some of both.
However, regardless of how we react, the show always remains the same. The events will always occur how they always occur. There is nothing you can do to stop it.
This is a show put on by the dictatorship to reinforce their power over us. Even if you resist them, they remain in charge. They remain in control. They decide the outcome. Even if you support them, you could be next. There is nothing stopping them from disposing of you as easily as your “heroes” if you step out of line. The whole show is a display of their power over us.
In the end, nothing we can do will change anything, just like how nothing the band does changes anything. Regardless of what we or the band does, the ending is there from the start - in a literal outline of Gerard’s body on the floor.
We are as powerless against DRAAG as the band is and we share in the same senseless cycle of violence and control that we are simultaneously the perpetrators and victims of. The show is about us. All of us. The band, the audience, the entire world, both in the narrative universe as well as in the real world. It’s about that powerless feeling that there is nothing you can do to truly make a difference.
…not a very MCR message I hear you say. But just you wait my friends cause now allow me to go even deeper!
Every single night, despite already knowing the outcome, despite staring at the literal outline of his own body right in front of him, Gerard continues to rebel. He refuses to read the papers, even though he knows he will be met with a slap. He takes off his jacket, even though he knows it will be forced back on. The band rebels every single time despite KNOWING they will be destroyed because of it. And THAT is where we get the true message of the show. And it’s the same message that MCR has been sending throughout every era throughout multiple decades: never give up.
Even when you are at your lowest, even when you are faced with impossible odds, even when it seems like there is no way out: YOU HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING. You have to stay true to yourself. You cannot give up.
DRAAG has trapped us in this cycle of inevitable tragedy. They want us to feel like there is no point, nothing we can do to change things. But even in the face of that, the band STILL fights against it - Mikey runs for his life, Frank and Ray fight to stay on stage even as they are dragged off, Gerard desperately uses the last of his strength to continue singing and reach for that button. Every night they continue to try.
The message is that even when we feel like we are powerless, that there is nothing we can do to actually make a change, that is when we need to fight the hardest. Get up and keep going. And never give up, no matter what.
This band has said it again and again in countless ways over the years. It’s practically their thesis at this point. And I just think this show is a such a nuanced brilliant way to spread that message, especially in a world where it is so desperately needed.
