This is it. After I referenced this line earlier, I'm going to talk about it at length.
I miss this line. It serves many purposes.
As in, this is not just a line that makes the other characters laugh. This is not a line that makes us laugh at the character. This establishes Fiyero as funny. It charms us as an audience and allows everyone to fall slightly in love with a beautiful (this we do have to be told, everyone has a type, after all) prince in his tight white pants and his dancing boots who makes us giggle.
2. It shows Fiyero's character development.
Piggy-backing on my earlier post about complexity, Fiyero is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in tight white pants. Giving him this snarky snap at her allows us to watch their relationship develop. His changing opinion, his understanding of Elphaba, his affection for her gives him depth.
And we get to go along with him. We are Fiyero. We begin believing we'll choose Glinda every time. She's the heroine. This girl looks sweet in her little knitted cap and her glasses, but she is ultimately The Wicked Witch of the West. And then we learn that she's actually a rebel with a cause, we come to root for her, to love her. We no longer wish to make snide remarks about her, we may even regret our titter circa Dancing Through Life.
3. Elphaba and Fiyero are two sides of the same coin.
Their romance is inevitable. Like Elizabeth and Darcy, they are both Pride and Prejudice. They are both deadpan snarkers who use this weapon on anyone in their path. In Fiyero's case, quite literally. He's not used to being lectured, especially not by girls, so he lashes out. He just happens to choose the only chink in Elphaba's armour. But look me in the eye and tell me Elphaba wouldn't do exactly the same thing.
Cynthia's Elphaba doesn't draw that line out in the same way that Kerry's did. (Kerry Ellis, I'm that old.) But when it's said sarcastically, it's devastating. It's the kind of thing that would make me never want to show my face in public again. Especially if I'd crafted a mask of nonchalance that was slipping off faster than I could catch it.
We're not shown many of their similarities in personality, but when they snap at each other, neither is a kicked puppy. When these two fight, they'll go hammer and tongs.
I loved "You didn't? I did." It did make me smile; it was charming and I wouldn't take it out. But for all these reasons, I missed this line. I felt like I was missing a massive chunk of who Fiyero is as a character and the journey we all go on together.
snowghoul
ellievsbear
turnnoffyourmind
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