the way he's her person but she's not his,,
ernest accuses her of never really loving him (on viola's roof), but he was the one who abandoned her, he was the one unsatisfied in his relationship, he let himself be dazzled by madeline and whisk him away.
the cracks in helen and ernest's relationship are so interesting to me. their love duet is sung almost entirely by helen, with ernest even leaving before the end, because it's about her controlling the narrative. she wants to project this image of perfection/whatever will make madeline most jealous. "ohh he's soooo in love with me and only me! he never wants me to change! he's too boring to cheat!" it makes me think of 'we'll never have problems again' from crazy ex girlfriend. but this facade falls apart (lol) as soon as mad starts poking around.
she's making fun of helen, and ernest is laughing along and getting drunker. he's so passive that he won't stand up for her. madeline asks about a date for the wedding, this prompts the beginnings of an argument between them before helen quickly tables it with a firm "discussion for the car." she doesn't want to show weakness in front of madeline. mad's like a shark, as soon as she tastes blood in the water, it's a feeding frenzy and hel's life will be torn apart.
ernest is a very reactive character, as in most of his lines in songs are responding to someone (and often spoken) so what he responds to and what he says are our main insight into his thoughts. in 'that was then this is now' the only sung words that ernest doesn't directly repeat are "that's right, dear". every other time he sings, he mirrors her, but not there. it doesn't even rhyme, like, he'll say i love you but not that she is his person. like "yeah babe, i'm your accessory, i guess. but i can't claim you as mine."
lots of thoughts rattling around my head fr
discoholicmusic
yousharknotpass
areudirty
gamechangershow
gracieabrams
andulkaphoto
tangentwithtanner
kianamaiart
