Falsettos#5: Shakespeare

 

When I say that Jason outplays everyone in this musical, I totally mean it. The only kid in the musical is the only adult in Falsettos. (I’m sure you understand what I try to say) And this number My Father’s a Homo / Everyone Tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist is where his whole personality shines.  

 We start off with the now-iconic line: “My father's a homo/My mother's not thrilled at all” and we quickly realise what is really going on. Although Jason is super smart for his age, he doesn’t understand how things actually work. He is intelligent but naïve. He has an intricate science-based point of view but because of the misconceptions back then, (not many people knew that homosexuality isn’t a chromosomal trait) and his very confused thoughts, he doesn’t understand that his father's sexuality isn’t a trait that passes down to him. He comprehends biology terms but he can’t grasp real feelings and emotional aspects of life. Jason is scared not to ‘end up’ exactly like his father, a theme further explored in Jason’s therapy.  

Father homo:  

What about chromosomes?  

Do they carry?  

Will they carry?  

Who's the homo now?  

 And he also feels pressured. He needs to stay on top of everything that’s happening and he doesn’t know how to manage everyone’s problems. “I don’t need the life of a normal child” He is in the middle of all of this and he feels trapped. Throughout the show, the cube made out of different shapes resembles the family and their unity. In this scene, Jason snaps driven crazy by his parents who constantly want him to do something for them “Jason, I need you to...” “Jason!” and pushes the cube, breaking it in half. He feels like a lost cause. It doesn’t matter that he is aware of his intelligence as long as his life seems to fall apart in front of him. 'Cause I'm too smart for my own good/And I'm too good for my sorry little life.   

 And now I have an interesting thing I want to point out and develop. When he says “My father’s no man, no man at all”, is he referring just to the unhealthy manly stereotype his father breaks? Because that’s completely different from what I understand. Of course, on the surface, that’s what he’s most probably talking about. But I think there’s another meaning. You see... Jason is a really smart kid. And he clearly loves his father a lot. So, I don’t think that he’s judging him for loving Whizzer. He doesn’t ‘hate’ him. He’s just angry with the fact that his father chose to leave him and his mother and then act as nothing happened. He’s much more irritated by his father’s lies and selfish behaviour. ‘man’ is also stereotypically associated with bravery. And that’s where Marvin seems to fail. He doesn’t have the courage to be himself and be open about it. He’s afraid of leaving the stereotype and fools around behind words and gestures. Yes, Jason can just be mad because his father loves a man, but I honestly don’t see it that way. (If you have other thoughts leave them in the comment section) 

 And Jason begins to play all by himself. He is aware of his intelligence but he’s afraid that other kids won’t him or what he’s going through. He isolates himself as he feels like he can lose control of the situation at any moment. For him, chess is ‘the most beautiful thing in the world and he keeps t only for himself. He doesn’t share it since it’s ‘his’ safe space. It’s exactly like when you feel that the whole world is against you and you try harder each day to fight it. Your whole life is a game of chess you swore not to lose. But you’re playing against yourself, so what does ‘winning’ mean anyway?   

Jason’s mocking response to his mother’s offer and worries may come off as childish and a bit irritating but as I said, I think there’s more than just a bothered kid. Trina doesn’t think that his loneliness is weird (since the common thought is that ‘kids are alone just to rIoT’ which isn’t true) but his actual fondness of his alone time. But he strikes back with “What is normal?”, a question that actually makes Trina reflect a bit about her understanding of the term “normal”. In the second act, she brings back this thought during ”holding to the ground” when she accentuates how unusual this situation feels for her, being nothing like the life she and her mother assumed she would live. And this brings us back to her idea of taking her son to a psychiatrist. And I strongly believe he should talk to someone, not because he’s mentally unstable but because he really does need to talk to someone. But when I say ‘someone, I don’t mean Mendel.=) Because Trina tries to sell Mendel with “He's quite a guy/And I admire how he acts” which is ironic giving the fact that we saw him exactly 4 minutes ago asking completely inappropriate questions about her private life... yeah... moving on...  

She then assures Jason that “No one is saying you're a sick neurotic” (2 songs later we hear a “You must exorcise a devil” and a “But he's sick in the head” which is again....$#@$#%) and continues with the lines(lines that contradict each other):  

He could help you realize  

How confused you are!  

Yes, it's very clear:  

Daddy's sincere  

But a schmo!  

You and I must trust our emotions  

Make no commotions.  

Cause she basically says that Marvin is sincere and true to himself but at the same time a jerk(I’m not even kidding, that’s the first synonym that comes up when you google “schmo”)….but Jason should follow his emotions and feelings in order not to disturb everything? It's more like a beg at this point and even Jason realises it’s not entirely about him anymore.

And then Marvin enters making a very reassuring gesture towards Trina with a “I got this” feeling. He begins okay... trying to wash away the stigma around people seeing psychiatrists and the common preconceptions. “Jason, please see a psychiatrist/He's just a psychiatrist”, and he feels confident, he takes it slow, he seems like he knows what to say... But then he continues... “I'll pay the bill until you’re old”, a sentence which is not exactly ideal. And here’s the thing: I identify with Marvin, quite a lot actually. (Both INTJs, both introverted narcissists, both kinda smart... the list goes on) But this one of those wtf moments that make me want to dig a hole in the ground and hide there forever because that’s exactly the kind of stupid thing I would say without really filtering my thoughts. Because when I want to help, I come up with an idea that sounds more than decent in my head but ends up making the situation worse because it’s genuinely stupid. And of course, that I’m really proud of my solution and I don’t realise what I just said and when someone ends up explaining to me what I’ve done and all I can say is ‘oh...’. Fun stuff=). He even takes the ‘superhero position’, that’s how proud he is.  

They all start talking over each other and all follow their train of thoughts without really being disturbed by the others. Marvin is immaturely, mockingly repeating the same 2 lines “He's just a psychiatrist/I'll pay the bill until you're old” talking to Jason like he’s a 3-year-old who doesn’t understand the concept and is just being ‘moody’ for no reason. Trina has very ‘strong’ arguments that completely contradict Mendel’s personality, “a man who I think knows the answers to all your problems” while belittling Marvin’s view on his intelligence “your father here/ He's not a genius type/Lord knows, but he knows what's true”. And Jason just covers his ears and yells “never never never”.  

In the end, they all meet each other's voices and thoughts on   

“What a mess this is  

This family!  

Experts can see  

This is so!”  

Lines that explore more in-depth the concept of ‘perfect family facade’. They’ve built a perfect mask that is meant to trick everyone into thinking they are flawless and there’s nothing wrong. There are some cracks, but only experts can peek through them. And by allowing the audience to know these things, this trick they try to pull off, the musical becomes much more personal. Unlike the rest of the people, you get to see what’s behind the curtain. You invade their privacy and the problems they prevent everyone from seeing. You become an intruder that sees the reality behind the perfectly taken picture.  

But the façade is quickly starting to fall apart as more problems and arguments appear.  

” Photographs can't  

Capture our magic  

We're simply tragic!” 

They try so hard to keep up the appearances that they ultimately fail and end up focusing on their image more than on their actual problems. This whole motif is revisited again in “making a home” when Trina and Mendel try to build their home following a common and strict stereotype in order to become “your perfect average family”.  

And they again try to convince Jason to go and see Mendel because “He's not exorbitant/And he's very smart!”. But Jason has one tongue-twisted answer to their offer: “If intelligence were the only criteria, Then I wouldn't really need a psychiatrist, would I?”. As I said, he is aware of his intelligence and he is in fact using it to his advantage against his parents. If this doesn’t highlight perfectly the way Jason resemblance Marvin, I don’t know what does. (Note: I don’t know how Anthony Rosenthal sang this every time. He’s so freaking talented! So... here’s a video from his YouTube channel "Super cute interview with Anthony Rosenthal")  

And at this point, Jason is just pushing their buttons. “Just because you failed as parents...” is kind of a bold move even for him. But... to be honest... well played.

“...Get thee to a psychiatrist!” Aaaaaand Shakespeare   

Ok... back to Jason’s request now. He tells his parents that he wants to speak with Whizzer and even though it might seem like he is just playing with their anger (which is probably true) it also accentuates how he sees Whizzer as the ‘sane’ one in the group of adults. He needs his advice and whatever he says, goes. He looks for someone stable in his life and he is sure that W has no reason to mess with him.   

Whizzer kneels between Marvin and Jason and at first, laughs at the idea of Jason going to the psychiatrist. “I'm not sure, Jason” 

 

But Marvin flicks Whizzer on the back of his head in order to tell Jason that he supports his parents and agrees with them. They stare at each other for a couple of seconds but it feels like a whole conversation. 

M: Why do you think I brought you here?  

W: What’s wrong with you? 

“Jason, maybe so”  

But then Trina also pressures him nodding affirmatively and pushing him to say ‘the right thing’.   

“Absolutely Jason”  

And Jason gives up. Convinced by Whizzer and his VERY persuasive parents, he decides to try if Mendel agrees to come to his home. And even though Trina tries to show Jason what a great decision he just made; Marvin is not quite ready to lie to him saying that the psychiatrist will be able to do as Jason pleases (because he won’t). “They don't make house calls”  

And this number ends with Whizzer’s watch alarm starting beeping announcing the beginning of a new song. I’m completely in love with the choreography of this number and I literally can’t wait to write about “This Had Better Come to a Stop” because it’s one of my favourite songs.   

Thank you all for reading and I would really appreciate it if you could share the blog and leave a comment down below.  

Seeya next time. Take care!  

Byeeeeee