![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Earlier this year, I was trying to decide if I wanted to see Fangirls at the Sydney Opera House.
Pros: A new Australian musical!
Cons: It's about teenagers and boybands? I dunno, even when I was a teenager I was never that into boybands, isn't it, y'know, a bit much...
I decided to see it anyway. Afterwards, when I was reading an interview with creator Yve Blake, she said:
"I asked myself why is it the image of young women screaming their lungs out at a Justin Bieber concert, say, is hysterical, pathetic, a bit much, but boys screaming at a football match would be considered the love of the game and perfectly normal and passionate. That was a moment that shocked me, because it made me realise all these assumptions I had made about young women - and I've been one of those. And I know what it's like to be a young woman who feels underestimated and I thought that emotion of rage, where people condemn you and minimise you, it's such an electric emotion and one that clearly needed to be sung."
... Ohh, fuck. I should know better, but I'm doing it too. "I'm not like those other girls." Internalised misogyny. It's insidious.
When this world
Is messy and cruel
I build one that's better
I go there with you
Where we can be anyone we wanna be
Feels more real than reality
Don't care if it's a daydream, baby
It feels so true
Edna is a 14-year-old girl who dreams of meeting her idol, Harry, lead singer of the boyband True Connection. And she gets the chance when he announces a concert in her hometown.
Edna is struggling with school, fallen out with her friends, and estranged from her mum. Harry is her respite from the pressures and miseries of everyday life. She daydreams about him, writes fic about them, and shares her feelings with the online community of fans.
Fangirls rips the lid off of adolescence, letting out all its intensity, good and bad. Wanting to be loved. Fearing rejection. Hating your body. Feeling inadequate. It captures the feeling of being trapped and powerless. It's raw, vulgar, and sincere. The songs are catchy, funny, and poignant. ("Actually Dead" has the best rap by Caroline, Edna's mum, trying to impart her wisdom and perspective. "Disgusting" is a gut punch of all the ways the world judges girls on their appearance. "Maybe We're More" is a lovely synthesis of everything that came before and a hopeful ending.)
( Ending spoilers )
In another interview, Blake says:
"Fangirl is a noun but also a verb. There's something inherently pejorative about the word because we think if girls like 'something', then it is not worthy. To fangirl, in my definition, is to love something without apology and to express yourself and your enthusiasm without self-censorship. Living in a patriarchy, we often look at expression as a sign of weakness, and we think of stoicism and hiding our emotions as a strength. On the contrary, I believe having the courage to express oneself is true strength."
Trailer (excerpt from "Feels So True"):
The stage production I saw starred Manali Datar as the lead, while the cast recording featured Yve Blake in the role. Here is a video with Karis Oka, who has also played Edna ("Wait and See"):
Other links:
Cast recording (YouTube)
Lyrics (Genius)
Pros: A new Australian musical!
Cons: It's about teenagers and boybands? I dunno, even when I was a teenager I was never that into boybands, isn't it, y'know, a bit much...
I decided to see it anyway. Afterwards, when I was reading an interview with creator Yve Blake, she said:
"I asked myself why is it the image of young women screaming their lungs out at a Justin Bieber concert, say, is hysterical, pathetic, a bit much, but boys screaming at a football match would be considered the love of the game and perfectly normal and passionate. That was a moment that shocked me, because it made me realise all these assumptions I had made about young women - and I've been one of those. And I know what it's like to be a young woman who feels underestimated and I thought that emotion of rage, where people condemn you and minimise you, it's such an electric emotion and one that clearly needed to be sung."
... Ohh, fuck. I should know better, but I'm doing it too. "I'm not like those other girls." Internalised misogyny. It's insidious.
When this world
Is messy and cruel
I build one that's better
I go there with you
Where we can be anyone we wanna be
Feels more real than reality
Don't care if it's a daydream, baby
It feels so true
Edna is a 14-year-old girl who dreams of meeting her idol, Harry, lead singer of the boyband True Connection. And she gets the chance when he announces a concert in her hometown.
Edna is struggling with school, fallen out with her friends, and estranged from her mum. Harry is her respite from the pressures and miseries of everyday life. She daydreams about him, writes fic about them, and shares her feelings with the online community of fans.
Fangirls rips the lid off of adolescence, letting out all its intensity, good and bad. Wanting to be loved. Fearing rejection. Hating your body. Feeling inadequate. It captures the feeling of being trapped and powerless. It's raw, vulgar, and sincere. The songs are catchy, funny, and poignant. ("Actually Dead" has the best rap by Caroline, Edna's mum, trying to impart her wisdom and perspective. "Disgusting" is a gut punch of all the ways the world judges girls on their appearance. "Maybe We're More" is a lovely synthesis of everything that came before and a hopeful ending.)
( Ending spoilers )
In another interview, Blake says:
"Fangirl is a noun but also a verb. There's something inherently pejorative about the word because we think if girls like 'something', then it is not worthy. To fangirl, in my definition, is to love something without apology and to express yourself and your enthusiasm without self-censorship. Living in a patriarchy, we often look at expression as a sign of weakness, and we think of stoicism and hiding our emotions as a strength. On the contrary, I believe having the courage to express oneself is true strength."
Trailer (excerpt from "Feels So True"):
The stage production I saw starred Manali Datar as the lead, while the cast recording featured Yve Blake in the role. Here is a video with Karis Oka, who has also played Edna ("Wait and See"):
Other links:
Cast recording (YouTube)
Lyrics (Genius)
