mattivoda

[mattivoda]

[mattivoda]

This post isn’t targeted towards this person in particular but I see this same sort of tiktok come up on my timeline every couple of months and it feels me with a very specific RAGE because of how wrong it is about the core message of this show.

For those who don’t know, the music from the TikTok comes from the musical The Last Five Years, made by Jason Robert Brown. It originally opened in Chicago in 2001, then making its way to Broadway in 2002 after great reviews from critics and audiences.

the elevator pitch of the show is simple; a writer exploding with success (Jamie) and a struggling actress (Kathy) and the rise and fall of their marriage.

Normally this would be a pretty basic musical, right? However the true genius comes from one key part of its storytelling: the order at which the story is shown to you.

Jamie performs his side of the story in chronological order, from the start of the relationship ending with their divorce. Kathy, however, tells her story flipped; starting with their divorce and ending when Kathy first meets Jamie.

The two actors almost never interact on-stage, singing solo songs for every single song except for the act one ending song The Next Ten Minutes, where Jamie proposes and the two marry.

Now you might be asking: why is this important to the story? and which character was supposed to be the “bad guy” in the marriage?

If you delve into the story and look at the way the story depicts both characters’ perspectives on what happened then an obvious fact becomes clear:

Jamie is an asshole and was the main problem in the marriage. You aren’t, and never were supposed to side with him.

Throughout the show, Jamie is shown to be obsessed with his own fame, gloating about how he seems to only be able to exponentially succeed in his writing. His obsession makes him blind to the struggles of his wife, even going as far as deluding himself into thinking his wife’s struggles is simply her being jealous of his success. By the end of the show, Jamie cheats on Kathy and proceeds to blame her for not allowing him privacy.

THAT’S why the storytelling of The Last Five Years is so compelling. By only showing these characters seperate from each other, it forces us to become familiar with Jamie and Kathy as individuals rather than a couple. It allows us to see Jamie’s douchebaggery up-close and personal, with the entire first act highlighting this glaring detail and allowing us to see the consequences of this as his marriage devolve in the second act. Just the simple fact that Jamie’s story is chronological creates a beautiful dichotomy between Kathy’s frustrations, sadness and abandonment and Jamie’s cocky, happy-go-lucky success story.

Before I finish writing this and go to bed, i’d like to say I don’t blame those who hold this view for thinking this about The Last Five Years for one reason only; the only way they got to see it was the movie version.

the film adaption of The Last Five Years (2014) decided that the reason the musical worked was because “interesting timeline go brrr” and decided to keep the original timeline, but instead had both characters constantly interacting.

Instead of having this abstract deconstruction of these two characters, with both Kathy and Jamie monologuing their personal thoughts and emotions separately, they mash together and create this weird, realistic depiction of a breakup. The performances from Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan were amazing, don’t get me wrong, but these choices in the adaption rip the emotion and soul out of its inspiration and sell the corpse for $20 a viewing.

Jamie and Kathy’s marriage is a cautionary tale about what happens when you don’t listen and understand your partner. It is not a desperate attempt of a composer to appear in the right about his marriage and it shouldn’t be a sloppy retelling of a failed marriage with a quirky form of storytelling. Please please PLEASE if you agree with this original TikTok’s message just know you are so UNBELIEVABLY wrong.

tldr; you are not supposed to side with Jamie!!!! he is in the wrong!!!! that’s the whole point of the musical!!!!! don’t watch the movie it sucks and is innacurate!!!!!!! RAHHHHHHHHHHHH

#musicals #broadway #the last five years #anna kendrick #jeremy jordan #jason robert brown #music #theatre #art #essay #relationships #marriage #divorcedlife

[mattivoda]

Now more than ever we need to get out of this place. We're living in a McDonald's/truck stop parking lot and some sketchy asshole just parked next to my sister, stared into her windows, left, came back and did it again, left again, and started to come back a third time but saw my mother standing beside sis's car with her knife out just waiting (she may be old, but she's like a rabid animal when riled, and nothing riles a mother who's already lost a child more than the threat of something happening to another). There was hope on the horizon for us, but it keeps falling through. please, if you can share this around for us so we can finally get to safety, I'd appreciate it SO much!

[mattivoda]

gonna have to deal with three years of having the thumb from spy kids as a prime minister,,, feels bad man

#luxon #politics #nzpol #nz #aotearoa

[mattivoda]

The Erection Man.

Elections in NZ are coming up, don't forget to register to vote.

A friend asked me to make this. Made with Blender using metaballs and grease pencil

[mattivoda]

friendly reminder that actions by a terrorist organisation do not rationalize a siege on a city filled with million of innocent bystanders.

genuinely convinced the Israeli government doesn't actually view Palestinians as humans anymore.

from The Guardian: Israel declares siege of Gaza as Hamas threatens to start killing hostages

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/09/israel-declares-siege-on-gaza-as-hamas-claims-israeli-strikes-killed-captives

[mattivoda]

Luxon's patch policy is just such an obvious display of National and the general right wanting to silence the consequences of their horrific economic plans. Actually insane they're willing to make a fucking dress code but turn a blind eye to actually supporting people in need.

Christopher Luxon's gang patch policy is irresponsible and will lead to increased racism against Māori.

Christopher Luxon plans to give the cops power to break up gangs and make wearing gang patches an offence. But what counts as a gang patch? What proof of gang membership do the cops need to break up groups? The cops are already proven to be racist against Māori. "Gangs" are already a racist dog whistle used by the right against Māori. Giving the government this power gives the cops another excuse to target Māori.

Can we really trust Aotearoa's cops to identify specific gang patches from a distance? This policy could very well lead to cops targeting anyone who wears anything that sort of looks like a gang patch. Unless all cops have an extensive knowledge of gang patches, an eagle eye, and good morals, this policy is ridiculous.

Certain cops will have different ideas about what counts as a "gang". There are people who will call any political cause they disagree with a "gang". This policy could empower cops to intimidate or even break up groups of antifa, queers, anti-racists, etc. This policy could be a tool of political suppression.

Christopher Luxon's a dickhead who does not belong in government.