Oklahoma is one of my favorite musicals. Okay, who am I kidding, it is my favorite musical. Now you can judge me for my taste but I'll judge you just as much for being enamored with Wicked or Rent. I have very sound logic to back up my beliefs.
As things like Twilight and the shake-weight have shown us, modern crazes are not always well founded. The same goes for musicals. Just because something is popular today, does not make it the best, and certainly not better than older classics.
And furthermore, older musicals have held through the tests of time. In this age of Spiderman the musical and Shrek the musical, how can we just disregard classics like Oklahoma due to age?
If it isn't age but theme, I feel really bad for you. Seriously. Musicals like Oklahoma are beautiful. They are themed around love and happiness and-- in Oklahoma in particular-- Americanism. I don't want to sound like a crazy all American girl but I do love this country. I love the potential this country has. Sure this country isn't perfect. Progress might not be moving as fast as we want (or might be moving too fast depending on you political views). But we have potential. That's what this country was and is built on. Potential. Potential to have a better life here than in (at first) Europe, and then the rest of the world. Potential. And that is what makes me all American. My belief is potential and the potential of this country. And that's what Oklahoma is about. The potential to find love in someone unexpected. The potential for the farmer and the cowman to be friends. The potential of overcoming any ugliness in the world, like the things keeping Laurie and Curly apart. That's why I love Oklahoma. Because it's beautiful.
In loving Oklahoma I have become very familiar with it. I relate to the characters. Almost everyone is relate-able. Laurie for wanting to be stand-offish towards a cheeky guy, while still wanting to be flirty and chaste. Curly for wanting to be with someone but being to proud (or sheepish) to admit it. Aunt Eller for knowing she is smarter and wiser than everyone else and getting frustrated with people who make life too complicated. Ali Hakim for wanting the hottie, but not being sure that you two are really compatible. Will for having ceaseless faith and love for someone who might not feel the same. Even Jud Fry, for wanting to end up with the person you love and being angry that someone else is better than you and feeling inadequate (Jud Fry is intensely misunderstood. Seriously. One of my favorite characters. He is so relate-able. Minus the porn and suicidal/homicidal tendencies). We have all felt like at least one of these characters. But there is one character that I relate to in a special way, different than any other characters.
Ado Annie. Poor Ado Annie. She can't say no. Not to the male gender at least. She even admits it. She knows how hard it is to look into the eyes of a man who wants you (whether body, mind, or soul) and say one simple word. "No".
Now I am by no means saying I am like Ado Annie. I don't have two boyfriends-- heck I don't even have one! And I've got enough morals not to ever cheat. But that feeling of guilt when you have to turn down a guy... Sucks. And I don't know how to do it well.
I mean first off I've never dumped someone. That might speak to the devotedness to which I enter a relationship, but more likely it was that I didn't know how to quit. I can think of at least one example of being consciously unhappy with a man and I still waited for him to end things.
I don't know if I'm completely blameless for my inability to say no. But it certainly isn't all my fault. Men make it so hard. They put you in a very difficult situation. There is very little compromise when it comes to dealing with a man. It's black and white, yes or no. Well I live between shades of grey. If you really like a guy that you meet, say at a party and you want to see where it can go and they say "let's go find a room". WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT?? You like him, and if you had no morals/were a slut you'd totally go for it. But you DO have morals and you're NOT a slut so you must say no. And what does a man do when you say no? He leaves. Or if you're really unlucky he sticks around to convince you. Gentlemen, saying no more than once is like repeatedly punching yourself in the face. Or taking summer school, you have to do it but it sucks just the same. If we say no, it doesn't mean we don't like you. It doesn't mean we wouldn't date you... It just means our parents raised us better than to let a drunk (and clearly horny) guy get us alone in a room with a bed in it. Were smarter than that. So give us a break.
I wrote this a few weeks ago, but didn't have the guts to publish it until now. It needed to be shared with the world. Sometimes you have to write from the heart like no one's reading. It's more honest that way.
No comments:
Post a Comment