March - Falsettos Oneshots

That One Essay I Wrote Junior Year

Ehehe so someone requested that I post this~
I haven't touched this in two years, as I am now a college student. I have no memory of what I wrote, so I hope it's not too bad!
Happy reading ~ Storm

Falsettos and the 1980s
    Falsettos, written by William Finn and James Lapine, is a musical written between 1981 and 1990, which occurs during 1979 (Act 1) and 1981 (Act 2). It centers around the life of Marvin, who leaves his wife Trina and son Jason for another man named Whizzer. During Act One, Whizzer and Marvin’s relationship gradually worsens, as Marvin is both not to terms with his sexuality and he continuously attempts to place Whizzer into the role of the woman in their relationship. Trina ends up marrying Mendel, Marvin’s psychiatrist, and nobody is happy throughout. Further in the act, Marvin kicks Whizzer out, ending their relationship for two years. In Act Two, Marvin and Whizzer get back together, but Whizzer ends up diagnosed with AIDS. Everyone, including “the lesbians from next door,” Cordelia (a caterer) and Charlotte (a doctor), becomes increasingly closer as Whizzer nears death. The musical and the songs within reflect the late 1970s and early 80s through the topics of gender roles, AIDS, homosexuality, and psychiatry.
One of the major topics brought up in the musical is the idea of traditional and new gender roles. In “Tight Knit Family/Love is Blind,” Marvin initially has his preferred family, which is the stereotype (a wife and son). Although Marvin enjoys having this family, he still wants more, as he is in love with Whizzer. He wants to “have it all,” though that is impossible, especially due to homosexuality not being accepted very well. Marvin divorces Trina, and she meets with Mendel, where Trina states that she is everything Marvin had wanted. She thinks that she was the perfect woman: submissive, caring, etc., and that perfectly embodies the traditional role that women had in the family. In “Thrill of First Love,” Whizzer acts against Marvin’s attempts to put him into the role of the woman in the relationship. Marvin shows his dominance over Whizzer when he continually has the last word in their arguments. They throw insults in most of their comments, as Whizzer enjoys upsetting Marvin to some extent. Marvin and Whizzer’s banter becomes much more confrontational during “This Had Better Come to a Stop,” where Marvin almost instantly puts Whizzer into the traditional female stereotype. Marvin claims that Whizzer should always be “making dinner… [since] that’s what pretty boys should do.” Marvin keeps trying to get Whizzer to stop acting like himself and become the perfect partner, threatening to break up with him if he doesn’t conform with the idea; however, Marvin tells Whizzer not to feel responsible for the break up if it does occur. Marvin wants a particular thing from his partners, feeling unsatisfied if they refuse to obey his demands. Despite this seeming cruel, Marvin is the embodiment of the traditional household male, wanting to have complete control over his lovers. Quickly, everyone targets Marvin, bluntly telling him that they don’t love him, asserting how he constantly tries to change them. He counters, claiming that everyone else is acting incorrectly and that their behaviour has to change. Regardless, Trina mentions how she was the perfect wife, doing everything that Marvin wanted, and he still divorced her. Unhappy with altering for Marvin’s sake, Whizzer asks “Why is it always ourselves that have to change?” Marvin pushes the stereotype on everyone, constantly searching for a perfect life, although none of them enjoys this. 
During “Trina’s Song/March of the Falsettos,” Trina notes that men are generally immature and aren’t enough for her, but she decides that she will marry Mendel anyways, as it is what would be expected of her. She will change her life to satisfy others, as it is easier to fit into a role that most would want of her rather than making her own choices, asserting the point that she acts mostly submissive. In “Making a Home,” the family works to create the general atmosphere of a stereotypical home; however, Mendel, Trina and Whizzer all mention “making believe,” suggesting that they cannot accomplish this, although they will keep trying. They attempt to embody the pressuring stereotypes, and since people were becoming more open to different types of families, trying to play a part does not satisfy them. 
Finally, “The Chess Game” symbolizes Marvin and Whizzer’s relationship. Both of them feel that no matter how they act, they are doing something wrong, causing the breakup. Throughout the game, Marvin instructs Whizzer, and he obeys, although when Whizzer attempts to instruct Marvin, he refuses to listen. Whizzer even asks “how should I behave myself?” He evidently needs permission to make any decision in their lives. Whizzer asks if he can win, but the instant he does, Marvin becomes angry and defensive, since winning and having power are the most important things to him. These gender roles in the 80s were explored in a lecture during the time by Ellen Goodman (Sallie). She analyzes the changing roles, as people tended to stray from the traditional values that Marvin continuously attempts to enforce on his family. She notes how both public and private lives had changed dramatically over the 1970s and 1980s, with a primary motivator of this change being the shift in women’s rights. Women had traditionally been primarily mothers and homemakers, but they were gradually becoming more involved in working outside of the home. Similarly, the leader of the household began to be less defined, with it varying from person to person; however, Goodman mentions that although much change was occurring, women still weren’t wholly given what they wanted due to major economic limitations. In the case of Falsettos, the central theme explored related to this topic is the general discontent with traditional roles for women, continuously expressed through Whizzer and Trina not wanting to act submissively. Despite Whizzer being a male character, Marvin’s treatment of him exhibits the roles that many hoped to change during the 80s; therefore, this musical reflects the attempts to shift standard gender roles.
The AIDS crisis is a second major idea within the show that reflects the period in which it occurs. The first time that the AIDS crisis appears is during “Something Bad is Happening/More Racquetball.” Charlotte stresses that rumours are going around that something bad is spreading. When Marvin and Whizzer play racquetball, Whizzer collapses on the ground and is unable to move. He is rushed to the hospital, where he is diagnosed with AIDS and learns that he will die. In the reprise of the song, Charlotte claims that the virus “spreads from one man to another.” Though it never directly says that the issue is AIDS, it is very clearly implied through the notion that it is a virus that had primarily affected homosexual men during the 80s. According to hiv.gov, in 1981 a total of 337 people had succumbed to the illness, with 130 dying. This played a key role in the hysteria surrounding it, and since the first person hospitalized for the illness was a gay man, it was quickly considered to be “gay cancer.” In 1981, the illness had just emerged, yet at this point, there was no cure, leading to one of the most emotional songs, “You Gotta Die Sometime.” Whizzer compares death to the reason why he got AIDs, acting as though it is a lover. This reaffirms that although in the early 1980s it is unnamed, it is a sexually transmitted illness. During the 80s, the myth of there being a “patient zero” was circulating as well. This myth suggests that there had been one person to initially have the illness who spread it to many others through sexual conduct. In the case of AIDS, it had killed a large sum of people. Research done in an article titled “HIV/AIDS; New research reveals accidental making of 'Patient Zero' myth during 1980s AIDS crisis,” reveals that Dugas, who had been considered the “Patient Zero” at the time, was not a carrier of the base strand of AIDS. Misconceptions such as this had added to the stigma surrounding both homosexuality and the crisis in general. People paid less attention to individual cases, as exemplified through Whizzer, preferring to pin the blame on certain people.
In “Days Like This,” the tight-knit family is unsure of how to react to Whizzer’s illness, though they try to stay hopeful. Whizzer seems to be doing slightly better, and everyone believes that he is making a recovery, but since there was no cure yet, he inevitably dies. Many people, like the family, were unaware of how to react, so the government sent out a pamphlet to the public in order to help them understand the illness (Davis). Though it was meant to reach most people, the law did not require the actual pamphlet to be sent out, leading to many continuing to be unaware. For many to be aware of the brochure, the government initiated publicity campaigns, which convinced many to read it. It explained plenty of basic information about the virus, including what it was, how it spread, and diagnosing the illness (Understanding Aids). It attempted to reduce the hysteria surrounding AIDS, explaining that regular contact cannot cause it to spread. Furthermore, it addresses how everyone could contract it, revealing that this disease was not entirely linked to homosexuality as it was initially thought to be. In the final song of the musical, the entire family unites at Whizzer’s gravestone. Though not a long song, it reveals the harsh reality that many families were exposed to as their loved ones had died from the illness.
More generally than AIDS, Falsettos addresses the topic of homosexuality and stigma revolving around it. In “Love is Blind,” Whizzer and Marvin love each other, and although Whizzer does not really care to hide this, Marvin focuses on saying incredibly secretive. He prefers to stay hidden, going so far as to say that he is “not usually indiscreet” during “What More Can I Say?” to express this sentiment. Many people expected relationships like Marvin and Trina’s initial marriage. Over two years, Marvin comes to terms with who he is. In “Falsettoland/About Time,” Marvin believes that he should finally accept how his life has turned out and actually grow up. He finally determines that there is nothing wrong with loving Whizzer and depending on him. He defies the stigma, knowing that even though some people would try to change him, it is alright. Several groups of people attempted to get rid of homosexuality altogether, including a church group that sought to reform them (Spring). Some of these people considered homosexuality to be a behavioural issue that had to be corrected. Former homosexuals created new groups, claiming that it was not a genetic issue and that friendship would be able to get people out of “homosexual lifestyles.” Furthering this point, another homophobic view during the 80s is expressed through Jason’s character. During “My Father’s a Homo,” Jason expresses one of the fears of people at the time. He believes that since his father is homosexual, the gene will “carry” and he is destined to also be gay. Further on, in “March of the Falsettos,” Jason questions it again, asking if Marvin being “wary” entails that he is a “fairy,” which was slang for homosexual at the time. Whizzer and Mendel instantly debunk this, although Jason doesn’t really believe them until he admits to having a crush on a girl. Though a common belief at the time, this sentiment was explored in a study about natural selection (Ciotti). Ellstrand, a biologist who conducted the study, explains that this is not due to natural selection, as many extreme sociobiologists had believed at the time. He stresses that there are sources beyond genetics that cause particular behaviours, such as interactions with other organisms and separate stimuli. By touching on this topic, he speaks against the belief at the time that everything that constituted human actions was based on genetics. Overall, the topic of homosexuality and various homophobic and uninformed points of view are explored through the musical.
The final major topic that the musical discusses is psychiatry and mental health, particularly the ineffectiveness of psychiatrists. “Marvin at the Psychiatrist: A Three Part Mini Opera” explores Mendel’s shortcomings as a psychiatrist, as he asks Marvin questions about Trina rather than actually attempting to help Marvin with his issues. This ties into the antipsychiatry movement, which criticized the theory and practice of psychiatry (Desai). It centered around psychiatrists being generally ineffective and unhelpful, and in some cases harmful, and though this movement was not incredibly well known, it reached its height in the 1970s. During “Please Come to Our House/Jason’s Therapy,” Trina takes advantage of Jason’s therapy session in order to get closer to Mendel. This song truly exemplifies Mendel’s incompetence as a therapist, since he simply tells Jason to work out his issues by just saying “feel alright for the rest of your life,” rather than giving him useful advice on how to manage his issues. With this, Jason hardly even considers it to be therapy, finding it largely unhelpful. Even with it being Jason’s therapy sessions, it quickly turns to Jason giving Mendel therapy instead, as Mendel panics and Jason assists him in the exact manner Mendel had previously attempted. Despite this, general mental health practices within the 80s had improved (Sartorius). Advances in the field of psychological medicine were made, with governments generally attempting to improve mental health, attempting to provide more resources to help people. In many nations, there had been very few psychiatrists, and many hoped to change this by training an increasing number of doctors, along with working to define mental health and disorders more accurately. Overall, formulating a plan to improve mental health services had helped many, and though at the time psychiatry had much room for improvement, it did gradually begin to benefit people to a much greater extent.
    Falsettos accurately reflects topics regarding gender roles, homosexuality, AIDS, and psychiatry as they were in the 1980s. Throughout the period, many conflicts arose that were somewhat related to the topics of liberty and welfare mentioned in the United States Constitution. Primarily, a fight had occurred that would attempt to give everyone equal liberties, exhibited through the gay rights movement, which attempted to destigmatize homosexuality, and changing gender roles that would make males and females more equal over time. Though neither of these movements brought about instantaneous change, they were significant in paving the way for equal rights and opportunities. This aspect of the period did fulfil the hope to create liberty as written in the constitution to some extent, and although it was not perfect, it helped many in the long run. Similarly, welfare improved greatly as well. Psychiatry was progressing slowly, and it continuously enhanced the lives of plenty of people. The AIDS epidemic, though disastrous, ended up creating a search for a cure that would save the lives of many once it was discovered; therefore, the 1980s served as a period of significant change that would ultimately help fulfil parts of the written constitution.

Works Cited

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James, Sallie. "COLUMNIST: OVERLAPPING GENDER ROLES BRING SLOW SOCIAL
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