I Like Monday 31
This Monday, I like... "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" from the soundtrack to Disney's Hercules.
I was skeptical when I heard Disney were going to make a movie about Hercules. How were they going to get around the whole illegitimate-son-of-a-god thing? Or Hera's vendetta? The twelve labours being punishment for Hercules going insane and murdering his first wife and children? The Hydra's poison coming back to bite him on the ass? And the answer was... they were just going to ignore all that and make something up. Also, there are nine Muses - NINE, Disney, not five!
Ok, so the mythology purist in me is not amused. But I (kinda) forgive them because of Megara: a sassy, sharp-witted and conflicted "anti"-heroine with impossible hair, tiny boobs and a tragic history (yay, angst!). I don't care that I don't know any Greek legends about selling your soul in exchange for another's, there ought to be! Megara's story is far more interesting than the eponymous hero's: from innocence and self-sacrifice to disappointment, bitterness and cynicism, back through a hesitant emotional and moral reawakening to find love and hope again. And it all gets summed up in this song, one of the cleverest and possibly the most truthful of Disney's love themes. Megara, defensive and prickly, is countered by the Muses, acting as chorus/conscience/gaggle of girl friends, who persistently and kindly persuade her to accept her real feelings - if only to herself. Those last four lines always make me tear up a little. Plus it's a great tune and Susan Egan is an awesome singer; I love the fierce little growl she does when she sings, "Get off my case".
This song, this character saves a movie that would otherwise turn me into a grouchy bore. That's got to be a good thing.
Click to viewI was skeptical when I heard Disney were going to make a movie about Hercules. How were they going to get around the whole illegitimate-son-of-a-god thing? Or Hera's vendetta? The twelve labours being punishment for Hercules going insane and murdering his first wife and children? The Hydra's poison coming back to bite him on the ass? And the answer was... they were just going to ignore all that and make something up. Also, there are nine Muses - NINE, Disney, not five!
Ok, so the mythology purist in me is not amused. But I (kinda) forgive them because of Megara: a sassy, sharp-witted and conflicted "anti"-heroine with impossible hair, tiny boobs and a tragic history (yay, angst!). I don't care that I don't know any Greek legends about selling your soul in exchange for another's, there ought to be! Megara's story is far more interesting than the eponymous hero's: from innocence and self-sacrifice to disappointment, bitterness and cynicism, back through a hesitant emotional and moral reawakening to find love and hope again. And it all gets summed up in this song, one of the cleverest and possibly the most truthful of Disney's love themes. Megara, defensive and prickly, is countered by the Muses, acting as chorus/conscience/gaggle of girl friends, who persistently and kindly persuade her to accept her real feelings - if only to herself. Those last four lines always make me tear up a little. Plus it's a great tune and Susan Egan is an awesome singer; I love the fierce little growl she does when she sings, "Get off my case".
This song, this character saves a movie that would otherwise turn me into a grouchy bore. That's got to be a good thing.