Lyric changes in "problematic" songs, and other meditations on current fandom climate
I came across an interesting thread on the Broadway subreddit discussing a lyric change in Sweeney Todd. In the original 1979 cast recording, Pirelli says, "I was suddenly struck with a horrible dermatologic disease." But in the 2005 revival recording, he says, "rare Oriental disease." Apparently, this change was made to mock/satirize such racism, but this context would be totally lost on modern audiences, or considered unacceptable in the current climate.
This reminded me of how the 2021 revival of the Music Man completely revamped the lyrics of the Shipoopi to make it into a preachy sermon on consent. While I appreciate the intent behind these changes, I dislike the execution. Sometimes stories need to have problematic elements in order to make their point. Stories become toothless when nothing offensive is allowed to happen - if you soften the brutality of a story, then people can ignore the lessons of it easier.
The fact is, Iowa in 1912 didn't give a shit about female consent. At least, not the way we understand the term in 2023. I came across a thoughtful article discussing the "needless changes" made to the 2021 revival, and the writer makes the excellent point that the whole message of the show was ultimately about people learning to treat people better - for example, the town was pretty awful to Marian, and Harold was pretty awful to people in general. Inserting a ham-fisted sermon about consent does not add anything of value to the story, and it also isn't even an accurate representation of the townspeople's attitudes of the time.
While the Music Man has its problematic elements, it still has much of value that transcends its own era. Unlike Carousel, which is a piece of abuse apologia that cannot be redeemed (although the music is beautiful). The difference between the Music Man and Carousel is that Harold Hill is not romanticized. He's charming and he's the protagonist, but he is not in the right. He's a jerk on the wrong path who is given the choice to change and reform his waywardness, and he does. But the leading man in Carousel ends up hitting his daughter in his frustration at his own failure to communicate with her - and he still gets to go to heaven anyway! Even worse, the daughter romanticizes his hitting her, and the mother confirms this warped view of abuse as love.
That's just messed up, and it would take more than a few lyric changes to save that dumpster fire. Meanwhile, Marian loves Harold, but she is more than willing to call him on his bullshit. Even when she's besotted, she lets him know that she knows who and what he is. And unlike most female characters of her era, she is not passive aggressive but straightforward and direct. She also doesn't try to trick or pressure Harold into changing for her (no "Marry the Man Today" grossness in this musical!), which is incredibly refreshing.
And Harold does make good on his promise to teach the kids music in the end, even if the "deus ex machina" solution that the Think System actually works is rather absurd. But that's what makes it such a fun fantasy - why American audiences demand everything be so damn literal in their storytelling, I have never understood, despite being a twelfth-generation American. I have always enjoyed miraculous, paranormal, metaphysical, and magical elements in stories that are otherwise set in a realistic framework, and as a writer I often include them in my own stories. When these elements are not overused - of course, everyone's mileage varies on what constitutes overuse! - these little nuggets are a reminder that the universe is a mysterious place and we do not have all the answers to life's mysteries.