If I was a [rich] man, I’d be the man.
Places, places! Our Show and Tell episode on Musicals is out now!
Curtain up! Light the lights! Today we are finally devoting an entire episode to one of our favorite topics: MUSICALS. Jenn identifies “The Outside,” from Taylor Swift, as the perfect song for the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. (Never seen it? No worries, Jenn gives a full synopsis!). Then, Jodi finds parallels between “The Man” and “If I Were a Rich Man,” from Fiddler on the Roof. And finally, we can’t talk about musicals without Hamilton! Maansi brings it home by comparing “Midnight Rain” to “Satisfied,” and we wonder if (and when!) Lin Manuel Miranda and Taylor Swift will bring their lyrical genius minds together.
Take a quick look at this week’s episode:
This week’s extra credit - Brought to you by Jodi
There are two things in life people love to hate: Musicals and Taylor Swift.
How anyone could loathe the joy of storytelling through music is beyond my comprehension, which is why we just did an entire episode bringing these two topics together. For this week’s extra credit, I wanted to explore why people hate these two things that I, personally, love. (Side note: I told my BetterUp coach, Sue, that this was the topic, and she encouraged me not to judge people who have this opinion. Me? Judge!? 👋🏻 Hi, Sue!)
Loathing. Unadulterated Loathing. - “Wicked”
Hate is a pretty strong word. It’s more than a word—it’s a feeling.
Dislike acknowledges your point of view is an opinion. Hate is visceral. Emotional. Unequivocal. No room for confusion. You can dislike something without hating it. I, for example, dislike Les Miserable—a very controversial opinion for a Musical Theater Lover™. In my dislike, I acknowledge that there are elements that are impressive, like the vocal performances. But it’s just not my cup of tea. I understand why others love and appreciate it, but it’s not my choice of musical. I’d never, for example, write an entire Reddit thread on my feelings about the show.
I’m still hurting. - “The Last Five Years”
Musicals at their core convey emotional highs and lows through song and dance. According to my favorite source, Wikipedia: “The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole.” People who hate musicals don’t necessarily hate music and dance in general. Instead, they object to the communication of story and emotions through music and dance in musicals. Google “why do people hate musicals” and the first result is a reddit thread FILLED with 177 comments of people piling on their hatred for people who break out into song and dance.
A deeper look at the language people use when they talk about their hatred of musicals gets to the crux of their hatred:
“Discomfort.” “Cringe.” “Physically uncomfortable.” “Embarrassed revulsion.”
These are pretty strong words to describe a song and dance break. These people have a negative emotional reaction that leads them to hate what they’re seeing. Where does this visceral discomfort come from?
I go back to the definition of a musical: The story and emotional content of a musical are communicated through words, music, movement. Think about iconic musical moments: “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof, “Satisfied” from Hamilton. They not only give voice to the internal thoughts and feelings of the characters—these thoughts and feelings are so magnetic and powerful that they cannot be conveyed through speech alone. They require harmony, melody, timbre, tone, hook, rhyme, modulation—shuffles, pirouettes, waltzes, and grand jetés.
Songs and dances in musicals are inherently emotional content. People who hate musicals hate seeing others express their emotions enthusiastically through song and dance. It’s not the song or dance part that’s the problem—it’s that they’re expressing emotions through song and dance. I may be making a leap (or grand jeté?) here, but their hatred seems to stem from their own fear of getting in touch with their emotions.* They cannot stand to see others share their own high highs and low lows.
Why you gotta be so mean? -Taylor Swift
Like musicals, Taylor Swift communicates stories and emotional content through music. Her songs (as we explore time and again in this podcast!) capture emotional journeys. Her lyrics and performances are unapologetic in their emotional intensity. Whether she’s singing about romance, heartbreak, friendship, illness, or career setbacks, Taylor Swift tells complete stories while taking you on a full emotional roller coaster in 3-4 minutes.
But the hatred toward Taylor Swift isn’t necessarily about the emotional content of her songs. Again, reddit has a lot to say here:
“Vapid.” “Awful personality.” “Garbage human.” “Voice is incredibly mediocre.”
People who hate Taylor Swift object to her as a person in addition to her music. This hatred gets deeply personal. She hasn’t committed any crimes, kicked any puppies, or started any world wars. But the adjectives used to describe Taylor Swift are probably better suited toward people who have.
I have zero scientific or statistical evidence for my thesis, but this is my extra credit and no one is actually grading me so here I go: People hate Taylor Swift for the same reason they hate musicals: Fear.* Fear of expressing their own emotions. Fear of their own mediocrity. Fear of putting themselves out there and getting told they are vapid, have awful personalities, or are garbage humans.
Recognizing your own emotions is scary. Expressing them is nerve wracking. Sharing them with the world is frightening. Doing all of that in song and dance? That takes courage. People who not only don’t appreciate how hard that is, but instead take it a step further and say they hate it and the person who does it? These people are defined by their hatred, because it says more about them than it does about the thing they hate.
As Taylor says herself at the end of “Daylight”:
I wanna be defined by the things that I love
Not the things I hate
Not the things I'm afraid of, I'm afraid of
Or the things that haunt me in the middle of the night
I, I just think that
You are what you love
*Also, maybe the people who hate musicals and/or hate Taylor Swift should go to therapy.