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It's been a while since I've had a nice thought-y post here. I've had a lot of possible topics running through my head, but nothing's really coalesced into a full entry. I think I've got one here, though. Since they're making Into the Woods into a movie (which I have lots of misgivings about, but that's another issue), I've been thinking a lot about its themes. At times I get downright angry about it, and then I wonder if that's how I'm meant to feel. There's truth in its storyline that's almost too real for me. Seriously, the first time I saw it I hated it (the second act, anyway, when all the happy endings fall apart.) Then I couldn't stop thinking about it. Anyway, here's a look at one of its motifs - the pangs of adolescence.


There are two characters whose journeys take on the form of coming-of-age stories, one male and one female. The differences between their journeys are startlingly incisive portrayals of the difference between what each gender deals with. That difference ends up being pretty disturbing under scrutiny.

First, Jack. He has an adventure, undertaken voluntarily after a giant beanstalk is accidentally planted in his yard. He's excited, a little naive beforehand. Afterwards? He's wiser, but still filled with energy and glee. His song, "Giants in the Sky" is a fast-paced, swooping tune, ending in triumph. Seeing how he's a young man, and this can be seen as a metaphor for discovery sex/sexuality, what does he have to say about that? Of the Giant's wife: "She gives you food and she gives you rest/And she holds you close to her giant breast/And you know things now that you never knew before"* He's pretty thrilled. There's some peril, of course - he barely escapes the Giant, and some of the thrill of his adventure is blackened by that. However, he escapes unscathed, with his treasure and his newfound knowledge. His primary conflict afterwards is being torn: "And you think of all of the things you've seen/And you wish that you could live in between" He's still somewhat caught between childhood and adulthood. But there's optimism in his outlook.

Then we have Red Riding Hood. She doesn't have an adventure. She is assaulted. The wolf's song, while darkly humorous as he's "talking to his meal," is a pretty obvious metaphor for sexual violence. He's relishing her victimhood. Yech. And Red, in spite of being an innocent, is somewhat blamed for following the wolf's suggestion to wander off the path. Is there really any way she could have been safe once the wolf decided to target her? Afterward, her song "I Know Things Now" is much slower than Jack's, thoughtful and full of hard lessons learned. "Do not put your faith in a cape and a hood/They will not protect you the way that they should" For the remainder of the play, she wields a knife and finds it hard to trust anyone she meets. She's hardened. Adolescence, for her, (and perhaps for all females in a predatory culture) is a time of increasing cynicism and justifiable paranoia about the dark, ugly world.

Later, Jack must face some of that ugliness. But it's not so much about getting himself hurt as his actions inadvertently hurting others. Slaying the Giant leads to a vengeful attack from the Giant's wife. She goes on to kill lots of innocents, including Jack's mother but also others who had nothing to do with Jack. Is there some kind of implication about the terrible potential power of boys becoming men? That girls have to worry about being the prey while boys have to keep from becoming predators? I'm not sure. Whatever the case, every time I look at the those two songs side by side, the difference is too striking to ignore.

*I'm writing these lyrics from memory, so they may not be 100% accurate.
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