Anne's Saturday Out
Aug. 17th, 2003 02:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weaktwosGreetings, citizens of LJ!
Today, I saw the musical Brigadoon. I had seen the movie ages ago, and thought it was sweet. Upon viewing the musical, I was a little disturbed by the plot.
The plot of Brigadoon, if you're not familiar with it, is as follows(in addition to my commentary):
It is 1746, and evil is afoot in the lands of Scotland! Witches are taking over and putting the devil in men's hearts. The plot never gets any more specific than that. I assume that means men in kilts are getting laid like rugs on a cold stone floor. Bummer. The town priest is alarmed at the prospect of this evil arriving in Brigadoon, which is currently full of bonnie lads and lassies (ruff!).
The priest makes a sacrifice. He prays to God for a miracle! He asks God to save Brigadoon from the encroaching witchy world, in exchange for his life. The bonnie lads and lassies (ruff!) of Brigadoon, and the town of Brigadoon itself will disappear from non-Brigadoonish eyes except for one day out of every 100 years. Each night that a Brigadoonie sleeps, 100 years pass for them. During their waking hours, that is the only time when other folk can possibly perceive the town and its people. No Brigadoonie can leave without breaking the spell for all the 'Doonies, but an outsider can come and stay only if he or she falls truly in love with one of the Doonbriggies.
Sure enough, two gringos get lost on a hunting trip and stumble into Brigadoon. It is two days into Post-miracle Brigadoon, and therefore 1946. Tom and Jeff be the gringos' names. Tom falls in love with Fiona, Jeff has a one-day-er frolic with Meg, the town's lusty take-all-comer. A wedding is also about to take place with Fiona's sister and some other handsome yet randy townsman. Another bonnie-yet-bitter lad named Harry is in love with Fiona's sister, and thusly broken-hearted. The wedding goes on, but Harry is distraught. He cannot stand this town, and the only woman he loves is going for the pretty boy and not his bitter, angry self. Shocking.
Harry threatens to leave, chase ensues. Kilts were flying everywhere. Harry "slips and falls" and subsequently dies. The Briggies are safe for now. But Tom gets wierded out by the whole experience, and overcome with doubt about his love for Fiona. He leaves Brigadoon to go back home to New York. Brigadoon disappears into the mists for their good night's sleep.
Tom is miserable back in New York. He misses Brigadoon. He drags his buddy Jeff along. Let the record reflect that while Jeff is comic relief, he's essentially a cynical asshole. He gets his karma for his 'tude via Tom making Jeff take a trip to Scotland just to watch Tom despair over not finding Brigadoon, but yet his love and despair wakens the Dozing 'Doonies. He runs off to join his lady love, leaving Jeff to fend for himself in a wilderness. We don't know what happens to Jeff, but maybe he got eaten by the Loch Ness monster.
So, love conquers all with a myopic townsfolk that aren't even good enough to be Amish.
I enjoy musicals, but this one will not go down as my favorite. I have a soft spot for Sweeny Todd. The big plus for Brigadoon is that most of the male castmembers wear kilts. That's worth it right there. A few of them had to twirl. I saw Edinborough, I saw Scotland, I saw a Scot's Briga-bloomers.
However, I want to take this plot further. Day three will take them into 2046. Day four into 2146. They will probably wake up in the middle of a city, or in the land of Terminator-esque machines. I want to see what happens when a terminator droid shuffles into Brigadoon. Calamity ensues, as a bunch of ebullient Brigadooners get crunched by robots. Oops. The priest only bought them 4 days of bliss before they went off to meet their great "reward".
I think I was rather annoyed by the whole "witches are coming to get us" angle. Though a cute and unlikely fireball romance unfurls in this environment, I think that it arises in the midst of isolationism perturbs me. Hopefully they get obliterated on the 5th day so they don't start hating each other.
Today, I saw the musical Brigadoon. I had seen the movie ages ago, and thought it was sweet. Upon viewing the musical, I was a little disturbed by the plot.
The plot of Brigadoon, if you're not familiar with it, is as follows(in addition to my commentary):
It is 1746, and evil is afoot in the lands of Scotland! Witches are taking over and putting the devil in men's hearts. The plot never gets any more specific than that. I assume that means men in kilts are getting laid like rugs on a cold stone floor. Bummer. The town priest is alarmed at the prospect of this evil arriving in Brigadoon, which is currently full of bonnie lads and lassies (ruff!).
The priest makes a sacrifice. He prays to God for a miracle! He asks God to save Brigadoon from the encroaching witchy world, in exchange for his life. The bonnie lads and lassies (ruff!) of Brigadoon, and the town of Brigadoon itself will disappear from non-Brigadoonish eyes except for one day out of every 100 years. Each night that a Brigadoonie sleeps, 100 years pass for them. During their waking hours, that is the only time when other folk can possibly perceive the town and its people. No Brigadoonie can leave without breaking the spell for all the 'Doonies, but an outsider can come and stay only if he or she falls truly in love with one of the Doonbriggies.
Sure enough, two gringos get lost on a hunting trip and stumble into Brigadoon. It is two days into Post-miracle Brigadoon, and therefore 1946. Tom and Jeff be the gringos' names. Tom falls in love with Fiona, Jeff has a one-day-er frolic with Meg, the town's lusty take-all-comer. A wedding is also about to take place with Fiona's sister and some other handsome yet randy townsman. Another bonnie-yet-bitter lad named Harry is in love with Fiona's sister, and thusly broken-hearted. The wedding goes on, but Harry is distraught. He cannot stand this town, and the only woman he loves is going for the pretty boy and not his bitter, angry self. Shocking.
Harry threatens to leave, chase ensues. Kilts were flying everywhere. Harry "slips and falls" and subsequently dies. The Briggies are safe for now. But Tom gets wierded out by the whole experience, and overcome with doubt about his love for Fiona. He leaves Brigadoon to go back home to New York. Brigadoon disappears into the mists for their good night's sleep.
Tom is miserable back in New York. He misses Brigadoon. He drags his buddy Jeff along. Let the record reflect that while Jeff is comic relief, he's essentially a cynical asshole. He gets his karma for his 'tude via Tom making Jeff take a trip to Scotland just to watch Tom despair over not finding Brigadoon, but yet his love and despair wakens the Dozing 'Doonies. He runs off to join his lady love, leaving Jeff to fend for himself in a wilderness. We don't know what happens to Jeff, but maybe he got eaten by the Loch Ness monster.
So, love conquers all with a myopic townsfolk that aren't even good enough to be Amish.
I enjoy musicals, but this one will not go down as my favorite. I have a soft spot for Sweeny Todd. The big plus for Brigadoon is that most of the male castmembers wear kilts. That's worth it right there. A few of them had to twirl. I saw Edinborough, I saw Scotland, I saw a Scot's Briga-bloomers.
However, I want to take this plot further. Day three will take them into 2046. Day four into 2146. They will probably wake up in the middle of a city, or in the land of Terminator-esque machines. I want to see what happens when a terminator droid shuffles into Brigadoon. Calamity ensues, as a bunch of ebullient Brigadooners get crunched by robots. Oops. The priest only bought them 4 days of bliss before they went off to meet their great "reward".
I think I was rather annoyed by the whole "witches are coming to get us" angle. Though a cute and unlikely fireball romance unfurls in this environment, I think that it arises in the midst of isolationism perturbs me. Hopefully they get obliterated on the 5th day so they don't start hating each other.
