#hyperfixating on falsettos

[takemebacktowheniwassane]

falsettos tumblr do you approve of my gay old man art, and if so would you like some more

[trobedarchive]

hey *gets physically ill engaging with hyperfixation*

[citrusdevill]

anyone else ever think about that one line in year of the child when trina says "since this is the last loving thing we'll probably ever do together". and how its heavily implied and headcannoned that marvin dies shortly after whizzer, jasons bar mitzvah was probably the last loving thing they ever did together. or is that just me

[witlesswitnesstm]

I am a firm Marvin Gardens BPD/NPD truther, so here’s all my evidence.

This is a very long post, so buckle up.

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Let’s go through the symptoms he shows, shall we?

- Has unreasonably high sense of self importance, and requires constant admiration:

Marvin, especially as a child, exhibits a large amount of grandiosity. This is most evident in How Marvin eats his breakfast and My Highschool Sweetheart.

He thinks of himself as above the maid staff and he constantly threatens/accuses them. Then he’s given the role of Columbus, and highly identifies with him to the point where he claims he *is* Columbus. That he’s this grand explorer, who’s the king of the ocean. He believes he’s powerful because of the role.

Then as an adult, Marvin has a constant need for adoration. He needs people (like Whizzer and Trina) to love and want him in songs like Thrill of first love and This had better come to a stop. That might even be a reason he got with Trina in the first place. He wanted to feel needed, without the responsibility of having to love back.

Not to mention the line “Kid. Be my son.” In Father to son. He wants Jason to fulfill the role as his son (and subsequently love him), not really acknowledging he’s his own person. But he still deeply cares about Jason, and wants him to succeed, he just does it through the only lense he understands; himself. Also, I noticed that Marvin literally moves the chess board aside and makes Jason face him during that song, even though he clearly doesn’t want to.

- Believes they deserve special privileges or treatment:

The R of Ms. Goldberg shows Marvin is obsessed with getting what he wants, for no other reason besides the fact that he wants it. It’s also implied that he didn’t even necessarily have the acting skills required to be Columbus, Ms. Goldberg just conceded because he kept pestering her. He believed he deserved it, so he got it.

- Make achievements and talents bigger than they actually are:

Again, Marvin obsessed over being a star actor. He also consistently exaggerates his intelligence with lines like “I can read her like a book” in How Marvin eats his breakfast and “I'm not so rich but hell I'm smart.” In This had better come to a stop.

In I never wanted to love you, Marvin also claims that he’s in demand, when he’s most likely not and is just trying to cover for his ego.

- Preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, brilliance

Oh wow. Ok, so we all know about the metaphor for games at this point. Marvin loves winning, he literally says it’s everything to him. He also says that he wants it all multiple times which is just, really driving home the point that he craves success and power over everything else.

Marvin is also characterized as being rich, which again emphasizes his need for success. I’m thinking he climbed the corporate ladder for the sole objective of looking like he’s successful.

Side note, I think the reason he never acknowledges how rich he is might be because he’s ashamed of being a trust fund baby. He had a whole maid staff as a kid, so it’s implied his parents had mad stacks. He might’ve sought success outside his parents’ money so that it was his own accomplishment, not his family’s.

I want to touch on My chance to survive the night, specifically the line “I played a game. She was as cute as a dime and couldn't spell. I asked her to spell my name. That's it for girls.” Marvin has a history of using games as a basis for breaking up with people because of his insecurity, even before Chess game. He gets a lot better with this in act 2, and this is evident in the racquetball matches. He seems a little unconfident, but he’s not devastated by it in the way he would be before.

I’ve mentioned this in a separate post, but The r of Ms. Goldberg can also be interpreted as a fantasy for power, since Marvin isn’t actually interested in having sex with Ms. Goldberg, and instead just wants to have control over her.

- Is critical and looks down on people they feel aren’t important:

Marvin consistently ignores his sweetheart even when she begs for his attention. When she tries to tell him she’s a person, he calls her ridiculous.

Marvin also just generally acted out as a child because he considered everyone as beneath him.

This trait is especially highlighted In Tight Knit family reprise, where he just straight up talks shit about Mendel, not being able to believe that Trina can love him. It’s also shown in Marvin hits Trina, that he dislikes her platitudes and expects substance from her, and then goes on to again beg for admiration with the line “How could you ever deny what we had?”

- Expects others to do what they ask without question:

This is best shown in This had better come to a stop and Chess game. Marvin expects Whizzer to play the housewife, while not acknowledging that he’s his own person.

This is also displayed in Tight Knit family, where he expects everyone to go along with his perfect vision of what a family should be.

- Has an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others:

This is most clear with Sweetheart and Trina. As I’ve said, Marvin blatantly ignores sweetheart’s attempts to love him, and completely disregards her. I want to note how he does this in favor of being attached to Ms. Goldberg and playing Columbus which are his power fantasies, essentially.

This trait is also shown in Breakfast over Sugar when Marvin basically tells Trina to shut up and that she’ll get over it when she’s having a a pretty expected emotional outburst to him divorcing her. He completely disregards her feelings, showing no empathy to her.

- Acts arrogantly:

This can just be interpreted as confidence but Marvin says that he loves being himself multiple times over the course of In trousers.

• Borderline Personality Disorder

- A strong fear of abandonment:

This ties into Marvin’s need for admiration, but he constantly asks others for validation, and even doesn’t want Trina to find new partners because he interprets it as abandonment of his family.

There’s also the workshop version of This had better come to a stop, which is all about how Marvin is terrified that Whizzer’s going to leave him again in act 2, but he tries to bury all those feelings down so that he doesn’t appear needy. One of the lines is “I sit here and slowly rot. Wait for Whizzer, wait for answers, and get none.” Which just really nails down this point.

There’s also Unlikely lovers, when Marvin refuses to leave Whizzer’s side in the hospital.

- A pattern of unstable, intense relationships:

I’m sure we all know where this is going.

Marvin has a lot of opinions about Trina. He says that he thinks she’s perfect in I have a family, but that at the same time, he says that he hates her in I swear I won’t ever again.

His wants are contradictory. He wanted Trina to leave him alone when he divorced her, but couldn’t accept that she married Mendel. Also, he fights with Trina consistently, even throughout Act 2.

Onto Whizzer, their relationship is driven solely by chaotic passion. Their relationship is *built* on fighting and making up with hate sex.

Whizzer has no idea how to feel about Marvin because of how unstable he is. Marvin can be gentle, but he expects everything to go his way. He’s affectionate but highly judgemental. (Then again, so is Whizzer.)

- Quick changes in how they view themself:

This is best shown in Your Lips and Me reprise. Marvin goes from hating who he was and what he did to Ms. Goldberg to having a whole ass victory song about how he loves being himself.

This might be sarcasm, but Marvin is also self deprecating in Tight knit family reprise, with the lyric “I'm too damn peeved, self-absorbed, self-deceived. Who knows?”

- Periods of stress related paranoia and loss of contact with reality

This is a stretch, but Marvin’s exes always hovering around him in In trousers might be paranoia about his past manifesting itself. This is especially clear in I can’t sleep and Your lips and Me reprise where they physically interact with him, preventing him from sleeping or reminding him of his past.

- Impulsive/risky behavior:

Bro got multiple STDs, presumably from unsafe sex. Also, it’s implied that he also got HIV after Whizzer.

Hitting Trina could also be seen as impulsive behavior.

- Wide mood swings:

This is where Marvin’s giddy seizures comes in. He has periods of extreme laughter and giddiness, sporadically.

- Inappropriate levels of anger

Marvin hits Trina. I mean, what else do I have to say? This whole song is about Marvin’s anger taking over his actions and causing physical harm because of it. He also shows inappropriate anger when he brings out Whizzer’s belongings after the Chess game.

Ok Jesus Christ that was a lot of words. Keep in mind that these are just my headcanons and you’re allowed to interpret Marvin in any way you want.

Also I don’t have these disorders myself and I’m not a professional psychologist or anything so let me know if I got some things wrong. I just care way too much about the Marvin Trilogy and I’m also interested in becoming a psychologist.

[nycto-rotting]

idk what it is but MY GOD i love pieces of media or stories that have themes of religion!!! a family struggling to keep it together!!! a shitty dad that would run off with his gay lover???? a wife going crazy?????? and destruction of toxic masculinity!??!? i’ll eat that shit up any day

[ankylosaurusthesaurus]

that thing in musicals when everyone’s singing completely different things and it all falls on top of each other and it’s just pure cacophony but it’s so perfect and it just sounds so right and it’s all brain scratchy <3

[weirdo-with-a-potato]

falsettos has taken over my life

I like how, when they are at Jason’s baseball game, it’s just:

Whizzer: he is psychotic…but he is hot…sooo

and Marvin is just: he may look good but that bitch is gonna steal my money.

(refer to Whizzer, a little too happily: “just remember he’s psychotic” and Marvin, angrily: “he looks damn good but he’s cheep as dirt”

@takemebacktowheniwassane this is all your fault.

[justatree75]

iskall but i'm breaking down from falsettos

[retrofalsettos]

marvin trilogy fandom i miss you

[boredsoup]

My computer totally has a virus but at least now I have Little Shop of Horrors and Falsettos on cd

[real-odark]

dont crossover fandoms/characters you like challenge (impossible) go!!! (dont try at 3am) (gone wrong) (no glue no borax) (vegetarian recipe)

[takemebacktowheniwassane]

so, let's talk about the chess game a little more thoroughly

in the chess game (from falsettos, idk if that's apparently clear, "a chess game" could literally be anything lol) there's a pattern of impatience that follows the two main characters.

Marvin's impatience is fully one-sided, you can see as Whizzer begins the game, he's insistent for him to get his turn over with, even going so far as to (quite condescendingly) ask if Whizzer wants his help. But then the moment it's his turn, he takes his time despite Whizzer having rushed his first move.

I think this might stem from his constant need to "help", or rather, control every situation. He thinks it's always his job to be the leader of every circumstance, as the stereotypical man.

It definitely comes from a childhood of commanding others around and not having a heavy amount of discipline for his actions.

Otherwise, Marvin taking time to calculate his move shows that he's careful with his own placement in life. A life of tiptoing around himself and never actually accepting the full extent of his personality, or sexuality has made him incredibly courteous of where he stands. Maybe it even came from his relationship with Trina, how not being careful led him to being forced into an arranged marriage.

Meanwhile, (and I know I've gone through this bit before in other posts but yes, thanks, I need more appreciation on William Finn not just victimizing Whizzer. Like, he's not that great either guys. We love him, but he isn't perfect.) Whizzer uses the game as a strategy to get Marvin on his side.

Although instead of healthily sorting through his MASS amount of issues, Whizzer pretty much just ends up manipulating him into throwing the game. It's interesting because Whizzer has an opportunity to discuss all of the problems they have with Marvin.

They're in a place in their relationship where he can clearly just throw anything out there, but then he strikes back with anger instead of trying to actually figure out the main issues and help them both through it, effectively shutting off Marvin's ability to actually listen to anything he has to say.

The chess game was actually staged so perfectly, because you can clearly see all of the toxicity in one contained place during that song. There's obviously snippets in others, Marvin's inability to change and Whizzer's insistence not to change because changing would mean they would have to actually talk about their feelings toward each other.

anyways, these are just my thoughts on this :) none of its fully canon, I was just watching through clips of the proshot and realized some interesting things

[cardboardbox-fly]

I’m the type of person to have an idea and literally not function properly until I’ve done said idea

[sydneyofalltrades]

yep. falsettos hyperfixation coming back!!

[youraveragemiscellanyenjoyer]

Getting into a fandom that none of your irl/online friends know of is difficult, my dudes. Like, who am I supposed to rant to about this beautiful wonderful thing I've discovered????

[suburbianovertures]

mini falsettos things i noticed (spoilers)

i'm specifically talking about act the 2016 revival & productions post-revival here. i’ve seen act one in the proshot of the original cast & a small production live.

it's a (probably) fairly well-known fact that the set design incorporates more real-life props (e.g. books, plants, beds) the more serious the scene. more real-life props are introduced as the ending nears, and this takes place primarily in act two, with the bed in what more can i say? and whizzer's hospital bed up until jason's bar mitzvah and the ending. but there are some similar references in act one!!

in i’m breaking down, trina uses a real knife, bowl and food.

in marvin at the psychiatrist, mendel uses a clipboard.

during please come to our house / jason’s therapy, trina brings out real food/plates, but they’re dismissed by mendel in favour of his therapy sessions, which don’t really take anything seriously.

and in making a home, just before marvin hits trina (a very serious/not downplayed moment in the musical), trina, mendel and jason all use real props like plants and books to make the home, and the rest of act two takes place there. they’re surrounded by all of the “serious”, real objects during the most serious moments in act one, during father to son, and (to some extent/at a stretch) the games i play. and this happens again in act two.

there is also the recurring chessboard during significant and more serious moments, but i might make a follow-up for the chessboard prop’s significance :)