#my extra-petty opinion is that it's a crappy musical and people are finally realizing it

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Why does everyone hate the Dear Evan Hansen movie so much? I thought the Broadway show was like beloved??

Hello nonny dear! This got long because I am incapable of shutting up so this is below the cut.

So, quick disclaimer: I am not a fan of DEH as a musical. I never liked it, for a few reasons, the main one being a personal preference - I simply don't like stories where the entire plot is based on a person lying to people. It really, really stresses me out (it's why I can't watch a lot of comedies). I think part of it is being autistic - I don't understand why the person lied. You can try explaining it to me, I just won't understand. It doesn't compute in my brain. In related news, I tend to be a bad liar and also extremely blunt. So!

DEH as a musical was loved by a lot of people, specifically young people. I actually noticed a very similar trend with DEH that I did with RENT, which is a musical from my generation that is beloved by people my age but by older people not so much. RENT, like DEH, speaks to the opinions, viewpoints, and issues of younger people. RENT is full of youthful anger at an unfair system, at feeling powerless, at not being listened to, and it also speaks to that youthful love of rebellion and art for art's sake. DEH, on the other hand, speaks to young people's struggles to fit in, with feeling alone, with depression, and so on.

As pointed out in one of the reviews, part of why people liked DEH was that the character was so young. The fact that he was in high school was what sold the story. Who hasn't, in a mixture of awkwardness, good intentions, and desire to be valuable, done a questionable or even wrong thing? Who hasn't done something they thought was small, like a white lie, only to have that thing spiral out of control? Kids (and teenagers are kids, God bless you all, I say that with the most sincere and deep affection) do that shit all the time.

However, it's not as endearing in adults. Adults, you see, theoretically understand better the consequences of their actions, the far-reaching ramifications, and are just generally (supposedly) on top of their shit.

To watch an adult (and the main actor playing the title character is completely 100% an adult now) make the same mistakes as a teenager is not endearing. It's annoying. Because your brain RECOGNIZES he's an adult. This is actually why people have discussed the problems with casting 30-somethings as teenagers in TV shows, because we see those 30-somethings in very adult situations (I don't mean that in a "protect the children!" way) but also behaving like, well, teenagers? And so it creates a weird dichotomy in your head and it is literally confusing your brain.

So you have an adult that your brain knows is an adult, behaving like a child, and that is annoying to you. It's not endearing. It's bothersome.

Another reason is that DEH is no longer hot off the presses. Give any popular piece of work time, and you'll start to see the imperfections (although online culture take this way too far and will rip any piece of media to pieces for not being flawless and perfect). A lot of people, again, especially young people (everyone I know who loved DEH was in high school or just starting college) connected with the characters and were grateful to have a story that was front and center about mental health issues. But now, time has passed. The initial rush of emotion connected to DEH is over, and people are able to view it with a more disconnected and therefore more critical eye.

I think, also, DEH fell into the trap that Prom did - Prom was not a perfect musical, and I think if I'd seen it on stage I would've thought of it as cute, sweet, and a bit forgettable. But the director made a LOT of mistakes in filming, such as in casting choices (James Corden please sit down) and in cinematography (he ruined dance numbers by zooming in on people's faces instead of zooming out and letting us watch them dance). I suspect DEH suffers from similar issues, since people often struggle to translate musical theatre to film.

It's oddly easier to suspend your disbelief when watching something on stage than watching it on film. In film, we have special effects, we have so much realism, we can make everything come alive, and so people have higher standards for it than in theatre where we all tacitly acknowledge that this isn't real but we're all here for a good time. The Lion King uses puppetry and large masks liberally. Avenue Q has hand puppets. Come From Away has actors in multiple roles, switching up using only minimal costume changes like hats or vests. Cats has no fuckin' plot whatsoever. But it's a lot harder to accept in film someone just belting out into song, so you have to find ways around that.

Chicago did a really great job by framing all musical numbers like you were in a cabaret show, firmly putting you in a dreamscape of the heads of the characters. They're not really singing, this is what they feel in their minds. In the Heights had a framing device where he's telling the story to kids and had the main character cheekily address the camera, breaking the fourth wall almost immediately. Cabaret swung hard the other way and was completely diegetic.

DEH, I suspect, did not put in the ground work to help you suspend your disbelief, which just made the flaws that much stronger. I always thought the songs in DEH are mediocre, and it seems film critics agree with me. And when the rest of the musical is going wrong (songs, casting, camera shots, etc) it makes it easier to see the glaring flaw which is the fact that the title character exploits someone's suicide for his own gain. He doesn't just lie (at least not in the film) - he creates fake email exchanges between himself and the dead teenager to fabricate the lie and sell it, so that he can get the love and sympathy he craves.

Not exactly a likable person, even a teenager, but especially when the teenager is played by a 30-something who looks it. The other characters are just as flat, and the musical makes a (sort of) villain of the one character who's genuinely being selfless.

Finally, a film can include details, thanks to camera shots, that a musical on stage can't. There's a scene in the film that I can't recall being in the musical (I could be wrong!) where the title character looks up the dead teen's favorite books list in the yearbook. The books are so stereotypical "suicidal teens read this" that I could vomit. Little things like that take a flawed story and push it into the realm of insulting.

Now, I admit, I am biased. I do not like this musical and have not for some time. I'm forever angry that it won Tony awards when Bandstand should have instead. I feel Bandstand handled mental health issues (ranging from PTSD to alcoholism to grief to depression) in a much better and more nuanced way. It didn't show one teenager exploiting another (dead) teenager for social clout. The songs were highly original and inspired, and of a jazzy 40s style we don't often see anymore but still felt fresh and connecting to a 21st century audience. Listening to DEH on the other hand I think, "well I've heard this all a million times before."

I also didn't like how it handled mental health, and I found the main character completely unsympathetic and manipulating. The fact that he was a straight white boy made it all worse. I am sick and fucking tired of stories about straight white boys fucking up, being apathetic and mediocre, and still earning sympathy and second chances from both other characters and the audience. I personally feel that all the bad reviews about the DEH movie are a long time coming and I am feeling extremely vindicated right now, since people are finally agreeing with me that this musical does not deserve the praise it initially received.

But! That is my own personal opinion. I hope that, if you or anyone else did like the musical, or are confused, you will note my previous thoughts about why the film is not being as well received. Translating musicals to film is hard, and this film made several blunders that both added to and enhanced earlier flaws in the musical.