still experiencing digital ticket theater so, here, take my thoughts on what a production of tgwdlm that intentionally featured an aromantic paul could look like (largely copy-pasted from a discord convo from a couple months back). there are a couple brief mentions of reprise exclusive content in the first paragraph below the cut, but neither are big spoilers. the general idea of a production centered around aromantic paul is something i've had in mind for a while, it's just that those two small additions brought it back to my mind.
spending this fine evening thinking about how i'd stage a version of tgwdlm where paul is intended to be read as aromantic. stuff like emphasizing the presence of romance around paul by having the background characters in la de da da day and maybe even also the second beanies scenes be couples (inspired by a bit of choreo from reprise's version of the opening number where the cast pairs off into couples to dance) (also would def borrow the moment where infected sam and charlotte almost force paul and emma to kiss)
the scenes with paul and emma i honestly think wouldn't have to be played that differently; paul is still interested in getting to know her, but not in a romantic crush way, just in a "i'd like to be your friend" way. you could play it to suggest that part of the reason this aromantic paul is initially hesitant to pursue establishing/developing a true (platonic) bond with emma (in addition to his base characterization that he's complacent with his life as is, generally lacking interest in going outside his comfort zone even to bond more with the people he already considers his friends) is the fear that it will be taken as or twisted into something romantic — by ted for sure, maybe his other coworkers... maybe also by emma herself.
in fact, since paul's thing is not being able to admit to what he wants, we can have emma take the wrong impression, and thereby still have the attempted kiss near the end of act 2 (cause i'm trying to change the actual script as little as possible in this vision to prove a point) — where, the first time, paul decides he's willing to try it for her, knowing there's a good chance he won't come back, and then her coughing up blood gives him the out, and we play his denial of the second attempt a bit more genuinely (and emma, after a moment, gets it).
the scene that i think would have to feel most different is the macnamara interrogation. because in the og take, where paul genuinely has romantic interest in emma but just hasn't been able to admit/commit to it, him responding to john's "friends don't move my heart son, is there a chance at something more?" with "i'd like there to be. i want there to be" is him finally being honest about his feelings, a moment of genuine character growth (as much as it's also him locking himself into the role of Protagonist in the tropey way the Hive imagined).
but, in a take where paul is aromantic and doesn't want more with emma, it. isn't that, obvs.
so what i'm picturing instead is, like. when paul says there's someone else he wants to save, there's some lighting effect, like a glow around the edges of the stage*, that starts to pulse in anticipation; like a fan in the audience holding their breath as their heart races, mentally encouraging the character to Say The Thing.
(i imagine we do a similar thing at end of act 1 as set-up for this, when paul gives his little speech leading up to saying he's going with bill to rescue alice — the moment where he becomes proactive rather than reactive, a huge step towards him becoming a proper Hero).
then, when macnamara says the above quoted line about friends not moving his heart, the lights intensify, and the stage lighting dims a bit — except for around paul. it should feel like the Hive's eyes are all on him.
and see, when paul says "she's a friend of mine", in this take, it should sound like he's so genuinely happy to be able to say that and feel that it's true. that, despite the horrible circumstances it took to bring them together, he's so glad to be able to call her his friend.
but then, hearing macnamara say that line, that that isn't good enough for him, that it isn't enough for her to be worth saving, paul is... frustrated, even pissed, and a little disappointed — but not really that surprised, past the initial shock. and he wants to talk back, to shout his feelings at him, but he knows that that will only make the situation worse.
maybe, paul's also still a little insecure about it. with all the narrative pressure from the Hive (building on the societal pressure he's been living under all his life), and how much genuine feeling he has for emma, maybe macnamara's words make him turn inward and come up with "??? i guess, maybe? if everyone else says for my feelings to be this strong, it has to be romantic, then maybe that is what i want."
or maybe, he says it knowing it's not true. maybe he only says the lines because he knows it's what he has to say (the script he has to follow) to make macnamara agree to let him go back for her. he doesn't say it happily, he has to force himself to look the general in the eye, and some sarcastic edge slips through...
but john buys it anyway (because even when paul tries to be sarcastic people tend to take it at face value (autism).
and so does the Hive. or, at least, it's enough of a concession for them to count it as a victory.
*(the lighting idea is inspired by a technical mishap that happened near the end of act 1 at the matinee performance of tgwdlm:r that i was at, lol)
it just. works so well, imo. with what the Hive represents on the meta level, as both the Author/Director of and Audience for the story; a story with a stock cast of characters, put in a familiar structure that's part horror b-movie, part comedy musical; a story with a protagonist who Changes, becomes a Hero and gets his Want, which is, of course, The Girl.
the tension in the og is that a romantic relationship with emma is something paul might actually want in the future (and we see versions of him act on that on his own accord in other hatchetfield stories!), but to admit to that is to play into exactly what the Hive wants — the role it's scripted for him — so there's no way for him to win.
an aromantic take on the show complicates that by having paul's want for a connection with emma be genuine, but the romantic framing be entirely the result of outside pressure. and such a take admittedly loses a little bit of the strength of that og tension by complicating it in that way, but i personally think those complications would, if accounted for from the start, allow it to say more and be interesting in its own right.
and then, as the culmination of all this: imagine how much grosser (/pos), how much crueler in its mocking of the real, now long-gone paul, how much more uncanny and Wrong, inevitable would feel in this version. yeah.
tl;dr aromantic paul would make for peak cinema and i need it to be real someday, even if i won't get the chance to see it
a bonus, less developed thought: it could be fun to pair an aro paul with a not-yet-aware-transfem paul. a paul whose attachment to emma is in part (initially unrecognized) gender envy… but of course that kind of feeling is too far out of the hive’s imagination (because it's facist*), so it simplifies it into something that fits into its understanding of the world.
*i'm thinking about finishing my video essay about paul and the hive that would go into some more detail on this for the release of the proshot. if you liked this post i think you would enjoy that project as well (though it's currently still in the scripting phase and i am a notorious procrastinator so don't get your hopes too high)
