i figure now would be a good time to say something since everyone else is distracted and i can't not say something
i don't like ben's trunchbull. i just don't. i dislike almost everything about what he does with her, and it's all the things that everyone else will love. his ribbon dance is amazing, but he jumps with the athleticism a woman her age would not have. the way he carries himself just doesn't fit her at all. she shouldn't walk like she has springs on her feet. she needs to either be a solid presence or show some type of age, but ben leaps around that stage like a kid hopped up on sugar. he runs down the aisle too quickly. he doesn't know how to walk slowly. he isn't aware of how mannerisms differ between sexes. he isn't conscious about keeping his trunchbull hands the way they're supposed to be.
he doesn't give her any subtleties. everything about her is loud, now. he doesn't know how to build up her anger or focus her anger, and so instead he just shouts almost all of his lines. all of the quiet moments he has are turned into taunts, and the way he delivers those taunts should be good, except he doesn't give the character enough sincerity for those moments to stick out. none of her movements are subtle anymore. she has no idiosyncrasies. no emotions. no clear shift in tone. no breaking point. everything is either flatlined shouting, which makes him struggle to deliver the truly serious lines with the gravity they need, or he's doing something tauntingly or goofily to get laughs.
and fuck his smell of rebellion, to be honest. it, too, lacked all the subtleties that made it perfect before. trunchbull is not supposed to be an overtly sexual role during this song, but he turned her into one. he ended that song accentuating his feminine padding and touching himself in a way that was just uncomfortable to watch, rather than fitting in with the way the song moved. it's not supposed to be a sexy moment. it's supposed to be sensual. the song is supposed to slowly build up to the moment when trunchbull becomes completely uninhibited and lets loose for a mere few seconds, showing off the body she has been able to retain despite her age, but in a way that is still respectful. and this was a moment that, silly though it may sound, chris perfected for me. in those few seconds, chris made trunchbull appealing and attractive. ben just made her trashy.
and so now i'm left wondering how i would have reacted to seeing this had it not been on the day that was supposed to be all about chris. would i be just as mad to watch ben spring three feet into the air, knowing that chris isn't capable of moving like that? would i be just as annoyed at the way he carried himself, knowing that chris isn't as agile? would i be rolling my eyes at the way he flourished his motions during the beginning of smell of rebellion, knowing that chris doesn't have that type of dexterity? would i have all but stopped clapping when he made that stupid face and did a fucking curtsy during curtain call, when chris always did nothing more than a curt nod? would i have been just as pissed off at how he high-fived all the kids at the end of curtain call, knowing that that was supposed to be chris up there, taking a final moment in the spotlight, getting a final night of recognition, and finally (hopefully, maybe, possibly) getting shoved forward for a solo bow?
would i have hated it this much if it hadn't felt like everything ben was doing was a slap in chris's face, a "i just made your moment mine" situation, a way for him to show off at chris's expense?
either way, it'd be great if these feelings would stop, because it's making me hate the show and everyone else in it, too, for not giving a fuck that the guy who saved their show couldn't make it to his last and for not bothering to say goodbye or give him any kind of sendoff like they did with literally everyone else. like, wow, guys. the only other person who got treated like this when he left was craig. way to fucking go.
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