rae

Second base is shoving my weird tendrils in your mouth

I don't think ppl talk about this convo between Deku and Spinner enough.

Deku wasn't even FAZED when Spinner grabbed him, turned larger and yelled in his face, yet those are behaviours that the rest of society would deem monstrous. In this moment, Deku saw him not as part of the LoV, but as a PERSON who was grieving his best friend's death! Yet, the rest of society are blinded by ignorance and denial of that very fact. That special news report exposed it.

The general public saw Tomura as nothing but a toddler throwing a tantrum, or a cold-hearted evil entity that was out for blood. What Spinner saw, however, was different. He saw someone who would fight for him when no one else would. A friend he could share his love for video games with. A family member, even. His hero, definitely. There's someth so human about bonding over video games - it highlights both Tomura's AND Spinner's humanity cos it's such a small, specific detail about them, and when Spinner mentioned it to Deku, he started crying. Millions of everyday ppl play video games, how are they any different?

Is it right to ignore someone's feelings cos they've committed massive crimes? Does that mean they aren't human anymore? If that were the case for Spinner, then tell me WHY is he crying over video games and losing his best friend? This is what Hero society fails to acknowledge. They dehumanise those they see as 'immoral' but that's just how villains are created in the first place. They stigmatise the passionate, outward expression of emotions. When people get hurt and aren't helped, they'll release that hurt onto others in bursts of rage. That's EXACTLY what the LoV did, and because of that, society became scared, so they shunned them and cast them aside, letting their feelings accumulate over years and years.

Deku lets Spinner just grab him, yell and cry into his face, and even then, his expression doesn't even waver a tiny bit. The contrast between these professional adults who were responsible for guarding Spinner / holding him captive absolutely freaking out and Deku, a literal HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, not even showing an ounce of fear or discomfort, is insane. It reflects society's intolerance of emotions and juxtaposes it with Deku's pure understanding and acceptance of them. The MOMENT Spinner began to break down, the guards tried to shut him down, but Deku got in the way of that. He's the shield that protects outwardly emotional ppl from pernicious social conventions, but what's even more meaningful is that Spinner mentioned that before he met Tomura, he felt empty. This was probs the first time he'd cried so heavily, and yet he was being immediately shut down. But because of Deku, he was allowed to cry. And that in itself might've made him wanna cry more.

Not only that, but Deku was incredibly calm and had his eyes and ears open the whole convo. He acknowledged and respected Spinner as a person when no one else did. Plus, Deku is a deeply feeling person himself, so he understands the importance of releasing emotions, and how difficult it is for marginalised groups to express those emotions due to oppression by the majority. A "You're not like me, so your feelings don't matter, not like you're allowed to show it anyway" kinda thing, which is wrong on ALL levels.

now, not being a katherine fan is different than being anti-katherine. not being a katherine fan means you might have criticisms like "i'm not sure how she serves the newsies narrative better than, say, sarah jacobs, as sarah is more aligned with the newsies contextually/societally and katherine is very distant and rich lol", or even "i'm not a big fan of how katherine seems to be tired of jack's shit for most of the play and then 'suddenly' finds romantic interest in him within one song".

but being anti-singular-young-woman-character because of a ship between the main two boys is. a tired take is it not? again with the circle, we've had this discourse already and its been cut out. since 2012 and 2017 we been talking about this girl and her value, but not in the context we should be.

(because the context we should be talking about it in is a newsies 1992 versus newsies broadway context, not an anti-katherine context, but i digress.)

katherine's value. what is there to mine from? she is an extremely young woman reporter, 17-18 years old, whose article makes the front page of the new york sun. since she writes under a pseudonym, i'm presuming she writes with skill well above her age to be published at all (yes, even writing vaudeville reviews). in past productions she either finds the newsies at jacobi's because she saw the walk-out (TWWK) from inside The World (UK), or jack kelly simply interests her enough for her to seek him out again (Broadway/Tour/Live). she is unsure about herself as a writer despite her skill which is made clear in her song. she is rich. she did not need to have a career and was encouraged not to. pulitzer is her father and she does not get along with him. she matches jack word for word, often with davey at her side. she mills comfortably about the newsies through the second act and has a friendship of some kind with specs specifically. she also literally says "that's a face [jack's] that could save us all from sinking in the ocean/like someone said 'power tends to corrupt'" essentially prophesying the act 2 betrayal. which is crazy.

you can draw your own conclusions from the above, but all of it is essentially canon? right? so maybe you don't have to be a fan of all of it, but you're really going to tell me absolutely none of this is compelling. that none of this is something you can interpret for yourself as complex. that albert is more complex.

this is not me saying you have to include katherine in everything, because that isn't what this post is about. this is about individuals choosing to dislike or devalue katherine by only viewing her in relation to her as a romantic interest, instead of a complex character in a period piece with a full arc. yes a full arc. it's the musical that's rushed not katherine.

Hard Promises (Original Newsies Story by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White)

Charlie and her Aunt: In the original script, "Charlie" was Jack's love interest. She was a newsgirl who lived in a brothel with her aunt (a prostitute). Her aunt was trying to protect and shield Charlie from going down that same path and at the end of the movie Charlie was to have gone with Jack to Santa Fe. [source]

Newises (1992)

Sarah Jacobs: In the film, Sarah Jacobs was the sister of David and Les as well as Jack's love interest. She is a working class woman who works crocheting dollies with her mother long before her father loses work. She ends up involved in the newsies strike and helps to print and distribute the Newsies Banner. In earlier scripts, Sarah was a self described socialist and had much more involvement in the story. It was she who confronts Jack after he scabs, dressed in David's clothes to protect herself, and demands answers. [source, Cut Material]

Medda Larkson: To replace the character of Charlie's unnamed aunt, Medda was created [source]. She's a vaudeville/burlesque performer and the owner of Irving Hall. She knows Jack (possibly a friend of his father's but who knows if that was a lie) and is sympathetic to the newsies strike, allowing them to hold their rally at her theater.

Newsies the Musical

Katherine Plumber: When Newsies was adapted for the stage, Sarah Jacobs was cut from the story along with reporter Bryan Denton and replaced with the "intrepid reporter" Katherine Plumber (Pulitzer), loosely based/inspired by Nellie Bly. She is an upper class woman, the daughter of Joseph Pulitzer, and Jack's final love interest. Like Sarah, she becomes involved in the newsies strike and it is Katherine's idea to create and print the Newsies Banner. Along with other rewrites, the inclusion of Katherine makes the story less about class struggle and more about generational struggle. [source]

Medda Larkin: While Medda's significance to the story remains largely unchanged from film to stage musical, she was reworked in the transition from Paper Mill to Broadway with Aida Overton Walker in mind as new historical inspiration [source, page 16]. A small but interesting change is that stage Medda "knows the governor." This detail is never overtly explained.

The Bowery Beauties: The additional female performers at Irving Hall or Medda's theatre. They were likely included to retain vaudeville/burlesque elements while desexualizing Medda. (My own opinion not supported by any quotes or resources that I have found.)