#*is that

okay so i have absolutely not plot thought out for the movie itself, but figuring i sit mainly in the theatrical realm i’ll just say it has something to do with theatre. and maybe it’s set in like the fifties when broadway was starting to gain a resurgence after the war (which isn’t necessarily true, historically, but there was a lot of focus drawn on theatre after the great depression and world war II) and i’m like a Big Actress on broadway. because i gotta be, yknow? the movie aint about me, it’s about some up-and-coming actress working her hardest to make it into the “big lights” 

but me? nah i’m already There, baby! i made it there by hook or by crook (”crook” meaning i literally hired crooks to eliminate my competition so i could make it to stardom) and i Intend to stay there! and i seem really peppy and cheery at first glance, dressed in a lot of yellows and such. i’m famous, but i can be nice, can’t i?*

*i can’t because Hubris 

and the main character ends up at the same audition i do, and we’re both gunning for the lead role because Of Course This Is A Disney Movie. and because it’s a disney movie, the new girl gets the lead role and i get her supporting role. and though i look super excited for the main character on the outside, as soon as she leaves the callsheet the lighting changes to this harsh underlighting as i grimace and tear the callsheet to shreds. this will Not last, oh no babydoll, it won’t. 

so i’m Plotting now, yknow? the main character’s getting all chummy with the lead man (who is her love interest Of Course), and i’m unconcerned with him because i’m a villain which means i’m Gonna be gay-coded (not outwardly bc, again, This Is Disney) but i notice how fond they are for each other. and i just start worming seeds of doubt into the director’s head; whispering that she won’t work out, she’s only in it for the fame not the art, look at her! fifteen minutes late to her first rehearsal! she Clearly can’t be trusted with such an important role!

(she’s fifteen minutes late, mind you, because i told her leads don’t need to come in on calltime. and i also maybe paid some goons to go around and slash a bunch of taxi tires so even if she did want to make it on time she couldn’t. who’s to say for sure, though?) 

but the director is determined to make her work, so i’m ignored, of course. so i start to make More moves; i’m talking sabotaging equipment, telling the lead guy lies that the main character supposedly told me about him, maybe even practicing a kissing scene w the guy that looks Far too real for the unsuspecting main character who just walked into the rehearsal room late at night after the guy asked her out. 

now i know what you’re thinking: michelle, where’s you big musical number? where’s the best song in the whole damn movie?! hold onto your hats, my dears, cause it’s Comin’.

basically i’m imagining my song taking place primarily in my dressing room. my dressing room is always reserved for me because i’m famous, and even if i’m only a supporting role fans will still come to rehearsals and send me flowers (which is something people did back in the hayday of theatre. i don’t think practices are open anymore on broadway). and i’m imagining, like, all the flowers like crowding the room and practically framing my mirror. and it’s the last dress rehearsal before opening, and i have a Big Plan ahead that’s surely gonna work. i’ve already stuck a wrench in the main two’s lovestory with my kiss scheme, now all i have to do is make the main character quit. and i’m surrounded by all these vibrant roses and sunflowers that look cheerful and bright as i enter the room. but as soon as i shut the door and start to approach my vanity, the lighting shifts. 

and all those red roses turn black. and all those cheery sunflowers turn midnight purple. and my silk, long, form-fitting red dress that goes down to the floor and has a slit running all the way up to my thigh is now a shimmering, mysterious, villain-perfect purple. and the lipstick i put on my lips as i start to sing is black. 

i’m boasting about myself, obviously, and how i was the only star meant on broadway. this song is really just about hamming myself up. and there are dramatic cuts to the stage as i’m still in this villain outfit, singing and dancing for an imaginary crowd of thousands cheering me, me, and only me. it’s very darla dimple meets ursula meets scar, okay? i’m having a time with it. 

the song ends with this dramatic, long, powerful note (which in the soundtrack version turns into a long laugh that then fades to nothing), but in the movie as i start to laugh i hear a loud knock on the door as a stagehand calls 15 minutes till places. 

yadda yadda yadda, i make the main character quit, i go to take her place opening night. main guy tries to get her back, but fails. then for some reason, right before the show starts, she Does come back. i try to stop her (maybe KILL her i dunno teehee). my plan gets foiled, i’m mocked offstage. the main character succeeds, kisses the guy, disney-style ending.

I mean it depends. generally if youre “medium” youre dark by white standards. like youre not necessarily dark skinned but your experience with shadeism is more likely similar to that of a dark vs light skin desi