An Unpopular Opinion + an Analysis
Hello Be More Chill fandom, today I'm gonna share a very unpopular opinion that's probably gonna get me killed, but it proves self awareness and that's good.
My opinion? Boyf Riends is low-key toxic.
Now you're probably gonna be like "no it's not? It's cute and soft and-" yeah, yeah, I know. Everybody and their mom seems to stan this ship so… this is gonna get me killed.
But hear me out. I'm gonna actually explain why I think this.
So, to show that their romantic relationship would be toxic, we gotta look at their friendship first.
So, we'll start with the first interaction they have in "More Than Survive". It starts out basic enough, Michael shows up listening to music, Jeremy predicts exactly what it is he's listening to, and then the song ends. Michael proceeds to tell Jeremy he "looks like ass" which is something friends do so that's not bad. Then Jeremy brings up the backpack thing. He's clearly upset about it, but instead of trying to cheer him up, Michael doesn't even seem to notice he's upset, and laughs off the whole thing. The topic changes and one of the most iconic lines in the musical shows up aka "there's never been a better time in history to be a loser". Now this line seems harmless but in one rehearsal video, Jeremy's response is a dry "thanks" because this isn't the mindset he has. He doesn't want to be a loser but Michael doesn't understand that. It's kind of the foundation of the problem. Michael isn't noticing his best friend's feelings, there is a lack of communication here. Also, he should be telling Jeremy he's not a loser, not that he should embrace being one, because what Jeremy needs isn't what Michael needs.
Okay, interaction 2, right before "I Love Play Rehearsal". This one's short but it boils down to Michael low-key(very low-key) manipulating Jeremy into continuing his effort to talk to Christine. By telling Jeremy that he'll make fun of him forever if he doesn't go into the auditorium, which I know sounds like playful teasing and maybe it is but that doesn't matter, by saying that, Michael gives Jeremy an ultimatum. And I doubt Jeremy wants to be teased about being a coward forever by his best friend. That just doesn't sound fun. So to avoid even more teasing in his life, he opens the auditorium door.
Interaction 3 is "Two Player Game" so this is gonna be a long one. Now, the first line of verse 1 is I think the nicest thing Michael really says to Jeremy, because he actually calls him cool, which is validating to our self hating protagonist. Then it falls downhill when Michael says "you're just a nothing in this highschool scheme" because that's only gonna make Jeremy feel worse. The rest of the first verse is just Michael tryna explain to Jeremy that they'll be fine if they stick together. The chorus is kind of once again ignoring Jeremy's feelings because he doesn't want to wait to be a loser anymore. He wants to be able to love himself and be liked by others in the present day. He's been waiting since he was little for the chance to be liked it seems. The next verse gives us Jeremy's insight on the whole situation, and he says he "wants to move on" which implies that he's sick of being a loser in the eyes of everybody, including both himself and Michael. Michael seems to completely ignore the fact that Jeremy is upset once again because when Jeremy points out they're not in college, Michael shrugs it off like "it doesn't make any difference". The only part of the song where we see any open communication between them is the third verse. Jeremy's pretty vulnerable here because, in context, he's worrying about his future if he doesn't stop being a loser. The "favorite person" part is probably the sweetest moment these two share through the entire musical, and it's the closest we ever see them, although I'm starting to think Michael means more to Jeremy than he realizes, which is why he asks Jeremy if he's really his favorite person. Jeremy has nobody else so of course Michael is the one person he tells everything but Michael doesn't really seem to get Jeremy's feelings so Jeremy stopped telling him all the things he feels(aka the things he talks about in "Loser Geek Whatever"). The rest of the song is just a reprise of the beginning of the song so it's not entirely important to this argument.
Interaction 4 is the mall scene and this has a pretty telling moment in it. Ignoring the Payless part, the food court scene has more to unpack than you'd think. So Jeremy takes the Squip and when it "doesn't work" he's upset. He needs comforting clearly, although he pretends he doesn't("leave me to mourn in my chili fries forever"). Michael, instead of providing comfort to his clearly distraught best friend, sees this as a chance to go grab some discontinued soda that he could get later. He could take five minutes to comfort his best friend but instead he goes off to do his own thing. He's ignoring his best friend's needs for his own wants. It's actually selfish.
The next interaction is short and one sided, in which Jeremy sees Michael twice during "Sync Up" and is saddened when he doesn't see him. He would've seen him by now, so he's confused when they haven't seen each other all day. This probably made Jeremy think Michael was avoiding him, which we find out isn't true.
Interaction 6, the beginning of the maybe end. The end of act 1. Jeremy and Michael are both confused by the fact they haven't talked all day. Michael is quick to blame it on Jeremy avoiding him, but Jeremy figures out that it was the Squip pretty quickly. Of course, during this interaction we get Jeremy's solo("Loser Geek Whatever") in which we see one of the most telling things about their relationship. "Michael thinks that weird is rad but feeling weird just makes me sad". This sums up their relationship pretty well, Michael is comfortable with himself but doesn't realize that Jeremy isn't comfortable. This interaction ends with Jeremy blocking out Michael. He's sick of having his feelings ignored by his only friend, and maybe he can have his feelings noticed and validated by other people. He's done being in Michael's shadow, because there's more to him than just being Michael's player 2.
Interaction 7, the bathroom intervention scene. This scene has a LOT to go through so let's get into it(using the new version here). Jeremy runs into the room panicking and when Michael reveals himself, the first thing he gets on about is how Jeremy left him. He stops when he sees Jeremy smiling because Jeremy missed him. He's happy to see him but then Michael gets on about the Squip and is talking about how there are consequences to it. Jeremy points out that Michael said technology isn't dangerous and the two of them get into their fight and Michael says he's looking out for Jeremy. Jeremy says for once in his life he can look out for himself, then the scene continues like the original and Jeremy calls Michael a loser. Jeremy isn't in the right state of mind in this scene, he was almost raped and he's scared. You'd think Michael would ask him what's wrong but he doesn't. He gets pissed at him without even being concerned about his emotions. Yet again we see that Michael is bad at recognizing Jeremy's feelings. I'm not saying he doesn't care about Jeremy, because he does(or else he wouldn't be here in the first place to warn him about the Squip), I'm saying that Michael is bad at recognizing Jeremy's emotions to a point where he ends up accidentally making the situation worse. Michael's actually the one who started the argument because he brought up the Squip without realizing how scared and upset Jeremy was. Not saying Jeremy's to blame, he could have handled the situation better but Michael started the whole argument. As for Jeremy calling Michael a loser, I think this may be Jeremy projecting. Because Michael is explaining every doubt Jeremy had about the Squip. Jeremy was even scared to take it("what if it's dangerous?"). Jeremy finally has more people to talk to, he finally isn't alone, he isn't in a healthy place and he's clearly not happy, but he's seemingly convinced himself that he is. He's convinced himself that the Squip is the only thing that can help him so when Michael warns him about it he lashes out, calling Michael the same thing that they'd both been called for years. Michael's reaction is probably due to shock and the realization that maybe he low-key drove his best friend away. Although he doesn't think he did anything wrong so who knows. We know Jeremy feels bad about this the next day though because he says this: "I didn't wanna hurt Brooke! I didn't wanna hurt ANYONE! Now Rich is in the hospital, my best friend thinks im a jerk, and Christine, you were supposed to make her like me!"
Now the next isn't an interaction but it's something Michael does that's extremely petty. Michael gives up on Jeremy completely. And he admits to it by the end of the musical("oh I was ready to watch you suffer"). It took Mr. Heere's convincing and low-key cheesy methodology to convince Michael to save Jeremy.
The next interaction is the fight during the play. In which Jeremy isn't in control of himself and is fighting the Squip internally while fighting Michael physically. The Squip seems to have been putting negative thoughts about Michael into Jeremy's mind but Jeremy knows it's not true. Also Michael was being extremely selfish during this scene by not letting Jeremy have the MDR when he knows the dangers of the Squip. (Like c'mon man Jeremy could be shocked so much he'll die. Stop being petty.) I mean yeah Michael is high but I'm pretty sure he's high during every scene except for the Halloween party(weed helps with anxiety and Michael's anxiety clearly got the best of him there, so-) and the other scene is coming up. This scene just shows Michael's pettiness.
Final interaction, right before "Voices in my Head". Jeremy asks Michael why he came back and Michael reveals that he was gonna let Jeremy suffer until Mr. Heere came by. Michael just admitted to his pettiness, and I think, maybe, he realizes that he was a shitty friend. Also I don't think he's high in this scene because his giggles are gone and, from what I've heard, he is a lot more awkward this scene.
So now, why do I see Boyf Riends as low-key toxic? Well, taking into consideration the conflicts between the boys' needs and wants, and the lack of communication, and the sheer amount of petty behavior Michael shows, plus his quick blame of Jeremy after "Upgrade", Michael wouldn't be the best partner for somebody like Jeremy, who needs validation and needs somebody to listen to and understand his problems, and help him through them. If time is given to them both, yes sure it could work(a good example of this is the Boyf Riends breakup comic by @Artistic.Hoarder on Instagram), but with the canon and nothing else, Boyf Riends couldn't work without some level of toxicity. (This is only referring to Broadway.)
Thank you for reading. Feel free to kindly express your opinions. This isn't ship hate, I don't hate Boyf Riends, I feel if done right it can be a good ship.
