please elaborate on jack character regression <3
three people (hiiiiii @srbxzero and @jack-cowboy-kelly !) asked and therefore everyone shall receive
well first of all the fact of the matter is that Jack as a character has built a very elaborate facade to be who he needs to to be successful in the life he's built for himself. he's charming and outspoken and strong because all of those things are useful to him. he's a leader because he cares about his friends, and being who they need him to be requires being those things. and he is like that! he's a charismatic person, he'd do anything for the people who've earned his loyalty, it's a facade as in he never lets anyone see anything else not as in it's entirely false.
but Jack is also a kid who's been through a lot. he's not a perfect leader, but he feels like he has to be, and he feels like that means he has to hide all the not-so-perfect parts of himself, which isn't true, but he doesn't know that and doesn't believe it. so he pretends very hard even to himself that he doesn't feel anything other than what he projects, that he isn't scared or confused about what to do next or worried about how other people see him.
all of which combine into the very fragile ecosystem that is jack kelly, which we see start to collapse after the strike goes downhill (in the stage version especially) and he runs. his usual act doesn't do anything to save the situation and when that happens, his instinct is to shut everyone else out and try to fix it by himself or try to get away from it entirely.
all this to say, i think that's something he struggles with a lot. in terms of relationships, especially. he's never had good luck with people in the long term, you know? he's the kind of person who 100% ends up leaving somebody before they can leave him because it might hurt less that way. if he's fighting with a friend he'll ghost before starting a confrontation because he'd rather know that he left on purpose than get left behind. he doesn't let romantic relationships get serious because he's debilitatingly afraid of the fact that he'll either be in the relationship forever or it has to end, and he's terrified of both commitment and abandonment.
which! in regards to the post I reblogged about character regression, is a really important part of his character. especially because even when things are good, it's still part of him. he's a hurt, scared kid who's been so deeply lonely for so much of his life that the idea of anything else is terrifying. he's always fighting the urge to run even when there's no reason to. and when there is a reason to, of course he does.
he's also a deeply angry person. he's not just sad at the way his life has gone, at the way he and people like him are treated, he's angry. and he contains that, too, it gets hidden just as carefully behind his charm and persuasion, but it's there. that's something that's bound to well up once in a while. that's something that's bound to hurt somebody he cares about at some point, even if the anger isn't directed at them.
he's somebody who's so good at convincing everyone, even himself, that he's fine, that he's in a good place and everything is okay, even when he isn't and it's not. and eventually, all the pressure of the trauma and fear and anger has to go somewhere, and when he has to choose between running and being in control or staying and maybe being hurt and losing somebody again, he runs. it might not be the right choice, but he makes it without thinking because that's what he's always done and he knows how to deal with that fallout. he knows how to start again and move on and keep pretending like he's fine.
which makes it even more meaningful when he fights to break the pattern. when he chooses to stay even when he wants to run, like at the end of the story when he chooses to stay in new york even though that will mean figuring things out after he took pulitzer's money and betrayed the strike. even though he did that to protect the people he loves, he still hurt them. he wants to run before they chase him off, but he doesn't. he stays.
and like. within the confines of the story, that's just character development, you know? he chooses to stay and because this is a disney musical that means everything is wonderful, happily ever after, but in reality you don't heal from trauma that easily. it's a constant fight to stay, and he won't always win that fight. he'll make mistakes, or choose wrong, or lash out when he's scared and angry because he doesn't know how to do it any other way, it's all he's ever known. which is just. he's a character who is so convinced of his own place in life to always be the one left behind that for him to slowly realize through acting the way he always has only to get different results is beautiful. for him to freak out and try to run or lash out and expect to be left only to be met with the same love he has for others. that's what it's all about.
