Just read your two posts you linked in that ask and I just wanna say I really appreciate them especially the bits on Cosette and Eponine. I love them both and I think their "love triangle only" characterisation is a disservice to Marius too since, if Eponine is the underdog, Marius is framed as the jerk who doesn't love her back but my hot take is that MARIUS DOES NOT OWE EPONINE HIS LOVE. I love OMO and AHFOL music-wise but the framing of it and how it's blown up in the fandom rlly annoys me.
Thank you for reading them! I wrote them a while back, but I still stand by both of them.Ā
I absolutely agree about Marius as well. In my opinion, which may not be the best opinion but itās what I have, Marius also gets another added issue in his depiction by how they introduce him in the musical as an unequivocal part of Les Amis and how he gets in the barricade. I understand that the political complexities of the brick arenāt too friendly for a musical to develop when you have 25 other characters to talk about, but I feel like with Marius there tends to be an issue of perceptions of masculinity for the men who adapt the material, something we saw even more in the BBC adaption which went off the rails with Marius in that regard.Ā
I feel like they tend to associate the revolutionary fervor of Les Amis (which is a MISTAKE to see as a uniform thing, considering everyone in that group has a different definition of what Revolution is to them, starting by the different views of Enjolras, Combeferre and Courfeyrac, but I digress) as moreĀ āmasculineā in simpler terms (which is ironic af, but letās move on) because of its combative nature. Mariusās political standpoint, being in a sort of cloudy space between his fatherās ideals, his upbringing with his grandfather and his very different living circumstances as a poor student involved with Les Amis, is anything but set in stone, therefore itās seen as āweakerā.Ā
What I mean is that I feel that, most often than not, Marius is pushed towards the Amis side of political opinions with more fervor than his canon counterpart not to summarize his political views but because his views are seen as less active and therefore lessĀ ātraditionally masculineā than his companions. Not because of his political standpoint but because of the fighting. Again, Marius is decisive in the barricade, the way he gets there doesnāt take away his merits, nor does it influence his masculinity, but you know how it is. Itās also very reductive to Victor Hugoās development of masculinity in different characters, but anyway.Ā
The unintended consequence of this is that by the time that in the musical when Marius goes back to his grandfather, a lot of people who donāt know the complexities of canon go likeĀ āoh so he sings about them but heās back to his roots, I see how it isā. As if Marius abandoned hisĀ āstrong and unmovable idealsā in the sewers of Paris. As if heās betraying his friends.Ā
The musical isnāt as bad as the BBC version with it, but it still generates this sort of idea with Marius, that added to the whole Cosette and Ćponine stuff is less than ideal. But we get Empty Chairs, so thatās something.Ā
To clarify, just in case, Iām not trying to bash the musical by any means, just exploring how perceptions of masculinity and other things evolve with the audiences that interpret canon and the adaptations through time.Ā Ā
