Jessica N. Morandi
Latest Articles
‘The Suicide Musicals’: Combating the Stigma of Mental Illness
While progress has certainly been made, the stigma is far from broken. Even these niche musicals seem caught between fully embracing mental illness and appealing to a mainstream audience.
Oversimplified Bigotry in ‘Kinky Boots’ Musical
The musical only engages with bigotry on a superficial level and fails to address the main character’s ingrained prejudices in a meaningful way.
Lack of Female Agency in the “Mean Girls” Musical
Cady’s agency is stripped away as her epiphany shifts from an internal realization to the acceptance of external advice. This change endorses the idea that women should allow outside opinions to dictate their actions, problematic in any context but even more so in a story where self-determination is a driving theme.
A Refreshing Lack of Romance
In a society where everything from comedies to car commercials flaunts happy couples, there is something special about a musical that does not treat romance as the only indicator of success.
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