They may offer you fortune and fame...

[sorcyress]

Austin and Bee came over tonight and we watched Little Shop of Horrors! It's been like 15 years since me or B had seen it, and Austin had never seen it --and in fact, knew almost _nothing_ about the show! I am incredibly pleased to announce that this movie from the 80s *holds up* incredibly well! It's dark comedy and it *excels* as an example of the genre.

Obviously I am disappointed by the most significant stage -> film change (especially because it drops one of my favourite songs) but the other 95% of the movie is just damn good! Also, pleasantly surprised that there weren't any moments that had me sucking my breath through my teeth because "oh shit, I forgot that slur/rapey-bit/general cringe of the past that we've grown from". Again, it is dark comedy (and I can give specific trigger warnings if you think you'd like to watch it and would like those) but it mostly punches in the right directions.

Losing "Now (Just the Gas)" is pretty tragic, and I made us pause the movie immediately after Orin's death scene to make Austin listen to it. Losing "Finale Ultimo (Don't Feed the Plants)" is a goddamn _tragedy_. Or rather, literally the opposite --we get a Happily Ever After and the movie's so much weaker for it. mek linked me some of his thoughts vis-a-vis, and I really like how he points out that Seymour -through the rest of the movie- is shown as lacking the moral character to *deserve* a happily ever after. He enters into a pact with the devil and well...


(from mek:)

I don't like Seymour getting a happy ending he didn't earn, the released movie ending is cheap and feels rushed, and makes us miss one of the best songs in the show. Seymour killed at least two people and sold his soul to the devil, and the movie leaves us with the message that that's cool and sexy and you should definitely Feed The Plants

It's also such a bummer that they made and filmed a huge climactic scene and didn't get to use any of it and I can't imagine how it felt to have to just, cut it.

So, problem: There's no curtain call in movies, so the deaths of the main characters felt too final and dark for test audiences.

Solution: Bloopers during the credits!!

Problem: Audrey and the World shouldn't have to pay for Seymour's mistakes

Solution: Make Seymour sacrifice himself to defeat Audrey II! Seymour pays for his faustean bargain, including paying the ultimate price to allow the person he loves to find success!

Problem with the solution: Neither Audrey nor The World are blameless! Do they deserve to die for their faults? Mmmmmmnot quite. Maybe. Certainly Audrey dying for her crime of never taking initiative, for allowing herself to be pulled along by whomever is not a just punishment, so much as a thematically appropriate one. But losing Seymour, being forced into having to stand on her own feet and take care of herself -- both her Devil and Angel being taken away from her -- that would work, too. Twist Somewhere That's Green to be referring to Seymour getting eaten (or, uh, crushed, maybe) and that's a winner.

The world, though. See, the thing is that Seymour didn't do any of this on his own. The invasion of Mean Green Mothers is a result of humanity's -- collectively -- greed. The World pushed Seymour into a cycle of more and more and bigger and bigger -- The World bought Audrey II's en masse -- The World fed those Audrey II's. Of the issues in the ending, this is an easy one to miss -- but the invasion isn't a result of one Mean Green Mother. It's the result of hundreds or thousands of people all making the same bargain that Seymour did. Don't Feed The Plants is a judgement not of Seymour, a punishment not of Seymour's mistakes, it's a judgement of humanity as a whole.

I really couldn't say it better --like, it's not that I want the ending because I'm clinging to tradition, I want the ending because _the narrative has set these up as bad people who need to perish as a warning_.

Anyways, in summation, good damn movie! Very very funny, very dark, very THEATRICAL --the movie is so obviously a musical even separate from the literal music --it's just so well staged and lit and presented! The cast is great --did you know Bill Murray was in the movie? I either didn't know or had forgotten! And of course, the songs are some of the best songs from any musical ever, as far as I am concerned. Quite probably a top-five show for me!

But remember, whatever they offer you *don't* feed the plants.

~Sor
MOOP!

Comments

[agnes_nutter]

Solution: Bloopers during the credits!!

I’ve often said that I would watch way more horror movies if they did this!

(obviously I could do it myself with youtube, but, ’s’different)

Anyway it’s been a while since I watched it but I agree with these points (at least in the abstract, and to the extent I can remember, in the specific as well (I think this was one of the many movies which are in the “I watched it between the years of 2012-2014, late at night, in bed, on my iPad, and I was falling asleep for most of it” category that a good 40% of my watched list consists of)) entirely.

[joshuazelinsky]

"But remember, whatever they offer you *don't* feed the plants."

Puppybo disagrees!