Riley
Well-Known Member
I found this story on Reddit:
Why? A little backstory:
I used to be WAAY into this off-Broadway show called Bat Boy: The Musical. Based around an old American urban legend from Weekly World News. Think Batman Returns without the Sandy Hook influence and more bestiality/rape and mixed with Edward Scissorhands (Only the love interest is a raging **** instead of Winona Ryder). The leading love interest is Shelley Parker, a veterinarian's daughter & revealed to be Edgar/Bat Boy's half-twin sister. I didn't really *like* Shelley but I didn't hate her. More neutral; Heck, I even kind of thought she was adorable.
And then I heard it. "Ugly Boy":
I know in a lot of stories the love interest starts off disliking/hating the protagonist, but this is flat-out WRONG. Edgar's technically mentally disabled. I don't know anything about the children of veterinarians, but I'm darn sure they don't act like Shelley. Yelling at an animal they wanted to keep in the first place.
And YELLING at her Mom just for having a HEART?! Oh, right; "Mommy talked bad about Ricky! She deserves to get yelled at!" Meredith was RAPED to bring your sorry butt into this world. And so what if she cries for the stray dogs?
Does TVTropes appropriately call out this song? Or even acknowledge Shelley's behavior? **** no! They gloss right over it!
I know what the few on this site will say: "But Shelley changes her mind! She grows to love Bat Boy!" I understand character development. I'm not the one to forgive certain things easily, though.
Even worse: AmericanProduction!Shelley is a lot nicer compared to LondonProduction!Shelley. Listen to "Inside Your Heart" and then to "Mine All Mine".
Another reason this song hits me is how close to home it is. I've got this brother; He's in a wheelchair. No, an accident didn't put him there. He was born with a brain/spinal problem. When he talks, it's barely comprehensible. I was never comfortable around him. After hearing the song, I even contemplated yelling at him and calling him things like "freak" just to see how it would fare for me.
Keep in mind my mother isn't an abused doormat. She's an American!Brunette!Muggle!Molly Weasley with the BIGGEST temper. And I couldn't do that to my Dad.
I imagine people out there claiming Christine Daae and Sarah Williams acted in a similar, bratty fashion. But the latter was going through a rough period in her life and babysitting a screaming boy didn't help; She wished him away and journeyed a magical labyrinth to fix her mistake.
And Christine's line ("The tears I might have shed for your dark fate/Grow cold and turn to tears of hate!") expresses her anger towards being deceived and him THREATENING TO KILL HER FIANCE rather than calling him ugly.
Did I consider this a story of how a boy from messed up parents grew up good? Nope. After reading about the brother's behavior as a baby, I flat out assumed at one point the narrator screamed at the infant, wishing it would die and all that. In fact, I'm 100% sure it happened.
Why? A little backstory:
I used to be WAAY into this off-Broadway show called Bat Boy: The Musical. Based around an old American urban legend from Weekly World News. Think Batman Returns without the Sandy Hook influence and more bestiality/rape and mixed with Edward Scissorhands (Only the love interest is a raging **** instead of Winona Ryder). The leading love interest is Shelley Parker, a veterinarian's daughter & revealed to be Edgar/Bat Boy's half-twin sister. I didn't really *like* Shelley but I didn't hate her. More neutral; Heck, I even kind of thought she was adorable.
And then I heard it. "Ugly Boy":
I know in a lot of stories the love interest starts off disliking/hating the protagonist, but this is flat-out WRONG. Edgar's technically mentally disabled. I don't know anything about the children of veterinarians, but I'm darn sure they don't act like Shelley. Yelling at an animal they wanted to keep in the first place.
And YELLING at her Mom just for having a HEART?! Oh, right; "Mommy talked bad about Ricky! She deserves to get yelled at!" Meredith was RAPED to bring your sorry butt into this world. And so what if she cries for the stray dogs?
Does TVTropes appropriately call out this song? Or even acknowledge Shelley's behavior? **** no! They gloss right over it!
I know what the few on this site will say: "But Shelley changes her mind! She grows to love Bat Boy!" I understand character development. I'm not the one to forgive certain things easily, though.
Even worse: AmericanProduction!Shelley is a lot nicer compared to LondonProduction!Shelley. Listen to "Inside Your Heart" and then to "Mine All Mine".
Another reason this song hits me is how close to home it is. I've got this brother; He's in a wheelchair. No, an accident didn't put him there. He was born with a brain/spinal problem. When he talks, it's barely comprehensible. I was never comfortable around him. After hearing the song, I even contemplated yelling at him and calling him things like "freak" just to see how it would fare for me.
Keep in mind my mother isn't an abused doormat. She's an American!Brunette!Muggle!Molly Weasley with the BIGGEST temper. And I couldn't do that to my Dad.
I imagine people out there claiming Christine Daae and Sarah Williams acted in a similar, bratty fashion. But the latter was going through a rough period in her life and babysitting a screaming boy didn't help; She wished him away and journeyed a magical labyrinth to fix her mistake.
And Christine's line ("The tears I might have shed for your dark fate/Grow cold and turn to tears of hate!") expresses her anger towards being deceived and him THREATENING TO KILL HER FIANCE rather than calling him ugly.
