I took my brother and went to see last act. Goose really did a marvelous thing with this show. She tapped into the best of the neurodivergent internet community and gave them something to come out of their basements for. Please understand I mean this in the BEST POSSIBLE WAY.
I heard people crying at “the scene” (glitch said no spoilers but if you’ve seen it you know exactly the one I’m talking about). I heard people singing along with the theme introducing the cast members. The applause at the end wasn’t ceremonial and exaggerated but genuine. It felt like the audience finally exhaled together.
There was a scene with Jax unloading some personal shit that was really heavy where my eyes went wide and I slowly turned to my brother and even in the dark he said he felt it.
“Dude, it’s mom.”
And yet it hit different in a crowd like this than it would with damn near any other fandom. I felt…heard. For something a purple asshole said for me. I’m 40 fucking years old and the abuse I’ve carried around for years suddenly felt lighter.
Gooseworks, you might have convinced me to give therapy another try.
Thank you.
Is that a forced constant with the fandom? :D We got such person as well (minus the Jax outfit). I’m not sure if they were trans or crossdressing (didn’t want to stare, listen into their conversation) but definitely a show of courage to go out like that in this conservative part of the country. They got ugly comments outside but the folk in the theatre were nice to them.
I’m not sure about the fandom but those of us in the LGBT community are pretty hardened to this shit. The basic idea is “you’ve already decided how you feel about this and what you want to do about it. It’s not my job to change you. Do it or get over it already.”
Bullies generally back off when they can’t get a read on you anymore since they don’t know if it’s safe to harm you.