At every point, the Left has had some new insane conspiracy theory, and they can basically all be summed up as “the powerful Israelis have faked this to justify their oppression and slaughter of the oppressed Palestinians, BUT they are also so incompetent at it that random lunatics on Twitter can catch them!”

So many criticisms of Dear Evan Hansen revolve around the show being messy/morally convoluted as if that was an overlooked flaw in the writing and not the whole point of the show.

Everything in Dear Evan Hansen is intentionally messy. Everything has two sides. Social media is a positive place where people can come together to make a difference AND it's a breeding ground for hate and vitriol. Evan is a deeply caring, empathetic person AND he does a horrible thing. Heidi is a dedicated, loving mother AND she works so hard that she never spends any time with her son. Connor is agressive, angry, violent, AND he is a depressed, lonely person, ostracized by his peers and longing for connection. Larry Murphy is a domineering authority figure who treats his son like a criminal AND he's a frustrated parent that wants to help Connor get better the only way he knows how. Evan's lies are harmful and manipulative AND they give a family that was tearing apart at the seams time to come together, reflect, and grieve.

All of these things can be true at the same time, and one doesn't have to overshadow or cancel out the other. In ignoring one to focus on the other, you're wilfully missing the point of the story. Real life is messy and complex, and that's exactly what the show is trying so hard to emulate. That's not bad writing, it's just being realistic.

Pasek and Paul said that in its earliest form, the show was meant to look at why people insert themselves into tragedy through a much more cynical lense, criticizing people like Evan. But somewhere in the writing process they found that it's not that simple, because people don't just do that shit for no reason, and it's naive to believe they would. Evan didn't do what he did to be popular or get a girlfriend or gaslight a grieving family. He did it because he saw a chance to help people who were hurting. In the process, he found connection that he had longed for his whole life, and allowed that to complicate things, making him a lot more reluctant to do the right thing and come clean. But the show makes it explicity clear that his initial intention was rooted in helping someone else, not himself. And as bad as it was, it did force the Murphys to come to terms with their loss instead of running away from it, to come together instead of drifting apart.

Yes, the morality of everything that happens in the show is deeply questionable, complex and muddy and that's the ENTIRE POINT. It doesn't mean the show is endorsing what Evan did. The vast majority of the fan base doesn't endorse what Evan did either. Most of us understand what that final scene in the orchard is getting at. It's not arguing that what Evan did was somehow morally correct, or handing him some magical "get out of jail free card". It's acknowledging ALL the consequences of his actions (good AND bad, the healing he brought about AND the hurt he caused) and letting us come to terms with that along with him and move forward. That scene encompasses one of the most important messages of the show: that doing something bad doesn't make you evil. One mistake doesn't have to define you for the rest of your life, and it doesn't make you less human, or any less deserving of growth and self acceptance.

Is anyone from the dear evan hansen fandom still alive? Please interact with this post if you are because I swear there's actually no one-

dear evan hansen is the only reason im still alive

The Politician 1x01 ❝ Pilot ❞

Laura Dreyfuss and Ben Platt perform “Only Us” from the Tony Award winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

“I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you I don't need you to search for the proof that I should You don't have to convince me You don't have to be scared you're not enough 'Cause what we've got going is good I don't need more reminders of all that's been broken I don't need you to fix what I'd rather forget Clear the slate and start over Try to quiet the noises in your head We can't compete with all that So what if it's us? What if it's us And only us And what came before won't count anymore or matter? Can we try that? What if it's you And what if it's me And what if that's all that we need it to be And the rest of the world falls away? What do you say? I never thought there'd be someone like you who would want me Well... So I give you ten thousand reasons to not let me go But if you really see me If you like me for me and nothing else Well, that's all that I've wanted for longer that you could possibly know So it can be us It can be us And only us And what came before won't count anymore or matter We can try that It's not so impossible Nobody else but the two of us here 'Cause you're saying it's possible We can just watch the whole world disappear 'Til you're the only one I still know how to see It's just you and me It'll be us It'll be us And only us And what came before won't count anymore We can try that You and me That's all that we need it to be And the rest of the world falls away And the rest of the world falls away The world falls away The world falls away And it's only us”

I don’t post here often anymore…..

The show that started it all. Thank you, Dear Evan Hansen 🫶 happy trails 🥹

Dillinger (1973)

"Now nobody get nervous. You ain't got nothing to fear. You're being robbed by the John Dillinger Gang, that's the best there is. These few dollars you lose here today, they're gonna buy you stories to tell your children, your great-grandchildren. This could be one of the big moments in your life. Don't make it your last."

DEH cast with members of the Newsies cast

It frustrates me when people say "If I Could Tell Her" is Evan trying to use the memory of Connor to "seduce" Zoe. Usually they're joking but some people seem to genuinely believe that's what that song is and I feel like you REALLY have to not be paying attention at all to come away with that conclusion.

The show makes it pretty clear that his only intention going into the song is to make Zoe feel better about the memory of her brother. He doesn't just bring Connor up out of nowhere to get on her good side, Zoe ASKS him what Connor meant in his note and is visibly upset about it. So he tells her all the good things he's noticed about her and attributes them to Connor hoping to make her feel better. He's basically doing the OPPOSITE of trying to get her to fall for him, because he's saying all these sweet things but giving someone else the credit for noticing them, because he knows that's what Zoe wants to hear.

I think the misconception around this song comes largely from the fact that he tries to kiss her afterwards, (which was obviously not a good move at all and no one's denying that) but I feel like it's painfully obvious that that wasn't planned and it came from him misreading things in the moment? If you've never had any kind of experience with romance or intimacy or anything of that sort (which Evan very obviously hasn't), the proper timing for something like that wouldn't come easy to you. It wouldn't be something you just instinctually understand, especially if you're already bad at reading people and constantly overthinking everything they say and do. When you're used to feeling invisible, someone treating you with kindness or making an effort to connect with you can pretty easily be misinterpreted as romantic interest.

And we're talking about a character with crippling anxiety whose idea of flirting was saying "I've seen you play guitar in jazz band I love jazz band I love jazz well not all jazz but definitely like jazz band jazz". Do you really think he understands social cues well enough to know the right timing of that sort of thing? Do you honestly believe he's thinking far enough ahead to plan out some elaborate scheme to make someone fall in love with him? That's crazy. He has a moment of connection with the girl he's been in love with for years and he mistakes her interest in what he's saying for interest in HIM for a split second at the END of the song. Kissing her was not a thought in his mind until that very moment, because he didn't even believe there was a chance in hell that she could ever like someone like him until that moment where they sit on the bed together and actually connect. That was the moment where they stopped being a million worlds apart, and Evan didn't know how to handle it. I feel that every actor I've ever seen play the role has made this abundantly clear. Was it a bad move on Evan's part? Absolutely! But it's not at all the the same as actively trying to manipulate someone into liking you and I'm really tired of people pretending that it is.

Oliver Twist 1922 - 2007

Am I the only one still absolutely obsessed with DEH and have been since 2016?🥲

1, 17, 19 puhleaseeee <3

1. a song you like with a color in the title

Azul by Edson e Hudson. Fun fact: I already knew of two versions (Dutch and Spanish) before I heard this one, but this became my favorite straight away. Love the energy!

17. a song that you would sing a duet with on karaoke

I can't sing at all, but if I'd find myself in one of those private room kinda karaoke bars, I might lose myself a little "singing" my parts of Only Us from Dear Evan Hansen. (Ooh, or Take Me or Leave Me from Rent... shit, don't start me thinking musicals, I can go on forever! lol)

19. a song that makes you think about life

Ain't Got No, I Got Life by Nina Simone. Sometimes it's just that simple.

(via laura dreyfuss' instagram stories)

Just showed my brother a picture of Laura Dreyfuss. "Ben Platt?" He asked. I love him