New Vid: "It Depends On What You Pay" (Dollhouse)

[giandujakiss]

Song: It Depends On What You Pay from The Fantasticks
Artist: Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones

Fandom: Dollhouse

Summary: You've come a long way, baby.

Spoilers: Through "Haunted"

Sizes: 30.8 MB (540 x 360 .avi), 13.3 MB (420 x 280 .wmv)
Length: 2:48

Download from Sendspace: The .avi file is here and the .wmv file is here.

Notes and Warnings:

I'm really not sure if a warning is necessary here, but I'd rather err on the side of caution and say that the song may be a bit ... triggery? Possibly.

It Depends On What You Pay is from the 1960 off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks. The original production of The Fantasticks ran continuously for 42 years, making it the world's longest running musical. By 1990, however, for reasons that will be obvious when you see the vid, It Depends On What You Pay had been largely excised from the show. Recent productions of The Fantasticks either include the song with a different set of lyrics, or delete it entirely and substitute a new song in its place.

The version used in the vid is from the original cast recording, and is performed by Jerry Orbach. It has been edited for length.

Watch on Vimeo

Password: omega


Thanks so much to cathexys, danegen, sol_se, and Thuvia Ptarth for their comments. Any flaws are entirely my own.

Comments would be appreciated. Cross-posted to LJ.

Comments

[cofax7]

Oh, brava.

Seriously. This is the vid that was needed.

[giandujakiss]

Thank you! That's how I felt, too.

[musesfool]

Yes. This.

[gchick]

Amazing. I'm completely torn between watching again and again, and scrubbing out my brain.

Exactly what the show calls for.

[giandujakiss]

Heh. Thank you.

[giandujakiss]

Thank you! That's pretty much the reaction I was going for!

[wembley]

Now, I (as we both know), actually have come to like Dollhouse and even enjoy it (and that probably makes me a bad person), but that said: This is perfect. Perfectly gets at the heart of everything that's wrong about the show like a scalpel. Perfect song, perfect clips, perfect editing, perfect choices... You're a fucking genius.

[elynross]

I'm pretty much watching Dollhouse at this point to see what happens and where it goes -- not even so much within the show, but to see if these kinds of issues are ever overtly addressed. And I can continue to only by not thinking too much about what you capture so perfectly here. You bring it all right to the direct, brazen fore, and brava for doing so.

[giandujakiss]

Oh, wow, thank you so much - and thank you for the rec, as well! I couldn't be more pleased that it worked for you - but also, duh, we're in fandom, no one gets to throw stones over the politics of the shows we like :-).

[giandujakiss]

Thank you! Yes, exactly - the show avoids the word "rape," only deals with these issues on particular occasions, and the rest of the time just expects us to ignore them while it tells another story. I'm so glad it came through for you in the vid - thank you!

[innocentsmith]

Here via wembley, and...good lord. Yes, exactly. And I really do like Dollhouse and find it fascinating, because I think the show really does know that it's doing this - which, I know not everyone agrees about that - but there is still the question of whether that's justifiable. This vid takes the same sort of strong stomach to watch that the show does: I really enjoyed it but spent the whole thing jawdropped in horror and at the end I wanted to scrub my brain with bleach and steel wool. So - very appropriate to the source.

Amazing job. And, wow, the song is...wow.

[giandujakiss]

but spent the whole thing jawdropped in horror and at the end I wanted to scrub my brain with bleach and steel wool

Then my work here is done!

Seriously, I'm very glad you liked it and delighted it provoked such a strong reaction - thank you!

[kass]

Oh My God. :-)

This is...fabulous and makes me go "ow" a lot. *g* Which I'm guessing is what you were going for.

The song is awful and therefore just perfect. I come away particularly struck by your use of clips which are less...obviously objectionable, I guess is the best I can come up with. I mean, Echo in the dominatrix outfit is a gimme, but there are more innocuous moments here (Echo walking through the dollhouse; the quiver of someone in the brainwashing chair; even Ballard kissing Mellie before he realizes that she's a doll) which become much more sinister in this context. Brava.

[giandujakiss]

there are more innocuous moments here (Echo walking through the dollhouse; the quiver of someone in the brainwashing chair; even Ballard kissing Mellie before he realizes that she's a doll) which become much more sinister in this context

Oh, yes, that's exactly what I hoped would come across! I'm so glad you liked it - thank you!

[kass]

On a second viewing, I'm struck by the whimsy, especially where Topher is concerned. I love him conducting (and that final shot -- brilliant!), "costumes from the east," the clips showing the backup dancers rehearsing. It's a surprisingly funny vid, in places, for one which I also read as so righteously furious with the source-text. Like watching a very angry kick-boxer be at once entertaining and lethal. :-)

[giandujakiss]

Thank you again! Yeah, the song is funny - or is, umm, supposed to be - so I needed to match the tone of it to make the vid work. And in some ways it was easy; there's a certain stereotypical set of scenarios, and both the song and the show hit them. The song is actually a lot longer, and I hated to cut some of the lyrics because including them would have driven the point home even more, but this really couldn't have gone on for over 4 minutes - I felt like I was pushing it even at 2:48. Anyway, I'm delighted that both the anger and the humor came through for you - thank you!

[stultiloquentia]

A few moments that struck me as especially brilliant: the prim instrumentals over Topher tapping on his buttons -- because he's a composer -- an artist!, the timing of archery guy zipping his fly, the olé at the end. All your clip choices are amazing, though. Thanks a lot for making this.

I hope somebody with a Whedonesque account lobs it over there....

[giandujakiss]

the prim instrumentals over Topher tapping on his buttons -- because he's a composer -- an artist!,

Hee! You got that! I wasn't sure it would read!

I'm very happy you liked the vid, thank you :-).

[stultiloquentia]

I see it made Feminist SF this morning.

[giandujakiss]

Yes, I know - the person who posted it asked my permission to link. I'm very gratified that people like it - I had a lot of doubts while I was making it whether this was really a good idea/a justifiable thing to do, so it's nice to know that at least for some viewers, yes, it was :-).

[monanotlisa]

This was recommended to me; definitely need to see. Thank you!

[giandujakiss]

Oh, you're welcome! I'm glad you liked it!

[monanotlisa]

Hadn't watched it yet - now I have, and must say: wow. Jesus. Christ. This is magnificently crafted and creepy, or perhaps the better way to phrase it is that it makes the creepy of this show stand out even better.

(Also, best use of "string quartet" ever: not musicians but puppets in the greater context.)

[lynnenne]

What she said. I love the show, but this vid is a brilliant critique of it.

stultiloquentia recced this, and I have to agree with her on the use of the Topher clips, directing the action the way a composer directs a symphony. Beautifully done.

[giandujakiss]

Oh, hee - I'm now glad you liked it, then :-). I'm particularly gratified that the string quartet thing is working - it was one of the last clips I added, because I couldn't figure out what to do with that lyric. So, thank you!