Dear Evan Hansen Movie Controversy

 

Back in late spring, the first trailer for the Dear Evan Hansen movie dropped; I was ecstatic to see that Ben Platt would be reprising the role that he originated not only in the original Broadway production, but as early back as the workshops as well. I figured that this news would be met with clangorous cries of joy among the DEH fandom. I did not hear anything averse until just recently.

Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a teenager with severe social anxiety. His therapist tasks him with writing daily letters to himself detailing why each day will be "amazing." After the school bully, Connor, finds one of the letters and thinks Evan is making fun of him, he takes it and commits suicide. Connor's parents find the letter and believe it to be a final letter that Connor wrote to his dear friend, Evan Hansen. Evan tries to deny it, but the Murphy family are so distraught and he is so anxious and desperate to belong that he begins to fabricate a friendship with their dead son, all while harboring a crush on their daughter, Zoe. I'll end the synopsis there to risk spoiling any further for those who aren't familiar with the story.

With the September 24th release date just around the corner and his second solo album Reverie fresh on the shelves, Ben Platt has been appearing in entertainment media more frequently. Apparently, a point of contention among fans is that they feel that Ben Platt is too old to play Evan Hansen again; Platt is currently twenty-seven.

I'm sure that I don't even need to delve too deeply into why this complaint is nothing short of ridiculous. Have you ever watched a teen drama on the CW? Sorry to tell you, folks, but none of the teenagers on the show are portrayed by actual teenagers(!) I know, shocking, right? Who'd have thought? One of my favorite examples of this is perhaps the most well-known teen drama of the 1990s, Beverly Hills, 90210. While the majority of the cast were a few years older than their onscreen counterparts, two stars of the show were dramatically older than the characters they portrayed. Gabrielle Carteris was twenty-nine years old, when she started playing the role of Andrea Zuckerman in the original pilot; fan-favorite, Ian Ziering, may have played lovable rich boy Steve Sanders to perfection, but in the real world, he was twenty-six. Honestly, watching the show when I was the same age as the characters, I never noticed that they looked older than they were supposed to be, nor did I care; an actor's job is to take the audience on their character's journey and do it so convincingly that we forget we're watching an actor, and believe that the story is real. 

Platt recently did an interview on the Zach Sang Show in which he defended his controversial casting. "I think the reaction is largely from people that don't know the context of the piece; the fact that I created the role and workshopped it  for three years," the actor explained before continuing, "and also, not really understanding the fact that, like, were I not to do the movie, it probably wouldn't even get made..." This caused a stir amongst the internet trolls, who were quick to label the actor-singer "self-centered" and "entitled," while others pointed out that Platt's father is a co-producer of the film, suggesting that nepotism played a huge role in the casting decision. Platt clarified that the movie would have been made with or without him, and that he's not the kind of person to let their ego get in the way and say that it wouldn't have been made without him. As a rational human being, I get what he's saying, and I respect his humble attitude.

While scrolling through Twitter, I saw comments about how members of the original cast of The Prom had to audition for the Netflix movie adaption, but that none of them were cast, negating Ben's argument that he originated the role. This irks me because, let's be real, I am a huge musical theater nerd, and I had never even heard of The Prom before the movie came out, nor have I ever heard of any of the original cast members. Ben Platt was already well-known for his lovable character, Benji Applebaum from the first two Pitch Perfect movies; appearing in Dear Evan Hansen only helped his star to rise. I mean, the man has won a Tony, a Grammy, and an Emmy, for fuck's sake. He has earned his status. The film adaption of Rent featured six of the eight original cast members even though, realistically, none of the actors could pass for a twenty-something, as they were all well into their thirties by that point. The purpose behind their casting was that as the actors who originated the roles, they had a deeper understanding of their characters and the show as a whole, after that experience. In my book, they earned it. 

Another argument I read was that some people felt that since Platt had already played the part and gotten lauded with accolades, that it was only fair that he pass the torch onto some unknown actor who could build his career by bringing Evan Hansen alive on the silver screen. This point was punctuated by the fact that both Julianne Moore and Amy Adams have major roles, and that the two actresses have enough star power to carry a movie with a mostly unknown cast. To be fair, it worked for Mamma Mia! and Hairspray, and I'm not one of those people who think only Ben Platt can play a convincing Evan, but I do feel like he so embodies the soul of the character that not using him for this movie would have been a huge mistake. Do I think that he looks seventeen in the trailer? No. But I also don't think he looks thirty-five like the naysayers allege. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the curly mop of hair Platt is sporting, as I'm used to the character with short hair, but I'm not going to let such an inconsequential opinion dictate how I feel about the film adaption of a musical which I love very much.

I am beyond sick of all of these bored nobodies on the internet that get fake-offended by everything and try to stir up controversy to spice up their otherwise boring lives. If you don't like that Ben Platt got cast in the movie, either keep that opinion to yourself, or simply don't watch the movie. Trust me, the movie will be a huge success regardless of how many "ultra sensies" (I made that word up) watch and clutch their environmentally safe jewelry in fake indignation, then become keyboard warriors to trash it. People need to realize that just because they have opinion on something, that doesn't mean that that opinion matters or needs to be voiced; and being offended by everything and politicizing it is just another form of neuroticism.

We have just over a month until the movie premiers, and I for one, am ecstatic; I cannot wait to see it and experience the new songs and scenes, and fall in love with the show all over again. I know that Ben Platt will be amazing, because he's already proven that he is. Plain and simple. Enough said.

Watch the trailer below and decide for yourself what you think. All I urge you to do is to have an open mind.