Analysis of Spring Awakening

Analysis of Spring Awakening

On the 25^th of March 2020, my friends and I went to watch a film, Spring Awakening, and the Annual Patnum county spelling bee is a 1981 film that explores several themes, most of which are associated with the experiences that teenagers come across once in a while. The CU sold the tickets: Annual Patnum, and I had bought mine two days before. The place was filled, and that is when I learnt that most people enjoyed these films and social experience. To most people that I interacted with during this moment were mainly here as a standard fare where they got the chance to change the environment and have a different experience. Ideally, watching the Spring Awaking was enlightening in terms of its themes, elements of performance, the music that was used and the design of the film.

The theme of sexuality is evident in most parts of the film. Frank employs the use of sexuality as a theme in this film in attempts to engage in the minds of the audience. Ideally, the viewers of this film are pushed into the thought process when they come across aspects of sexuality as depicted in the movie. Some of the thoughts that are likely to be in the mind of the viewers is whether the concept of sexuality is a natural aspect of it is taught to humanity. Frank employs the use of children, other than adults to express the idea of sexuality and through the children’s angle, he tries to push the audience into wondering if sexuality is something that occurs naturally among the human beings.

Through the character Wendla, the director explores the difficulties that children face when they reach adolescents. He also explores the relationship that is shared between the parents and their children when they are in adolescents. Goleby explains that “There may be something in the adults being representative of or distorted by how the young people see them, allowing for a much larger than life portrayal”(3). Most parents, such as the mother of Wendla, was not in a position to talk to her daughter concerning the aspect of sexuality, most importantly help her understand the process of making babies. Here the mother tells her that children are gotten from a woman loving the husband so much, which is not the case in reality.

Education is yet another theme that is evident in the film Spring Awaking. Other than the general knowledge that the director is enlightening the audience by exploring all these themes, the director has employed the use of different characters who he uses to express the subject of education in the film. For instance, the character Rousseau is used in this case to show the various impressions and beliefs that separate people hold concerning the nature of the world. She argues that children are born without knowledge, and he uses the expression ‘ blank state’ to refer to these students. Accordingly, these children have to be taught everything they know for them to have any knowledge in this direction. This explains why, in schools, children are taught mathematics and other units. Education enlightens the children in matters of life as well. Libretto supports that “To my mind, Shame is nothing but a product of Education” (32). The character Moritz is influenced by the teachings of the teachers regarding children holding knowledge to the point that he does not have confidence in the knowledge that he has.

Spring awakening extensively explores the use of musicals, and this enhances the aesthetic of the film through the incorporation of the musicals. Ideally, these musical elements have increased the flow of the film and made it even more enjoyable to the audience who are not faced with the issue of monotony. Most parts of the musicals are composed using vocals, mostly from the characters, and the musicality is reinforced by instrumentals that sound like guitar or piano and bassoon. Through adding such moments of music in the performance of this play contribute to enhancing the musicality. The different songs that have been used in this film have been applied in various scenes to support different themes. Some songs are considered happy, severe, and others are work songs. Similarly, these songs have been employed in this film in various scenes to create an impression that can be likened to the performance. Goleby supports that “This final song helps us to acknowledge that when these young people come through the spring of their lives to enter their summer or adulthood, they do not come through without bruising” (4). This particular song enhances the theme of sexuality, as depicted in this form. Arguably, the concept of morality can be measured through growth and making steps in life.

Other than that incorporation of music, Spring Awakening’s aesthetics were enhanced by the integration of costumes that defined the characters. Additionally, it presented aspects of censoring to avoid expressing issues of sexuality that would erode the morals of the children audience. Similarly, the incorporation of the instrumentals spiced up the performance. The camera angles were also alternated in the editing, and this enhanced the general presentation and created a platform through which most of the audience could build a relationship with the characters. The lighting was also on point, and this made the performance even more appealing since the clarity was excellent, and the audience did not strain as they wanted to see the characters.