Dear Evan Hansen on suicide

Dear Evan Hansen on suicide

Dear Evan Hansen presents suicide as a cultural issue through stage musical genre. Suicide and its effects impact the lives of characters in the stage musical differently based on the level of interpersonal relations. Cultural and social factors leading to suicide such as bullying, loneliness and the stages of the adolescent are successfully addressed, along with discussions on death as a unifying factor in the community. Encountering suicide in the community is common in the digital age, due to lack of communicating life skills to children and adolescents, thus enabling them to handle emerging trivialities, in life. The expectations as to such impact emotional intelligence skills on individuals predisposed to suffer from mental challenges. A meaningful message from the theme of suicide in Dear Evan Hansen is the prevalence of its occurrence in the community, and the essence of devising strategies to prevent loss of innocent adolescent lives.

Bullying in the genre is a precursor of tragic events, including the death of Connor due to feelings of social distance. In contemporary society, bullying as delinquent behaviour among teenagers is a source of emotional and psychological stress to victims. In the American education system, more than 34% of students undergo either physical, sexual or emotional forms of bullying from peers (Quealy-Gainer, p68). In the current age of technological advancement, digital and online media offers sufficient traffic and online reach, thus reducing the costs associated with raising awareness in mass markets. Bullying, as a passionate issue, relates to shaping the identity formations and functions of role models since it has an impact on our careers. Lack of addressing bullying as impulsive behaviours that constitute psychological harm could make teenagers withdrawal from mainstream society and academic activities. Being passionate about handling bullying leads to proposing cognitive-behavioural therapies for teenagers predisposed to facilitate improper behaviour.

Loneliness and family values emerge in the Dear Evan Hansen enhancing the audience knowledge on the effect of suicide and lacking close interactions. Through the first attempt, the protagonist in the tragic stage musical survives death through suicide, indicating the prevalence of suppression of negative emotions. By presenting suicide as a social rather than a class challenge, it becomes easier for the target audience to come forward and seek help (Duncombe, p413). The blame is on our cultures that emphasize men to manifest tough love and concealing of personal challenges. As the children progress through adolescence, loneliness and experiencing disjointed families could elevate inability to control behavioural impulses towards self-harm. As such, American families and parents ought to dedicate time for engaging with their children and seeking to understand adolescence as a challenging stage of human growth and development. In the stage musical, the themes surrounding the presentation of disjointed families is sombre, to enhance the audience’s sympathy to loneliness as a social challenge. My stake in preventing isolation and associated negative impacts on adolescence is through being a role model.

Forms of art that have confronted the issue of suicide in contemporary society is stage musical. Alternatively, traditional media through television and films addresses factors compelling youth to commit suicide, indicating benefits in the reduction of rate by more than 41% (Quealy-Gainer, p68). The play also highlights cultural predispositions of treating suicide as a personality challenge, rather than a manifestation of social limitations and ignorance to individual emotions. In dominant media such as television series, characters tend to discuss the behaviours impulses towards suicide and offering covert and overt forms of advice to the adolescents. Similarly, in the play, digital and electronic media provide communication channels since the protagonist and the antagonist engage through emails. In modern society, social media is a useful platform for identifying impulsive tendencies and behaviours, by auditing changes and alterations in individual habits (Duncombe, p418). Parents and teachers could intervene and limit the proliferation of bullying and peer pressure as prerequisites for suicidal thoughts. Forms of art in the community, including murals and music festivals for the youth, engage sharing of trivial ideas and choosing a mentor to confide during challenging times.

Teenagers are the primary audience of Dear Evan Hansen, as the stage musical adopts teenagers as the main characters. Appealing to the target audience is critical in the process of behavioural modification. Studies show that suicidal thoughts are most prevalent during emotionally challenging times, including adolescence. As such, mentoring students during identity formation are critical by impacting their survival skills and improving their emotional intelligence. The study also indicates that students with supportive families and peer environment tend to record lower rates of suicidal thoughts due to feelings of identity and affection (Quealy-Gainer, p68). Despite the fact that proposals to allow adolescents to fathom life challenges on their own, teaching of relevant social cues and handling social rejection could produce emotionally stable adults. In the stage musical, the themes surrounding the presentation of disjointed families is sombre, to enhance the audience’s sympathy to loneliness as a social challenge. The targeted genre is attracted to creative stage musical, that is easier to relate with the emotional and environment the students engage in. In Dear Evan Hansen, Evans establishes a foundation of addressing suicide in the student community and offering second chances to those surviving impulsive behaviours.

Expectations of this genre are improving emotional stability and intelligence of adolescents. Since the genre is creative in presenting the factors leading to suicide and helping the target audience understand effects of acting on impulsive behaviours, the producers succeed in creating awareness of loneliness and bullying (Duncombe, p423). The expectations also include individual understanding that anyone in the society could suffer from social alienation, thus reducing stigmatization of people based on their personalities. Due to the diversity of characters, different individuals have varying techniques of handling social alienation, bullying and social anxieties. The expectations as to such impact emotional intelligence skills on individuals predisposed to suffer from mental challenges. Additionally, the stage musical seeks to enhance family ties by highlighting the factors leading to disjointed close interactions. Parents could avoid blaming children for failed social interactions and limiting cultural influences to raising emotionally unstable children.

Online and the digital community have access to the genre of stage musical while relying on social media connections to emphasize on the themes in the presentation. To increase awareness of suicide as a cultural and modern social issue, facilitating access to targeted suicide is through familiar platforms, including social media (Quealy-Gainer, p68). Alternatively, access is through written journals and blogs about Dear Evan Hansen, including print and electronic media. In the current age of technological advancement, digital and online media offers sufficient traffic and online reach, thus reducing the costs associated with raising awareness in mass markets. The time it takes to have access is an issue in marketing, leading to the choice of stage musical and digital media as the most appropriate channels of tackling suicide as a cultural issue. Access is available to all demographics and age groups since parents and the immediate environment play a crucial role in shaping individual personalities.

The amount of investment in the production of stage musical is meagre since the artistic elements in the play are familiar and comfortable to mould among the characters. Relying on low-cost productions to raise awareness is essential in limiting the commercialization of suicidal studies and forums in the community (Duncombe, p417). By presenting suicide as a social rather than a class challenge, it becomes easier for the target audience to come forward and seek help. Moreover, the use of a low cost and simple production technique is to facilitate volunteers opportunities for characters suffering from suicide and behavioural impulses. Victims of mental challenges offer empathetic accounts of their trivialities, becoming easier to appeal to the community.

Conclusion

The genre utilizes both a subtle and direct approach in tackling suicide as a cultural issue through Dear Evan Hansen as a stage musical. As a subtle approach, the Dear Evan Hansen strategizes on presenting suicide and loneliness as prevalent challenges in the community. By failing to alienate the target audience, the genre successfully tackles family and environmental influences to suicide. The play also highlights cultural predispositions of treating suicide as a personality challenge, rather than a manifestation of social limitations and ignorance to individual emotions. Through a direct approach, stage musical as a genre succeeds in presenting suicide as a tragic event that affects the immediate environment, including parents, colleagues and schoolmates.