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Evan, Heidi, Alana, and Jared in Good For You

I really like assessing how these characters feel and their deeper emotions, especially when relating to this specific song. It demonstrates many different aspects of every single one of these characters, so why not make an analyzation?

EVAN:

Let’s start off with Evan. Good For You begins with the fight between Heidi and Evan after leaving the Murphy’s. Heidi is outraged that Evan’s been spending all this time with the Murphy family, and Evan’s response is to argue that Heidi is never there. Some people say Evan behavior here is really shitty and while I do think that his actions aren’t that good of decisions, we can really understand where they come from. I’m positive that Evan has an intense fear of abandonment. He fears that the people in his life will one day decide that he’s not good enough for them and leave him behind. (This most likely originated from his father leaving at a young age.) He’s terrified that he’s just a burden to his mom and that her life would be much better if he wasn’t there. This fear causes him to refuse to bond with his mom. He doesn’t want to create a connection or tell her his problems because she already has so much going on with work and classes. This is evident when Evan expresses that he thinks Heidi believes Evan is the worst thing that ever happened to her. (She denies this of course). This is also fueled by the fact that Heidi didn’t know of Evan’s broken arm until he was in the hospital. Heidi didn’t respond to Evan’s calls. This wasn’t her fault of course, she was at work. And even though Evan most likely knew this, it’s hard to shake off the fact that maybe…that wasn’t the case. His anxiety can cause him to overthink and he jumps to the conclusion that he really is just a burden to her, which is part of what caused him to let go in the first place. On the other side, he gets validation from the Murphy’s. It’s almost like the Murphy’s actually like him, even though it is all based on a lie. It’s like he’s a part of the perfect family. Evan finds false comfort in that. He really is good at heart and though he did bad things, we can really see where he’s coming from.

A note on his treatment towards Jared, it really isn’t his fault. Evan is under the impression that Jared only hangs out with him for car insurance, that he doesn’t really consider him a friend. That has a huge affect on Evan, since Jared is really the only friend he’s got. So when he lashes out, he thinks Jared won’t care what Evan thinks of him, because why would he? (Of course, Jared has his reasons for doing these things as well, More of him below).

Now for Evan in the actual song. He expresses extreme panic with his few lines. We can see how overwhelmed Evan really is with all the chaos the lying has brought. It’s taken a huge toll on him and he just wants to get out. He wants to erase everything and take back all these lies. But it’s not that simple. Evan’s newfound confidence that starts to shine throughout act II begins to break down as he realizes the affects of his actions.

Heidi:

Heidi’s feelings are the most obvious, given that she has the most lines in the song. She just found out her son has been spending all his time with this family she doesn’t even know. She believes Evan thinks she isn’t good enough for him. She thinks Evan wants to escape her, while Evan is afraid of Heidi thinking the same thing about him. Evan was the best thing that ever happened to her, and he’s leaving now. Heidi is outraged at the lies her son has been telling her about where he’s been (and this is before the big reveal in words fail).

Alana:

For most of the musical, Alana’s been a relatively positive character. She seems well put together and hardworking, but it is revealed to the audience that she’s struggling as well. Her symptoms of high-functioning anxiety are much more obvious to the audience, given that she does sing some of Waving Through A Window in Act One. But her issues are technically revealed during Good For You, after Heidi’s singing. Evan questions why Alana is even a part of the Connor Project, angry and unable to see any possibilities other than her wanting something to put on her resumé. Alana debunks this, stating that she knows what it feels like to be alone and like know one can see you, just like Connor did. She then remarks how Evan used to know how that felt like too. This shows a feeling of anger towards Evan and how he disregards her feelings. She’s almost jealous that Evan was able to realize that he wasn’t alone in this and find solace. She thinks Evan doesn’t care anyone but himself, which isn’t true, but Alana doesn’t know that of course. “Do you even care that you might be wrong? Was it fun? Cause I hope you had a blast while you dragged me along.”

Alana’s anxiety deserves more recognition, and more people need to realize that her sharing the note wasn’t out of malice, it was out of the sheer need to help people like Connor, people like her.

Jared:

Jared, oh Jared. Throughout the musical, he’s the sarcastic, funny character. The token asshole. Or so you think. It’s obvious to most viewers/listeners (more obvious in the actual production than the soundtrack itself) that Jared is putting up a mask of false confidence. He acts cool and put together while he is actually deeply insecure. He doesn’t know how to communicate his actual feelings to Evan, instead telling him they’re only “family friends” so he can get his car insurance. Jared doesn’t know how he’s making Evan feel when he says these things. He could possibly be thinking that Evan just interprets them as what they are, jokes. He fails to realize that Evan believes Jared doesn’t care for him. When Evan yells at Jared during one of the Good For You cutaway scenes, his real feeling show, but the aggression that Jared uses to cope is still evident. Jared’s “Fuck you Evan! Asshole!” isn’t just anger. His voice trembles, quivers. He sounds like he’s about to cry, or is already crying. He thinks Evan doesn’t care about him. They both really have the same problem and are unable to communicate what they’re feeling to one another. Some people are unable to see Jared’s inner struggles and disregard that part of him, only seeing the shitty things he did having bad intentions. It doesn’t excuse his actions, but as with all the deh characters, you can really see where Jared is coming from.

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4 years ago

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