RIP Nick Miller, You Wouldve Loved Doomscrolling

RIP nick miller, you would’ve loved doomscrolling

West Belfast, Ireland

Winston: okay, i’ll be back soon

Winston: if schmidt calls, tell him i died. but make sure you really sell it

I have literally lost faith in humanity.

a family bids farewell to their babygirl minutes ago, on the first day of Eid. Palestinians can't even celebrate without occupation bombardment.

Y'know what I would love to see? A production of Sweeney Todd that plays up the "Demon Barber" epithet by adding in the element that he might, quite literally, be demonically possessed somehow. Even better if it's purposefully ambiguous about whether it's true or not and leaves the audience second-guessing and doubting themselves after it all.

It makes Todd's actions all the more ambiguous and might even make him more sympathetic. Is he actually possessed, and his bloodlust is just its manifestation in the body of a man still grieving his family? Is he one mortal man who's gone mad from his experiences that he starts a murderous campaign against the world around him? Who knows. Sweeney nor the audience does.

It goes from a story about the dangers of taking revenge, but also plays into the similar elements of 'people will do desperate and horrible things if it means getting what they want'.

It also makes him more of a foil to the villain of the story, a religious judge who is also keeping up appearances and hiding his heinous actions.

The idea of "Benjamin Barker is dead, it's Todd now" might not be an exaggeration or a metaphor. Or maybe it is.

Epiphany (noun): a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being.

He's weirdly aggrieved with dates and people's exact words, like he's on a contract or time limit ("'Before the week is out,' that's what he said." // It was due to arrive / At a quarter to five— / And it's six o'clock!")

He dumps bodies to the lower level / ground floor of the theater, which, historically, was referred to as Hell.

Lighting changes and the stage going red when Sweeney kills someone, or potentially when he's plotting or still focused on vengeance alone.

If Sweeney really did bargain with the devil for revenge against Judge Turpin in exchange for something, once the judge is dead and slides down the chute, Sweeney is alone. Truly, finally alone with his thoughts and actions and the numerous lives on his bloody hands, and is being told he can rest now. And then he learns his wife has died at his own hands and his crusade -- whether it really was his own or not -- was all for nothing.

Miss Lovett being just halfway crazy enough herself to see this man who's definitely got something Wrong With Him in more ways than one and still wanting to tap that.