![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
The premise of “Dear Evan Hansen” revolves around a despicable lie.
The death of school outcast Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan) and a misunderstanding leaves Connor’s parents convinced that Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) was his best friend. Instead of correcting the misunderstanding, Evan plays along, using this mishap to build a connection with his crush and Connor’s sister Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever) and obtain the family environment he lacks.
Evan’s fabrication spirals out of control when his efforts to keep Connor’s memory alive go viral on social media, turning Evan into an internet celebrity. Evan can either continue to feed the fantasy he created or come clean and risk losing the life he always wanted.
At any rate, the stakes are high.
The musical “Dear Evan Hansen” first premiered on Broadway in 2016, becoming a worldwide phenomenon after winning six Tony Awards. However, its leap to the movie screen is questionable.
Rather than incorporating a character backstory that allows the audience to sympathize with Evan, the movie conveys a comical portrayal of those struggling with mental health issues, inviting the audience to laugh at Evan’s crumpled posture and nervous glances.
The lack of context for Evan’s character might have been understandable in a musical that depicts characters as relatively smaller figures and uses songs as the emotional arc of storytelling.
However, Evan’s actions on the big screen are much more unforgivable when the songs are not sufficient in capturing emotion as it was in the original Broadway show. As opposed to a stage with dramatic lighting and simple setting that allows for a quick mood change, a character suddenly breaking into a song during a movie discloses the rough transition between scenes.
Normally shy and reticent, Evan Hansen seems to dump all that he feels in the two-minute musical intervals in a melodramatic way that overwhelms the audience.
For most of the film, the plot gives attention to neither the grief of Connor’s family nor adolescent mental health issues, but rather Evan’s despicable lie and devious manipulation. For almost every comment made on mental health, the movie seems to represent the subject matter in a shallow way.
Not only does Evan’s character paint those with open mental health issues as toxic or burdens, it also addresses such issues in an insensitive way. When Evan gains popularity through the validation of his peers and his long-wanted crush, he suddenly feels as if he no longer needs to take his anxiety medication. But anxiety is not transient like the movie portrays it to be.
And most importantly, Connor’s suicide and his family’s grief are neglected throughout most of the story, delivering a message exactly opposite of what the original musical alleged to convey: “No one deserves to be forgotten.”
Ultimately, “Dear Evan Hansen” should have stayed as a musical.
This story was originally published on Portola Pilot on October 14, 2021.