Misérables Thoughts

A few days ago I was sick and spent the whole day in bed sipping green tea and feeling miserable.
As I was browsing through YouTube and catching up with my favorite vloggers, I came across the advertisement for the recent movie Les Misérables, directed by Tom Hooper. And I thought, how convenient that I should come across a movie which suits my mood perfectly.

Of course, being the prim and proper bookworm that I am, I would not allow myself to view the video until I've read the books. Unfortunately, at the moment I had neither of the books nor the strength to drive over to Hong Kong and pick them up, so I did what no sane human being would do: read the entire Wikipedia article and scour all the links until I was pretty darn sure Javert would be in my dreams  that night.

And then, of course I had to watch the West End production of Les Misérables at the London Queens Theatre online. It was amazing. The singing was so powerful and penetrating I felt like my soul was being lifted right out of my body. My favorite character has got to be Eponine though, Samantha Barks definitely sang her heart out.

Eponine has actually got me thinking. Even though she was raised by the nasty Thénardiers, she's one of the most virtuous figures in the whole novel. Her love for Marius is so selfless she almost becomes a guardian of his relationship with Cosette, who's not only her rival but also her childhood servant! I mean, just imagine all the hard feelings and jealousy she had to put behind her. And of course, she has to take it one step further and ultimately dies blocking a bullet for Marius. Eponine is such a shining figure of magnanimity ever other character in the story just fades into the background. In fact, she just makes Marius and Cassette seem like thankless, ignorant saps. The fact that Eponine could harbor such noble love in her heart just serves to show that regardless of an individuals upbringing, he or she can always rise above their terrible circumstances and become great. And that thought gives me hope.

As I was saying, I watched the musical and liked it so much I figured I would buy a hard copy of the movie, which I watched today. It was okay, but perhaps it's because I already know the storyline so well there were no surprises and I didn't bawl. Perhaps I teared up a bit during Eponine's "On My Own" again. She's just incredible. 

-JULIE