Portraying terrible themes, but with music and dancing to make it all light-hearted. Many musicals back in the day (and a couple of modern ones) seem to have rather dark and twisted themes as the basis of the tale. But because there are bright clothes, music and dancing, everyone seems ok with it. Maybe that’s why I didn’t like musicals much as a child (apart from Grease), although my favourite when I did take to them, was The Nightmare Before Christmas, with a very strange and dark theme to it.

But after watching a few funny vids about them by a YouTuber called Rob Anderson, it started to seem relevant to something very recent, but I will get that, here are a few that stood out of the old ones –

Oliver Twist – mistreated orphans and lots of sinister happenings.

Annie – mistreated orphan, who is then kidnapped along the way.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – The war and Nazis, and witchcraft.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (nicknamed ‘A wholesome human trafficking musical’ by Mr Anderson) – about kidnap and what seems like Stockholm syndrome essentially.

The Sound of Music – more Nazis.

Wizard of Oz – Witches, flying Monkeys and oddities throughout.

Gigi – the main character has to train in the family tradition of being a high-end prostitute.

Rocky Horror Picture Show – vampires, sexuality and very odd characters.

Even the animated ones aren’t actually cheery themes either.

Snow White – abandoned and meant to be killed.

Pinocchio – kidnapped, trafficked, and drugged.

Cinderella – treated like a slave and abused by her family.

Presented as suitable stories for children, for them to think perhaps that it is all quite a lively activity taking place, as long as there are colours, music and dancing, then it must be safe and happy with a good ending? That’s The Ticket looking at other films and themes where enticement through entertainment is a big lure.

So, to the point and what made me think of these films and their themes, of coordinated dancing and twirling, making light of something rather dark and sinister. Yes, the dancing nurse’s videos that appeared on the internet after lockdown. Where hospitals were apparently overrun and at breaking point (but were actually empty when filmed by real people), or barricaded to stop people being able to use them freely as they once did. Of course, the first thing you should do in a health emergency is restrict access to hospitals and get a bunch of nurses to choreograph a routine and make use of hospitals that way. And since then, a few people have mentioned it again, how weird it was, how no-one ever admitted to being one of those dancing nurses, how we had no idea what it was all about and why something in such bad taste was made to be so jovial. But now I think of it again, in relation to the above themes, it does make sense. That it was odd display of frivolity to conceal the real underlying message, that you are watching a ‘musical’ where a dark undertone is there, in the hospital, using the equipment as props for their routine, and making you think perhaps that just like in the movies, it was going to have a happy ending…

(c) MKW Publishing

The next fear play has moved into place. Panic buying for an emergency being put forward by multiple international governments, as well as our own. People are starting to talk.

And it could well be they have another dramatic event ready to unfold, and we will all be smited while they run away safe to their hidey holes to wait it out, or escape. Many theories are swirling around at the moment.

But I wondered about that, and have previously, about if you knew a disaster was coming, and you just wanted to milk everything you can beforehand, and ‘set yourself up’ for the fall out after. While the average person gets left ‘in the shit’ as it were.

Today, I had another thought towards it. That perhaps the reason to hide isn’t that a ‘natural’ disaster is coming, but the one they instigated. And if we think along the lines of At The Flick of a Switch, then potentially they have the ability to take an awful lot of people out of the equation. But a couple of other thoughts were, what if it comes out for real, what they tried to do. Through either flicking that switch or something else triggers it, and they need to hide because they failed. It’s their backup plan. Like someone who trashes everything because they don’t get their own way. And all the weird surveillance moves are so they can watch the fallout from afar. Big brother style, literally.

Or the other, quite far-fetched idea I had, that something is going to happen that they won’t actually be able to control and is for the benefit of mankind. Where they will no longer have dominon over peoples lives. And they will need somewhere to go, almost off the map, where people can not easily get to them. Islands, castles, bunkers, etc. And if that were the case, it would make sense why they would want to ruin and destroy certain countries, livelihoods, and the mentality of people over a long period of time. Putting you on the edge so you, instead of looking forward to better, you are just holding on for a little bit of normal. Taking away the hope of and for humanity, just when we need it the most…

(c) MKW Publishing

A compilation –

Perceptions of Self

Perceptions of What We Think We See

Perceptions of Perfection

Picture It

Seeing Yourself

(c) MKW Publishing