Vanessa20
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ValjeanValjean is an underrated hero. Even Boublil and Schonberg gave him the short shrift in the original French version of the musical- on the Concept Album his part feels like window dressing compared to Fantine, Marius, Eponine and the students. I think the problem might be that he can seem "too perfect," and that he lacks sex/romantic appeal for young fans because he's older and has no love interest.
But still, I like him, and a good actor in the role can really move an audience. I remember when I saw the Broadway revival not long after it opened, before Alexander Gemignani got stale. He built up Valjean's relationship with Cosette and his pain at losing her so well that by the end of "Valjean's Confession," the woman two seats down from me was sobbing out loud. Being a Valjean fan, I was thrilled. I'd never heard someone bawl at "Les Mis" before ("Phantom," yes, "Les Mis," no), and it was over Valjean's loss of Cosette! Not Eponine's death, or the fall of the barricade, or Javert's suicide, but Valjean's loss of Cosette!
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Vanessa20
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I meant this to be a reply to the Valjean thread.
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mastachen
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Um, just out of curiosity, why wasn't this in the original Valjean thread?
And what was so sad about the Phantom that people would cry in it?
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The Pirate King
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Underrated?
Who the hell doesn't love Jean Valjean?
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Orestes Fasting
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Valjean isn't hot enough to have fangirls. Sad but true. Still though, he is totally a badass mofo, especially in the book. In the musical when Th�nardier's gang jumps on him he just kind of throws them off and does a runner, which in no way shape or form compares to grabbing the hot poker he's being threatened with and casually pressing it into his arm just to show Patron-Minette they don't scare him one bit.
I also utterly defy anyone to tell me Eponine's love for Marius was more tragic than Valjean's love for Cosette. She was the only person in the world he ever loved, and he gave her up to a man he hated in order to protect her. If you try to tell me a teenage crush is more tragic than that, I will reach through the internet and smack you.
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herkind
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*puts on Devil's Advocate hat* Valjean did, however, have the pleasure of knowing that Cosette loved him back and was able to recieve some small amount of comfort right before he died. Eponine died confused and unsure of her true feelings in the arms of her beloved who would rather have been anywhere else. She never really redeemed herself and Marius never really acknowledged her feelings for him while she lived.
Of course, Valjean's depth of feeling for Cosette was greater than Eponine's for Marius since Eponine wasn't even entirely sure of how she felt about Marius.
Not really arguing with you but I think both situations are tragic in different ways- Valjean in his selflessness and Eponine in her selfishness.
Valjean really is badass. I mention again the scene where he pwns Montparnasse. Yes, I love it that much. 
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Mademoiselle Lanoire
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| herkind wrote: | | Valjean really is badass. I mention again the scene where he pwns Montparnasse. Yes, I love it that much. |
I have that whole speech saved to my computer in a word file.
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lesmisloony
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*is still cracking up at the description of Jean as a "badass mofo"*
If you didn't mention that scene, herkind, I was going to. Doesn't it end with Valjean holding both of Montparnasse's arms in one hand and scratching his chin with the other while Monty makes desparate attempts to escape?
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Orestes Fasting
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Oh come on. If they made BAMF wallets back in the 1830s, you know he would've deserved one, even if he didn't actually buy it. 
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Fantine
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Really needs to read the book again....
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herkind
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| lesmisloony wrote: | *is still cracking up at the description of Jean as a "badass mofo"*
If you didn't mention that scene, herkind, I was going to. Doesn't it end with Valjean holding both of Montparnasse's arms in one hand and scratching his chin with the other while Monty makes desparate attempts to escape? |
"From time to time the young bandit, vigorous and nimble, made the efforts of a beast caught in a snare. He gave a shake, attempted a trip, twisted his limbs desperately, tried to escape. The old man did not appear to notice, and with a single hand held his two arms with the sovereign indifference of absolute strength."
~
" '...And now what did you want from me? My purse? Here it is.'
And the old man, releasing Montparnasse, put his purse in his hand, which Montparnasse weighed for a moment; after which, with the same automatic precaution as if he had stolen it, Montparnasse let it glide gently into the back pocket of his coat.
All this said and done, the good man turned his back and quietly resumed his walk.
'Blockhead!' murmurred Montparnasse."
Win.
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Vanessa20
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I accidentally hit New Topic instead of Post Reply.
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lesmisloony
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That's okay, Vanessa. We're having fun.
And I tried to find that passage online (too lazy to walk fifteen steps to my bookshelf and look it up in one of my Bricks, I guess) but didn't, so I just paraphrased. But I read that quote with a huge grin across my face.
That's Norman Denny, right? (*still too lazy to check bookshelf*) Because in my other translation Monty says, "Old babbler." Or something. In the original French it's "Ganache." Good times being obsessed with Montparnasse's scenes.
How about Jean Jean's Great Convent Escape in the coffin? Not nearly enough time spent talking about how many kinds of awesome that was. Or the original Great Javert Escape that led them into the convent in the first place.
The Petit-Gervais scene has always interested me as well. It seems Jean wasn't thinking and sort of automatically put his foot on the coin, and then realized later what he'd done. But in the Jean Gabin film he snatches the coin away from the kid and starts yelling at him, right? That always concerned me. Because he did basically tell him to scram after he put his foot on the coin, Bookverse.
I dunno, that came out as disjointed babblings.
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EponineMNFF
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| Quote: | | How about Jean Jean's Great Convent Escape in the coffin? Not nearly enough time spent talking about how many kinds of awesome that was. Or the original Great Javert Escape that led them into the convent in the first place. |
I nearly died of the awesomeness when I first read that passage. I was sitting in the green room of the theatre I was rehearsing in, and just went, "NO WAY!" Everyone was rather confused. Hahah.
Valjean is honestly one of my favorite characters. He's so AWESOME! His character is so interesting. I do think it's sad that he doesn't get nearly as much attention as the other characters, but hey. I'm going as him for Halloween, though. ^_^
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lesmisloony
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You're going to be Jean Jean for Halloween ? Amazing ! I was Javert in the eighth grade (good times) and I got a bunch of my friends to dress as various other characters. My mom ended up going as Madame Thenardier, which was funny as hell. I had an Enjolras and the obligatory Eponine as well. And my brother was a last-minute Gavroche.
Tell me, though--how do you dress as Jean ? What's your costume like ? The only wardrobe piece of his I've ever paid attention to is the amazing boots. I love those boots. They're kind of... sexy.
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EponineMNFF
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Ooh I've gone as Eponine once! That was such a fun costume. Last year I went as the logo. I painted my face white and drew black lines on it and wore this dress... it was okay, but the makeup application was definitely not worth it.
My Valjean costume was pretty simple. I did him from the first scene because I wasn't up for making the more iconic blue/red coat. So I wore a button down brown shirt--I took out the buttons and ripped it up a lot. Then I sewed 24601 onto it and put dirt all over it. The pants were basically the same thing, brown, ripped and dirty. And I just wore jazz boots for the shoes. I wore dirt, of course, messed up my hair and carried around a loaf of bread all day. It was pretty awesome, until I went to a party and didn't want to be ugly anymore. Haha. My friend (who loves Javert) and I sang Confrontation at the party though, so that was pretty worth it. /Halloween musings
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lesmisloony
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| Quote: | | I wore dirt, of course, messed up my hair and carried around a loaf of bread all day. |
Ahh ! That made me laugh aloud. You should have gotten your hands on some silver candlesticks. Would've been a lot to carry, but definitely worth it, I'd say...
Also ? I've been telling people I'm going as the logo next year. And I might.
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