Believer

I am beginning to think I might be a believer in musicals. For once in my life, I really thought something was made better (not more annoying) by song. I have always been someone who was not a fan of the idea that characters mind sing and dance about randomly breaking into song. Yet, in this sense it worked

Watching Dr. Horrible, one can use the singing and dancing as a metaphor for the expression we wish we could make. The smart cheeky lines came from the dialogue, and the deeper character driving “stuff” came in the music. This was a show that was able to pull off the idea that bursting into song was normal, and did not make it awkward for the viewer.

Also, there is the idea that the title says “Sing-Along Blog,” that gives the viewer the idea that Whedon is not just intending to write some catchy lyrics you might hum in the shower, but that he is wanting his viewers to express themselves, because in the world of Dr, Horrible & Capt. Hammer, expression and truth comes in the form of the song.

We See Dr. Horrible’s most honest moments, endearing, painful, and terrifying, when he is singing. His original feelings for Penny in the launder mat song are what endear us to him, and make us pull for him as not just a cheeky villain, but also a person we want to see happy.

In the scariest parts of the episodes, Dr. Horrible sings of showing Penny his true power, and “evilness” and in his song sung as he freezes Capt. Hammer, we see the loss of “Billy” and his beginning to focus only on his quest to join the evil league.

And,----In the final song, we hear his last line, sung at the camera in a haunting line that drags us back to Billy, and makes us see what he has lost. The cracking of his voice and the non-tonal quality express the visceral feelings that come when we sing about things that mean something, or in his case, the fear and realization that he can feel nothing.

Singing is his honestly, good or bad, evil or not, it always comes from a place of truth.