 She has that long yellow hair celebrated in the song "Johanna," she dresses in whites and creams and pretty blues, no dark gothic circles under her eyes.
She appears to be the perfect picture of girlish promise and innocence.
Yet such darkness dwells within.
Does Anthony really know what he is getting himself into?
Johanna, taken away from her parents at such a young age, then becoming the ward of the very man who destroyed any hope for happiness for herself and her parents Benjamin and Lucy Barker. Who knows what Judge Turpin did when he said he "offered himself to her" which caused her to show "reluctance?"
Johanna, sent to an asylum and then witnessing Sweeney Todd murder the madwoman--in truth her own father kill her mother.
When Anthony tells her you are safe now, she says (I can't remember the right words), "...the nightmares don't go away."
Oh Anthony, you are in for quite a ride with Johanna. May you always have a good therapist's name on your speed dial.
* * * * *
Below are the lyrics to the song, "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" which sounds lilting and tender and melodic but a closer glance at the lyrics reveals so much darkness neuroses and sadness.
Green finch, and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
How is it you sing?
How can you jubilate
sitting in cages
never taking wing?
Outside the sky waits
beckoning!
Beckoning!
Just beyond the bars...
How can you remain
staring at the rain
maddened by the stars?
How is it you sing
anything?
How is it you sing?
Green finch. and linnet bird,
nightingale, blackbird
How is it you sing?
Whence comes this melody
constantly floating?
Is it rejoicing or merely aloaming?
Are you discussing?
Or fussing?
Or simply dreaming?
Are you crowing?
Are you screaming?
Ringdove and robinet
is it for wages?
Singing to be sold?
Have you decided it's safer in cages
singing when you're told?
My cage has many rooms
damask and dark...
Nothing there sings,
not even my lark.
Larks never will, you know,
when they're captive.
Teach me to be more
adaptive.
Ah...
Green Finch, and Linnet Bird,
nightingale, blackbird,
teach me how to sing.
If I cannot fly...
Let me sing.
A sequel on her life would be interesting to speculate on. So many ways you could go with it.
 | Last night, i was actually having a dream about a girl looking for her lost family. I could have cried about it myself.
"I feel you Johannnaaaa.... I feel you Johannnaaaa, I am in the dark beside you" |
 | I forgot to add this was actually brought about by a discussion I had with both Norringtom and Adam after the Midnight Mumu Parley for Sweeney Todd. And a lot of the ideas and thoughts here come from that exchange of ideas we had at Club Dredd--it was so noisy. Then I ended up talking about this with Katrina and Anabel.
Johanna lost her family twice in a way--when Judge Turpin took away her father and towards the end of the film when she lost them again to vengeance and ruby dripping silver razors.
I love how her outward appearance is deceptively bright.
Hey, you should blog about your "Phantom of the Opera" Neurotic Christine theory. |
 | The girl they cast in the movie is kinda reminds you of Christina Ricci, doesn't it? Those eyes, that forehead... |
 | cristina ricci in black snake moan is soooo awesome and super sexy! :<) |
 | Me thinks one of her grandchildren will be named.. Edward... |
| Actually she reminds me of a girl I know in The Philippine Tolkien Society.
I think the Ricci resemblance comes from her portrayal of Katrina Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow. But (I forgot her first name) Wisen has a much sharper nose.
|
| I haven't seen it. She's been two other movies with Johnny Depp--Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Man Who Cried.
I'm just full of Depp trivia today. Well, everyday. |
| He does! And when I read the lyrics of this particular song and her the melody, you can get burdened and wrapped up in the tragic sadness of it all.
What a genius. Should make it a point to read more about him. |
 | Like Johanna, Sondheim, despite his deceptively beautiful, hummable melodies, tends to write about dark themes and secrets. In "Into the Woods," for example, Cinderella ends up lonely and bored with palace life, and Rapunzel goes mad. Some songs in "West Side Story" were ambiguous, too. Sondheim doesn't seem to do "happily ever after." Which is why I just knew Burton and Depp would be perfect to take it to the screen! |
| Edward Gorey
Edward Scissorhands
Ed Wood
A perfect name indeed. |
| Which makes me quite interested in reading about the LIFE and TIMES of Mr. Sondheim. And if Edward Gorey were alive today, I could also see him illustrating the visions of Stephen Sondheim.
It's been a Sondheim holiday for us--"Into the Woods" and "Sweeney Todd." And you've seen the play version too! EB is actually hunting down the DVD of the Broadway play the one with the quintessential performance by Angela Lansbury.
I'm writing this to you right after Monique and I have given the soundtrack one spin. HELLLOOOO KAT! |
 | heeeeee. i could not help but laugh when you first randomly said to me, "YOU GANDERED!"
oh the nightmares never go away. poor clueless anthony. |
| |
A sequel on her life would be interesting to speculate on. So many ways you could go with it. 