NationStates

@@LEADER@@: The Musical!

Last night, the students of @@CAPITAL@@ Central High School performed a spirited rendition of the play "@@LEADER@@: Glorious Hero of @@NAME@@". Horrifyingly, they turned it into a musical parody -- with you as the villain instead of the hero.

Validity: Repressive dictatorships with minimal freedom of speech

1. "See, this is what happens when we let people make decisions on their own," complains Propaganda Minister @@RANDOMNAME@@, idly twirling his mustache. "We gave these kids the freedom to perform a variety of theatrical productions, ranging from '@@LEADER@@'s Greatest Victories' to 'The Sun Shines From @@LEADER@@'s Every Orifice'. Instead, they turned our most beloved national hagiography into a vulgar parody where you torture dissidents and sing about sending innocent people to the gulags! Drag these teenage reprobates and the school administrators to a re-education camp until they learn that you are a kind and merciful leader who only wants the best for our people."
Effect: citizens can freely debate whether @@LEADER@@ is a great leader or the greatest leader

2. "Please! I didn't know about those rewrites that the students made," pleads Principal @@RANDOMNAME@@, who was brought before you in chains. "It's normal for teenagers to go through a rebellious phase. If this wretched worm before you might make a suggestion, perhaps a small amount of political satire would be a good thing! Allowing your unworthy subjects a little more freedom of expression would show that you're a good sport with a sense of humor -- and ample reserves of forgiveness toward those of us who can never hope to live up to your magnificent example."
Effect: community theaters are known for their bawdy renditions of "Springtime for @@LEADER@@"

3. "I actually liked the part where you slaughtered your enemies and literally danced on their graves," enthuses your Minister of Cruel and Unusual Punishments, who appears to be sketching new ideas for torture devices in a notebook. "It would be a shame to waste all that raw talent by sending them to break rocks in a quarry. If those troublesome teens think it's so fun to write clever songs, we'll just make them do that for the rest of their lives. I'm sure that our Ironic Punishments Division can find jobs for them on the 'Fawning Adulation for @@LEADER@@ Variety Hour' or a similar program. They'll really hate that."
Effect: songs of praise to @@LEADER@@ are filled with coded messages from the resistance

4. "It sounds like those kids wrote some really catchy songs," exclaims lyricist and composer Stephanie Soundheimer, who is shackled to a writing desk in your office until she creates a new version of 'Let Us All Praise @@LEADER@@' that doesn't meet with your displeasure. "This sort of musical drama about a political figure is very popular overseas -- just look at the success of 'Maxita' or 'Spamilton'. With your approval, I could remove the obvious slander, the rendition of the national anthem performed entirely with farting noises, and the many other offensive parts, and perhaps turn this into a blockbuster musical sensation that would run in theaters worldwide. With the financial windfall that this would bring us, you could finally build that new palace that's made of solid gold, with faucets that dispense the tears of your enemies!"
Effect: musical fans visiting @@NAME@@ are shocked to discover that the most common form of singing is the screams of dissidents

citizens can freely debate whether @@LEADER@@ is a great leader or the greatest leader

The Free Joy State wrote:

citizens can freely debate whether @@LEADER@@ is a great leader or the greatest leader

Australian rePublic wrote:Option 3- why would you force people who wrote a song criticising you to write a song praising you? Or am I misinterpreting that option?

Esthe wrote:

Australian rePublic wrote:Option 3- why would you force people who wrote a song criticising you to write a song praising you? Or am I misinterpreting that option?

Maybe punishment? But yeah, it doesn’t really make sense.

Pogaria wrote:3. "I actually liked the part where you slaughtered your enemies and literally danced on their graves," enthuses your Minister of Cruel and Unusual Punishments, who appears to be sketching new ideas for torture devices in a notebook. "It would be a shame to waste all that raw talent by sending them to break rocks in a quarry."

Trotterdam wrote:The introduction for that option is at odds with the rest of it, though:

Pogaria wrote:3. "I actually liked the part where you slaughtered your enemies and literally danced on their graves," enthuses your Minister of Cruel and Unusual Punishments, who appears to be sketching new ideas for torture devices in a notebook. "It would be a shame to waste all that raw talent by sending them to break rocks in a quarry."

Frankly, I would have expected this to lead into a "Yup, I'm a tyrant and proud of it! Fear me!" option. We have a shortage of those in the game.

Bears Armed wrote:I like it!
Did you know that in RL, when Dmitri Shostakovitch was required to compose a score for the Soviet film 'The Glorious Year 1917', whose basic theme was summed up quite recently by a presenter on UK radio Station 'classic FM' as "and then Josef Stalin turned up and saved the day", he composed a set of pleasant music that had nothing really to do with the action... and not only got away with it but actually started a trend, in Russia, for "ironic" scores?

(Mind you, he also -- at some point -- wrote an opera about a Moscow housing shortage!)

The Free Joy State wrote:I love it! Love it!

Especially with the musicals and Sondheim reference... what's not to like?

Suggested amendment to the effect for option one, just to highlight the removal of free speech in a way that (you may disagree) seems to make your line even funnier:

citizens can freely debate whether @@LEADER@@ is a great leader or the greatest leader

Australian rePublic wrote:Option 3- why would you force people who wrote a song criticising you to write a song praising you? Or am I misinterpreting that option?

The Free Joy State wrote:

Esthe wrote:Maybe punishment? But yeah, it doesn’t really make sense.

Referencing this article on North Korea, to me it makes a great deal of sense for people in a dictatorship to be forced to praise the very regime making their lives miserable. And, in option, it is coming from the "Ironic Punishments Division", after all.

I really hope you don't change that, Pogaria. I do like the Ironic Punishments Division.

Trotterdam wrote:The introduction for that option is at odds with the rest of it, though:

Pogaria wrote:3. "I actually liked the part where you slaughtered your enemies and literally danced on their graves," enthuses your Minister of Cruel and Unusual Punishments, who appears to be sketching new ideas for torture devices in a notebook. "It would be a shame to waste all that raw talent by sending them to break rocks in a quarry."

Frankly, I would have expected this to lead into a "Yup, I'm a tyrant and proud of it! Fear me!" option. We have a shortage of those in the game.

The Free Joy State wrote:Maybe the songs the teens have to write -- forever and ever -- could be about "@@LEADER@@'s awesome wrath", or something?

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:I don't know how doable this is, but it seems like a shame not to have an option (#4?) delivered in "musical" form (e.g. rhyming poetry…?). This is the Issue about musicals, after all!

Outer Sparta wrote:I wonder if this draft is still being worked on, because it's such a great premise coming from the crazy dictatorship angle.

Pogaria wrote:

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:I don't know how doable this is, but it seems like a shame not to have an option (#4?) delivered in "musical" form (e.g. rhyming poetry…?). This is the Issue about musicals, after all!

I'm not very good at that, and I'm not familiar with many musicals, so please let me know if anyone has specific suggestions - perhaps something that would reference a real musical.

"It is a shame. Those kids are smart," emotes lyricist and composer Stephanie Soundheimer, who is shackled to a writing desk in your office until she creates a new version of 'Send in the Leader' that doesn't meet with your displeasure. "What a pity this place has a hack who hates art. Oh, what a clown. Just look around. Politics abound. Maxita rakes in a fortune and their leader's sound. You are a clown. People love clowns. Just remove jokes with farts, crudity too. Remove the part where you can't spell your own name -- is it true? Make everyone cheer with the show of the year. Put on the show. From here to Dàguó. It is just farce. Reasons are clear: you will get all the cash that you want; people will cheer. So turn 'round that frown. In cash, you will drown. At least 'til next year."

The Free Joy State wrote:Feel free to reject it. It's a heavy suggestion, but I see Sondheim references and my mind gets busy:

"It is a shame. Those kids are smart," emotes lyricist and composer Stephanie Soundheimer, who is shackled to a writing desk in your office until she creates a new version of 'Send in the Leader' that doesn't meet with your displeasure. "What a pity that @@NAME@@ has a hack who hates art. Oh, what a clown. Just look around. Politics abound. Maxita rakes in a fortune and their leader's sound. You are a clown. People love clowns. Just remove jokes with farts, crudity too. Remove the part where you can't spell your own name -- is it true? Put on the show. From here to Dàguó. It is just farce. Reasons are clear: you will get all the cash that you want; people will cheer. So turn 'round that frown. In cash, you will drown. At least 'til next year."

Pogaria wrote:

The Free Joy State wrote:Feel free to reject it. It's a heavy suggestion, but I see Sondheim references and my mind gets busy:

Nice. Is this a specific reference?

Pogaria wrote:I'm glad that this issue is so well-liked!

Bears Armed wrote:I like it!
Did you know that in RL, when Dmitri Shostakovitch was required to compose a score for the Soviet film 'The Glorious Year 1917', whose basic theme was summed up quite recently by a presenter on UK radio Station 'classic FM' as "and then Josef Stalin turned up and saved the day", he composed a set of pleasant music that had nothing really to do with the action... and not only got away with it but actually started a trend, in Russia, for "ironic" scores?

(Mind you, he also -- at some point -- wrote an opera about a Moscow housing shortage!)

Nice. Sometimes I listen to Classic FM over the internet. Haven't heard that story, though.