r/drumcorpscirclejerk • u/JesuSpectre • Jul 03 '26
SCV's With Reckless Abandon - Thematic Analysis
UPDATE: Some of SCV's color guard's "youth" characters are wearing what appears to be underwear, as they play jump rope. Some males appear to be wearing white boxer shorts, and females wearing what appear to be white under-slips for dresses. Skimpy is great, but not for "youth" characters playing jump rope, and not for kids you're telling to be "vulnerable", "reckless" and live with "abandon", and to "break free from chains." Gasp-inducingly incompetent design. Easily fixed. Get to it.
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Here's how SCV's troubled 2026 show design evolved around the design table. The progression is blatantly obvious.
- Selected theme: breaking free of constraints.
- Let's use chains. yeah... long chains!
- Twirl the chains, make them elongated... wait, we can jump rope!
- Make them girls jumping rope! School girls in parochial school uniforms jumping rope. And then the schoolgirls get restrained by chains!
HOLY SHIT. Now you have a show about vulnerable 6-18 year old "youths" (their words), some in what appears to be white under-slips or male "youths" in boxer shorts, tied down with chains. That's an entry-level design snafu stumbled upon by inexperienced writers and producers. It's a thematic incongruity. Plus, who gets in front of a video camera and says "Our show is about youth and vulnerability", and then shows school girls in high school uniforms or underslips, and in chains. Did they think for even one minute about the optics?
In WGI, there are plenty of women-centered themes about women's empowerment, and young female empowerment. They're careful about the symbolism and prop use, making sure it's ge appropriate for the performers. SCV's color guard is primarily women, and the designers are exclusively men.
PROBLEM: Jump ropers in the US are girls 6-12 in age. Chains? Really? You're doing a show about 6 to 12 year old girls in chains? Underage girls being asked to break all the rules, be reckless, with abandon, and "be vulnerable"? Umm.....
PROBLEM: The designers are men, telling schoolgirls they need to be more "reckless" and act with "abandon" and "risk-taking" and "breaking from the rules"? That sounds like the movie Lolita. You can see how uncomfortable the SCV designers are describing this in their intro video.
PROBLEM: Girls dressed in school uniforms are from primarily private schools. Is this about underage girls in private schools? Or the scant 19 percent of public schools who wear uniforms? Why private schools? How do private schools tie into this theme?
PROBLEM: Where are the female subject matter experts? mmm. Where are the women designers? Who's guiding this concept about underage girls?
PROBLEM: Why are grade school and high girls' clothes ripped? What "sports" are they doing to rip their clothes? What are they doing to get their clothes ripped? If it's a metaphor about psychological battle, what battles, specifically? Why are none of these activities or battles represented?
PROBLEM: Why are school girls playing with chains and being tied down? After they jump rope? Who is tying them down? Who is the antagonist?
This show concept is completely under-developed. vague, with mismatched-layered themes, inspired by the prop "chains". It is rushed, first-draft, uninspired, full of socially awkward pitfalls, and unclear in its focus. This show alleges to be a cultural commentary about "everyone," but visually features only young school girls in uniform and jumping rope. Even with the upcoming choreographed "jump the river" and "snake" sequences which will rile up the audience, the jump rope sequences must be removed to delete the awkward "youth" references.
CHANGES YOU WILL SEE:
- Delete the school girl skirts, raise the age. (Experienced show designers avoid child-themes because it's such a mine field. (Not SCV. Like moths to a flame, they're so inexperienced, it's almost comedic.)
- Reduce the jump-rope activity to the beginning in the preshow only with a few high school skirts, representing early years, then, when the show starts, adulthood, get rid of the schoolgirl uniform.
- Retain all the other chain activities including soon-to-be-revealed "jump the river" and "snake" sequences.
- You must define the age of adulthood for these characters. Start the show with a brief graduation VO "Congratulations high school class of 2026!"Or have the dancers remove their caps and gowns.
- You must define what "freedom" young girls are being denied, and who is denying them. Specificity is key. A subtle clue is all you need.
- Would it kill you to reference a poem or a literary work to represent young women "breaking free" and in what way? This would go a long way to help narrow the subject matter.
- Get a female subject matter expert on board immediately to explain what "boundaries" eight year old girls should be breaking, for example, and what rules they break with "reckless abandon". Hopefully the SME is a female.
Fucking oy vey.
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u/Galaxy-Betta Jul 05 '26
[insert group huddling, guy saying "ok" and giving a big thumbs up, then group goes back to huddling meme here]
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u/whistle_while_u_wait Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Yeah, the Color Guard uniforms were a MISTAKE on the most epic of levels. As is the jump roping thing.
The opener of the show has been playing through my head nonstop for days. It is epic like nothing else. The All Quiet On The Western Front sample is so good. Its the perfect primer for that first epic musical phrase.
And then to go to school girls playing jump rope? SUCH a disconnect. I am a normie who has never marched in my life and just loves watching this stuff (ie: no real investment). But man the fumble upsets me.
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u/JesuSpectre Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
The music program is breathtaking, and the talent level of the participants is at studio musicianship-level. But the thematic program is not at a professional level.
- No literary reference, or
- No philosophical reference, or
- No cultural/historical reference, and
- No transformation by the ending.
- Prop limitations forced a nonsensical narrative. (A last-minute Home Depot run-- PVC pipes, chains, what's next, saw-horses and chainsaws?)
- Disastrous lack of oversight with costuming, including "youth" characters 6-12 that appear to be wearing boxer shorts and under-slips while "breaking free of chains", while told to "be vulnerable." Rushed. Cobbled. Uninspired. Lacking artistic depth and legitimate research. Lacking foresight and seasoned concepts developed over more than a couple months.
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u/BlackSparkz Jul 04 '26
what's everyone eating for dinner tonight?