Biggs and Sweeney

From dvdbeaver.com
Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is a gothic era musical that manages to allow viewers to experience an unusually morbid delight concerning cannibalism. Burton manages to take this morally revolting topic and turns it into something musical lovers will enjoy. Perhaps it is the fact that the characters ease into songs about eating their follow Londoners that distracts the viewers from the underlying message, but it could also be the fact that we sympathize with Todd due to the loss he has experienced in the last fifteen years. Sweeney Todd returns from his fifteen year exile in hopes of reuniting with is wife and daughter, but finds that all hope is lost in the hell-hole that is London. He becomes extremely dark and desires revenge on Judge Turpin, the man who wrongly exiled him so many years ago. Todd decides to get revenge on Turpin by luring him into his barbershop and murdering him by slitting Judge Turpin's throat. However, soon after he has embodied his new, vengeful persona, Mrs. Lovett intervenes and proposes a new, radical idea to Todd: cannibalism. Of course she puts it much more eloquently, and eventually Todd agrees and sets out on his murderous rampage, simultaneously creating business for Mrs. Lovett's meat pie shop. It might be partly due to the fact that the pair is dancing as they sing, or the quite comical dishes they create while looking that the people of London, that enable the viewers to not focus as much on the cannibalism, and more on the absurdity of the ideas in the song. "A charity towards the world my pet" Todd gracefully sings as he and Mrs. Lovett justify their actions for promoting cannibalism to their unsuspecting guests. It is their absolute confidence in their decision that enables the viewers to forget, however momentarily, that they are, in fact, promoting eating their fellow Londoners. Another thing that makes the murders and cannibalism so acceptable is the fact that the characters that are murdered have absolutely no attachment to the lead characters-- they are merely pawns in the storyline. It is not until Sweeney accidentally murders his wife that viewers are brought back to the reality of the true nature behind murder. Burton uses these subtleties in order to convince the audience of the justifications for cannibalism and why it really is not such a bad thing.

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2 Responses to Biggs and Sweeney

  1. I agree with everything you say here. Sweeny Todd was one of my favorite movies we have watched, mainly because of Burton’s way of sweeping the cannibalism factor under the rug, making us almost forget at times the people of London are eating their neighbors. Like you said, when Mrs. Lovett first proposes baking Todd’s victims into her pies, Burton handles it in a super jovial way, having the characters sing about it and dance around the shop. The fact that Todd is killing many people does not seem to phase him at all, and honestly, us, for a while; that is until he kills his wife. It then all hits him like a ton of bricks. He is horrified that he murdered his wife and the disturbing nature of his crimes finally catch up to Todd and the audience alike. Burton just waits until the end of the film, until we have all guiltily indulged in the duo’s killing spree.

    Katie Carey

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  2. Burton and Sweeney Todd make cannibalism seem justifiable in this film. The audience sympathizes with Sweeney because of his dark past and this is why his crimes don't seem as bad as they really are. It's an interesting way to play with the emotions of the viewers and test moral boundaries. Is Sweeney's mass killing really that wrong if he's avenging people in the process. All that is on his mind is his absent daughter and dead wife. He does not consider the emotions of the innocent people he's killing. Instead, he is only focused on his selfish desire to kill. With no remorse. Toward the end of the film, he finally gets what's coming to him. He dies with a slit throat, bleeding over the body of his dead wife. It is tragic, but also very poignant.

    -Kathleen McCurdy

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