#and im not tryna be like oh the musical sucks and its horrible and u cant enjoy it bc there are aspects of the show i like!

[raindrvq]

Spoilers for The Outsiders Musical

Dallas jumping in front of the train in the musical really made me think of this part of the book. (Disclaimer I have not watched the musical yet, this is just my opinion on this one change so)

In the book, while his death *is* a suicide, to an outside perspective, it doesn't seem so. To anyone outside the gang, he died a juvenile delinquent who got in a shoot out with the police, who robbed a grocery store and then ran away and pulled out a gun. To anyone else he had it coming, he deserved it. Only really to the gang was his death tragic and desperate. People weren't mourning him in the papers like they did Johnny. And that's how Dallas wanted to die. And by having him jump in front of a train, his death is now explicitly a suicide to anyone who didn't know him. Anyone simply reading about it in the news would feel pity and sorrow for this boy they never knew, they probably wouldn't see him as a criminal or a hood. He didn't want to be seen as a poor, troubled young boy who took his own life, and that is ignored in the musical by changing how he dies. Not to mention how it strips away the themes of police brutality in a story where that is so important. So not only is Dallas' death very important, but the way in which he dies as well.

#this is just my perspective of it so yknow you can disagree but i just feel like the way dallas dies is very important to his character #and im not tryna be like oh the musical sucks and its horrible and u cant enjoy it bc there are aspects of the show i like! #but u should be able to criticize something even if u enjoy it. honestly especially if u enjoy it #the outsiders #the outsiders musical #dallas winston #cam says stuff