Lumberjanes walks the reader through adolescent aspects of friendship that are unique to each character. Because of the group's strong connection to one on another, I felt that Bill Withers' classic, "Lean on Me" is appropriate for my selected passage. I chose to focus on page 72 specifically, along with the five pages following. In this passage, Mal comforts Molly. Molly shares that, "there's a lot happening in my brain right now," and this quote reveals the struggle an adolescent girl experiences, especially under pressure (Molly had just 'freaked out' at Mal's bruise before they entered the dome with the hidden message.) Mal consoles Molly -- the illustrations depict Mal holding Molly's shoulder and asking her if she, "wanted to talk about it?" "Lean on Me" is an appropriate song to pair with Molly's distress as Mal offers her help and comfort. This is a serious, not satirical, interpretation of the song. The lyrics sing, "lean on me, when you're not strong and I'll be your friend," and this is what Mal is telling Molly. Mal's appearance is punk but her personality and characteristics are sensitive. Mal has a crush on Molly, and because Bill Withers likely wrote this song for a romantic interest, the song is even more appropriate. There's an element of intimacy as he sings, "You just call on me brother, when you need a hand, We all need somebody to lean on, I just might have a problem that you'll understand, We all need somebody to lean on," as though he, or Mal, truly wants to comfort their friend/individual whom they have feelings for. If Lumberjanes were a movie, and "Lean on Me" was played, it would be fitting overall, but especially fitting in this scene as Mal is physically and emotionally supportive of Molly's confused and somewhat depressed state of mind.
Hi Lexi,
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, your posts seem to show up in really small font that can be hard to read. If you are writing these posts in a word document first and then pasting them in, it might be helpful to upsize the font once you do that. Anyways, I love this song choice for Molly and Mal. You pick up on the ambiguities of that moment and the potentially romantic reading of that scene. I like when the songs are linked into the post so I can listen to it while I read your analysis. I wonder if there is a feminist revision of this song, one that replaces "brother" with "sister," because that would especially resonate with this moment.