Amie Clapp
A classic that everyone enjoys is Sweeney Todd. Everyone’s favorite demon barber has been played by many faces and been associated with many famous names. From broadway to the silver screen, Sweeney is a fan favorite no matter who is playing the infamous barber of fleet street. Even those who aren’t a fan of musicals will be entranced by Johnny Depp’s rendition of the killer.
Benjamin Barker. Sweeney’s name before he became the monster that everyone knows him as, imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit, he is sent away to serve his sentence. He left behind a wife and baby daughter in a corrupt system with a judge who only cares for his personal gain, thus proving that no matter what age or day it is the rich will always stomp all over the poor to get what they want. In the story, he was sent away since Judge Turpin wanted Barker’s wife to marry him instead. When the judge casts her out and makes sure her spirit is defeated he takes in she and Benjamin’s daughter as his ward.
Sweeney comes back and has to face the realization that he would not have a wife and child to come home to, so instead of resuming where he left off all those years ago he meets Mrs. Lovette, a widow who is struggling to get by in a financially distraught and torn apart London. She always had a fancy for Todd and takes him in to continue his craft. I mean, just because you’re a man hellbent on revenge doesn’t mean that you can’t just give up a source of income. So on his quest to get rid of Judge Turpin and his evil right hand man, the Beadle, he and Mrs. Lovette realize that the way to save her failing business is to make the meat pies out of his former customers of the barber shop. Is it decent? Of course not! But human’s first instinct is to survive and they were just two of many desperate souls just trying to get by.
Naturally, as with every good storyline there are some hiccups, like when Sweeney kills an Italian barber and Mrs. Lovette gets close to a young boy named Toby. She hoped to have a successful business and a happy family, but life isn’t so sweet when you take in a poor orphan and a revenge driven killer. In their quest to get what they all want out of their life, a strange old woman is always just there. Like a whisper in the shadows, she is there always trying to right the wrongs of Mrs. Lovette serving people in her pies. Of course no one would believe a dirty street rat so she’s really just left alone the whole movie.
Oh but what of poor Johanna? Hardly ever seen outside of her home, yet everyone knows of her. The poor girl who has been charged under Judge Turpin’s care. A sailor boy named Anthony sees her and is taken with her immediately. As they plan their escape, some hiccups follow them also. The judge catches Anthony staring at his charge and invites him in. As it is rude to refuse an invitation from a rather high up authority figure, he follows the judge into his home. He rattles on about women to the young, callow boy and then has the beadle take him out back where he is issued a whipping for staring at the girl. A while later, of course he has not learned his lesson, because who does when trying to woo a girl, and he returns to the judge’s house. This is the twist in which Johanna gives Anthony the means in which to free her.
Sweeney Todd is supposed to take place around the 1780’s. During the late 1700’s London was on the brink of the industrial revolution and it’s population was increasing. As everyone knows when there are more people, life expectancy goes down due to decreased living spaces, food shortages, and lack of jobs. Of course this was the timeline it was set in because how can you have a happy-go-lucky setting when the main character of the story is a merciless killer?
In all of this it shows human nature. As a boy is trying to woo a girl who has never known what freedom is like, a man is trying to atone for the judge’s sins, and a widow is trying to catch the man of her dreams. The human spirit is a strong thing, but everyone has their limits. In Anthony’s quest to save the poor imprisoned girl, Sweeney is getting closer and closer to getting his revenge on those who have wronged him. As they all embark on their own personal journey to achieve whatever is desired from them. These peoples paths cross once or more and they each have to fight their own internal demons and the forces around them in an obviously corrupt system.
(Photo is not mine and full credit goes to the originator *Gradient not original)
