Director Stephen Chbosky says his new film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” opening Friday, offers a critique of social media’s …
Director Stephen Chbosky says his new film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” opening Friday, offers a critique of social media’s cancel culture. “I don’t remember a time of less tolerance in my life,” Mr. Chbosky told The Washington Times. “Because young people are under so much pressure to be perfect and say the right things all the time, I think it’s important for us to say that it’s unsustainable and it’s not fair. Everyone deserves a second chance.” The Pittsburgh native,51, said growing up without the internet gave him the luxury of learning from his mistakes as he wrestled between his public face and private self to grow into his own identity. “I can’t imagine what it’s like [today], and I feel a great deal of sympathy for kids whose mistakes often have a permanent record on video and audio. Hopefully, we’re all evolving through our whole lives,” he said. Mr. Chbotsky’s film version of the coming-of-age teen drama has Ben Platt reprising his Tony Award-winning stage role as the isolated Evan, an anxious teenager whose therapist tells him to write letters to himself as a self-help exercise.
