History YMMV / Oklahoma

-->'''Jud:''' And now they know their friend is gone for good\\

* FoeYay: Between Curly and Jud in the 2019 revival. To quote Damon Daunno, who played Curly:

* NeverLiveItDown: Curly trying to get Jud to commit suicide. He's otherwise presented in a positive, romantic, and heroic light, but some viewers just can't look past such a vile act and this sympathize with more with the villainous Jud instead.

** In the 1999 filmed stage recording, Hugh Jackman plays Curly as letting himself warm up to Jud Fry after "Poor Jud is dead". But when Jud brings up the story of the girl, that's when Curly puts two-and-two together and lets himself get suspicious again.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Happens to Jud more and more as time goes on (with a healthy dose of RonTheDeathEater for Curly). It pretty much all hinges around "Pore Jud Is Daid", a scene where Curly potentially tries to convince Jud that hanging himself would be a good idea. Some people take it so far as to claim that ''Jud'' is in fact the hero of the story and Curly is the ''villain''. Of course, this ignores Jud's multiple murder attempts on Curly (especially in the movie, where he tries to kill him ''and'' Laurey), the implication that he'd be willing to rape/kill Laurie if she rejects him and the fact that he's been stalking Laurie for at least two years, while Curly's bad behavior is confined to that one scene.

* DracoInLeatherPants:
** Happens to Jud more and more as time goes on (with a healthy dose of RonTheDeathEater for Curly). It pretty much all hinges around "Pore Jud Is Daid", a scene where Curly potentially tries to convince Jud that hanging himself would be a good idea. Some people take it so far as to claim that ''Jud'' is in fact the hero of the story and Curly is the ''villain''. Of course, this ignores Jud's multiple murder attempts on Curly (in the movie), the implication that he'd be willing to rape/kill Laurie if she rejects him and the fact that he's been stalking Laurie for at least two years, while Curly's bad behavior is confined to that one scene.

-->'''Jud:''' But now they know their friend is gone for good\\

** The 2019 revival staged "Pore Jud is Daid" almost completely in the dark, with Curly getting ''extremely'' close to Jud's personal space while monitors in the back wall showed the actors' expressions in harsh, green-tinged light. Combined with the lyrics and mood of the song, which was stripped down to just a guitar and vocals, the effect on audiences was very unsettling, especially on the verse where Curly says they'll use his corpse as a substitute for ice in the summer.
** Even in traditional productions, "Pore Jud Is Daid" is preceded by Curly entering Jud's smokehouse uninvited and joking about Jud using a rope to hang himself, with the song itself containing lots of backhanded compliments about the mourning people will do. Jud eventually joins in on the song and is sure folks will regret having treated him poorly once he's gone.

** The DarkerAndEdgier 2019 Broadway revival divided audiences, with many believing it was a brilliant reworking of the show that gave it a new feel without changing a single word. Others thought it felt like it was trying to weird and dark just for the sake of being weird and dark.

** Happens to Jud more and more as time goes on (with a healthy dose of RonTheDeathEater for Curly). It pretty much all hinges around "Pore Jud Is Daid", a scene where Curly potentially tries to convince Jud that hanging himself would be a good idea. Some people take it so far as to claim that ''Jud'' is in fact the hero of the story and Curly is the ''villain''. Of course, this ignores Jud's multiple murder attempts on Curly, the implication that he'd be willing to rape/kill Laurie if she rejects him and the fact that he's been stalking Laurie for at least two years, while Curly's bad behavior is confined to that one scene.

** Could Jud be part Native American? It seems odd that in Oklahoma at this time period we don't see ANY Indians. In the source material, ''Green Grow the Lilacs'', Jud's counterpart Jeeter Fry is based on Jetar Davis, a half-Cherokee contemporary of playwright Lynn Riggs.

** One production managed to change how we view the entire cast and story by performing the musical completely normally, but with the only change being Jud is played by the only black man in the cast.

** The 2019 Broadway revival has an added racial element in that Laurey is a Black woman navigating two white men's feelings for her, and a farmhand, played by a Black actor, is noticeably shut down by Aunt Eller.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: [[HandicappedBadass Ali Stroker as Ado Annie]]. While the production itself caused a divided response ([[BrokenBase discussed above]]), the one thing that everyone agrees on is that Stroker was excellent, not just giving a great performance despite her disability, but actually using it to her advantage. She ended up winning the Tony, being the first performer in a wheelchair to ever receive this honor (or be nominated for that matter). Even people who disliked the production were happy for Stroker and noted that her work and recognition was a great breakthrough for handicapped actors and actresses. All this is particularly impressive given Ado Annie, while a fun part, is rarely regarded as the standout in the cast.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: [[HandicappedBadass Ali Stroker as Ado Annie]]. While the production itself caused a divided response ([[BrokenBase discussed above]]), the one thing that everyone agrees on is that Stroker was excellent, not just giving a great performance despite her disability, but actually using it to her advantage. She ended up winning the Tony, being the first performer in a wheelchair to ever receive this honor (or be nominated for that matter). Even people who disliked the production were happy for Stroker and noted that her work and recognition was a great breakthrough for handicapped actors and actresses.

** Could Jud be part Native American? It seems odd that in Oklahoma at this time period we don't see ANY Indians. In the source material, ''Green Grow the Lilacs'', Jud's counterpart Jeeter Fry is based on Jetar Davis, a half-Cherokee contemporary of playwright Jetar Davis.

** Could Jud be part Native American? It seems odd that in Oklahoma at this time period we don't see ANY Indians. In the source material, ''Green Grow the Lilacs'', Jud's character is based on a Jetar Davis, a half-Cherokee contemporary of playwright Lynn Riggs.

** Could Jud be part Native American? It seems odd that in Oklahoma at this time period we don't see ANY Indians.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:[[HandicappedBadass Ali Stroker as Ado Annie]]. While the production itself caused a divided response ([[BrokenBase discussed above]]), the one thing that everyone agrees on is that Stroker was excellent, not just giving a great performance despite her disability, but actually using it to her advantage. She ended up winning the Tony, being the first performer in a wheelchair to ever receive this honor (or be nominated for that matter). Even people who disliked the production were happy for Stroker and noted that her work and recognition was a great breakthrough for handicapped actors and actresses.

* MagnificentBastard: Ali Hakim, in a mostly harmless way.

** [[HandicappedBadass Ali Stroker as Ado Annie]]. While the production itself caused a divided response ([[BrokenBase discussed above]]), the one thing that everyone agrees on is that Stroker was excellent, not just giving a great performance despite her disability, but actually using it to her advantage. She ended up winning the Tony, being the first performer in a wheelchair to ever receive this honor (or be nominated for that matter). Even people who disliked the production were happy for Stroker and noted that her work and recognition was a great breakthrough for handicapped actors and actresses.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: One production managed to change how we view the entire cast and story by performing the musical completely normally, but with the only change being Jud is played by the only black man in the cast.

* BrokenBase: The movie adaptation has one version filmed in 65mm TODD-AO, and one in 35mm [=CinemaScope=]. They present differing takes of each scene, leaving viewers torn over which version provides superior performances. Telecasts and home video releases before the 1994 restoration of the TODD-AO negative used the [=CinemaScope=] version, while more recent home video releases offer a choice between TODD-AO and [=CinemaScope=].
** [[DarkerAndEdgier The 2019 Broadway revival]] divided audiences, with many believing it was a brilliant reworking of the show that gave it a new feel without changing a single word. Others thought it felt like it was trying to weird and dark just for the sake of being weird and dark.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Happens to Jud more and more as time goes on (with a healthy dose of RonTheDeathEater for Curly). It pretty much all hinges around "Pore Jud Is Daid", a scene where Curly potentially tries to convince Jud that hanging himself would be a good idea. Some people take it so far as to claim that ''Jud'' is in fact the hero of the story and Curly is the ''villain''. Of course, this ignores Jud's multiple murder attempts on Curly, the implication that he'd be willing to rape/kill Laurie if she rejects him and the fact that he's been stalking Laurie for at least two years, while Curly's bad behavior is confined to that one scene.
* [[HandicappedBadass Ali Stroker as Ado Annie]].
** While the production itself caused a divided response ([[BrokenBase discussed above]]), the one thing that everyone agrees on is that Stroker was excellent, not just giving a great performance despite her disability, but actually using it to her advantage. She ended up winning the Tony, being the first performer in a wheelchair to ever receive this honor (or be nominated for that matter). Even people who disliked the production were happy for Stroker and noted that her work and recognition was a great breakthrough for handicapped actors and actresses.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Happens to Jud more and more as time goes on (with a healthy dose of RonTheDeathEater for Curly). It pretty much all hinges around "Pore Jud Is Daid", a scene where Curly potentially tries to convince Jud that hanging himself would be a good idea. Some people take it so far as to claim that ''Jud'' is in fact the hero of the story and Curly is the ''villain''. Of course, this ignores Jud's multiple murder attempts on Curly, the implication that he'd be willing to rape/kill Laurie if she rejects him and the fact that he's been stalking Laurie for at least two years, while Curly's bad behaviour is confined to that one scene.

* EarWorm: "Oklahoma" is an outrageously catchy tune. It's worse if you live in the actual state of Oklahoma, where it is the official state song, meaning you will hear it with some regularity even if you don't watch musicals.