I loved Cosmo. He stole the show in my eyes. He is funny, talented, kind, and a great friend. He isn't bitter over Donald's success, when his own carreer is far from perfect. I'm suprised Cosmo doesn't have more luck with the ladies, I guess since he is hidden in Donald's shadow its kinda hard to get noticed, even at the beginning when all the stars are arriving, the fans are dissapointed to see Cosmo. I think Donald's best quality is his ability to maintain his friendship with Cosmo, Don is always sure to include Cosmo in anything he does. Right from the beginning we see him include Cosmo as he and Lina head into the theatre.
I truly enjoyed "Make 'em Laugh" the sections where it looked as if Cosmo had no control over his body reminded me of the Character of Sam from Benny and Joon.
I love that Don's motto is "Dignity, always dignity" yet his early life and carreer were anything but dignified. I guess its just another way for the movie to Laugh at Hollywood. My favorite moment of Hollywood making fun of itself though is when Cosmo says "You gotta show a movie at a party, its a Hollywood Law." Speaking of Hollywood, I couldn't help but remember back to my american pop culture class last semester and the section on Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's idea of advertising. The entire book is about consmer culture and advertising. Several scenes in Singing in the Rain reminded me that the idea of advertising is never far off in any movie. When we see the fashion show commercial which depicts all types of dress for every woman I realized that the advertising would never end, because it wasn't just advertising the clothes it was advertising people as well. Lina's assumption that she and Don are an item comes from the publicity department. The idea of Lockwood and Lamont as a couple was just a publicity stunt, good advertising, a way to keep their names in print. If if hadn't been for Monumental's obsession with publicity Lina would never have assumed that she and Don were dating and then the subsequent jealousy over Kathy probably wouldn't have esclated as far as it did.
When reading the article "Winking at the Audience" I realized that the entire problem at the end of the movie where Lina wants to take away Kathy's credit in the movie as her voice over wouldn't have actually happened because so many companies were using voice overs and never saying anything. Its all about illusion, so why destroy the illusion of the perfect woman if you don't have to? The line "artifice is at the heart of the reality effect of cinema" really struck home with me because it is so true as to be scary, I love going to the movies because I can get lost in the story and then I am always disapointed at the end because when the credits start to role I am reminded that this isn't real...but it was so good at decieving me.
In class we talked about the idea of the camera never being seen and how it might be too awkward to show it even though the whole premise is that we the audience are watching. I was reminded of the move Robin Hood Men in Tights where sevedral times we see the camera or are reminded that we are watching a movie; when Maid Marrian is singing in the bathtub, the camer breaks throught the stained glass window, during the fight seen between the Sheriff of Rottingham and Robin are fighting in the tower and one of the swords spears a doughnut from a man offstage outside on his coffee break, and any time Latrine talks to the camera about how much she loves the Sheriff we are reminded that this is a movie not reality.
Favorite line of the entire movie had to be when Lina is having trouble adjusting to 'talkies' and the microphone, she says "I can't make love to the bush!" People said Lina wasn't "bad enough" to warrant all the bad things that were done to her in the movie. I wholeheartedly disagree. She was vindictive right from the start. She got Kathy fired because of an accident and the fact that Don was paying attention to her, then we learn that Lina isn't through making Kathy pay for taking away supposed attentions. Out came the bitch and she has claws. Firing Kathy wasn't good enough for Lina she had to destroy any chance Kathy might have had in movies by forcing RF to keep her as Lina's voice forever. Lina may be stupid but that makes her the most dangerous one...vindictive, stupid and beautiful - a triple threat.
I loved the movie. It had everything I could want: singing, dancing, comedy, vindictive women, and selfless friends.
Random side note: several of the male extras had terrible teeth...was this on purpose showing the terrible dental plan of the time or was it just to make everyone but the main characters seem like red necks?
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I totally agree with your love of Cosmo. His dancing was incredible and he kept the audience thoroughly entertained. I also really liked that Don made sure to maintain his friendship with Cosmo, even once he was incredibly famous. That is always nice to hear. I know that when current celebrities mention their childhood friends that they still are friends with, that makes them seem more real to me.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you're connecting your work in the last class to this one--especially your observations about advertising and artifice.
ReplyDeleteYou're onto something good here. Maybe this could be the theme of your final project?
I completely agree with what you say about Lina being the villain of the film. I also felt like she did enough bad things to make her punishment at the end of the film justified. Although I felt this way, I also really loved her character. I thought that not only was she interesting but also Jean Hagen's acting was superb.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the comment you made about breaking the fourth wall and showing the movie actually being made, I had a thought. If the filmmakers decided to do that, would we fully break away and realize that it is not reality that we're experiencing? Wouldn't we still be watching a film and not experiencing reality either way? No matter what we are always going to see something that is artificial.