La La Land

Feminist Rating: ♀ ♀ ♀

Overall Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

While there are many genres found in American films that have evolved and stemmed from cinema from all over the world such as horror and comedy but then there are some genres that are truly American such as Westerns and Film Noir. The Musical is also one such genre that was born here in Hollywood. Musicals such as Singin' in the Rain, Top Hat, Holiday Inn, and Footlight Parade are just a few of the staples of American cinema. However, the popularity of musicals has dwindled and the last musical to win an academy award was Chicago which won in 2002 and before that, it had been thirty-four years since the last musical (Oliver!) had won an Oscar.

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Now fast-forward to 2016. La La Land hit theaters late in the year after being pushed from its original release date in the summer in order to hit the campaign trail which may (and probably will) lead it all the way to the Oscars. There are still many people who may be disinterested in a film that is also a musical. The term musical has somehow become synonymous with boring, silly, and feminine. Of course, feminine is only a derogatory term in the minds of some uneducated individuals however, there was a time in our history that dancing and singing was a coveted talent by men and women alike and it was this talent that drove audiences to the theater in the first place because everyone loved to see Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire tap dance until they fell in love.

La La Land is not only for the aspiring actors, musicians, writers, and creatives of the world, it is for the romantics, and most of all, for those of us who love film. There have been a good number of films about Hollywood which have been released in the past few years and all of them seem to have the same tone of disdain and contempt for the city, the people, and the industry. There are few recent movies about Hollywood which revel in the splendor and beauty of Hollywood.

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Being a cinephile is not generally considered to be cool or interesting, in fact, most movie lovers are portrayed as being pompous and pretentious and, in many cases, they are. However, Mia (Emma Stone) speaks of movies with fondness and nostalgia, reflecting on borrowing VHS tapes of Notorious and Casablanca from the library. It was her love for film which made her want to be an actress and why being a barista on the Warner Bros. backlot didn’t feel like too much of a chore. She walks around the backlot with Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and swoons over the sets, the cameras, and the actors.

Although Mia and Sebastian struggle to make their dreams a reality in a town where everyone is trying to be the next big star, Hollywood is portrayed as a beautiful town to fall in love in just as it is in the classic musicals. Chazelle finds beauty in every part of Hollywood from the Griffith Observatory, West Hollywood, and even in rush hour traffic on a freeway overpass.

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Though it seems that no actor or actress would ever be able to maintain the glamour, talent, and star-quality quite like Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Carole Lombard, or Vivien Leigh, Emma Stone is as close as one comes to a true Hollywood starlet. Stone, who has always been talented, shines in this role like no one else could. She is truly honest, believable, beautiful, and capable. Though Stone is not a naturally strong dancer or singer, her fluidity in every movement is lovely to watch and her natural voice are full of emotion.

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So we know that it’s a great movie but is it feminist? That’s a little harder to discern. First of all, Mia is the only female character with any weight. Sebastian does have a sister played by Rosemarie DeWitt and Mia has female roommates but they are all rarely seen. Mia and Sebastian’s respective narratives are entwined with each other but that is the point of the film. The two of them help each other to reach their goals and neither would be successful without each other. Mia may give hope at one point but she does invest all of herself into writing and starring in a one-woman show which is pretty gutsy. All in all, Mia and Sebastian are on a level playing field in regards to character, strength, and quality. Mia is a complicated character who is strong and weak and that is what makes her human.