How Musicals Have Responded to Prevailing Cultural, Social, Political Circumstances - Coursework Example

How Musicals have Responded to Prevailing Cultural, Social, Political and economic Circumstances The last 50 years has proven to be a time of progress for society as a whole. Broader acceptance of alternative lifestyles and diversity among individuals is more and more of a socially accepted regularity. Specifically, the depiction of homosexuals is being incorporated into media, television, art and so forth in order to represent another aspect of society. Incorporating gay and lesbian characters within theater is becoming more and more important in order to provide a platform for which everyone can identify. In other words, not everyone is strait. The antiquated format for displaying heterosexual couples and the stories within their lives is akin to only doing shows or artistic works portraying whites only or Catholics only. This as a whole, is a very important step in show business as it allows for everyone to feel apart of the storyline in some way or another. These depiction norms within film are theater but are still a foil to the realness of film and thater with relationship to the film in question’s time of creation and release. Ultimately, this discussion will mainly focus on how film and theater have become a public narcotic to help society cope with troubled times in economics, politics and otherwise, in a sort of mass manner. In the present, we have shoes such as Queer as Folk, The L Word, Will and Grace and others which allow for gay lifestyle to enjoy a part in the spot light just as straight life style always has. In terms of theater however, there is a brief history in film and theater which illustrates a time line of progress which directly corresponds to the political, social, economic and moral climates of the time period. Very shortly after the bombing of the world trade centers, a group of films were released retelling various perspectives of the stories surrounding the incident. Virtually any current event in modern history can claim a corresponding piece of theater which depicts the events in various lights. The first example in theater to be discussed is a piece called 42nd Street, which was a musical based on a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble. The first theatrical adaptation took place in 1933, roughly around the time of the great depression. This film adaptation was a leap as it was in fact, a $3 million project which focused on the nostalgia craze of the time period. It is also a significant piece of theater within gay culture perhaps even setting the bar a bit higher by being the maverick and normalizing homosexuality instead of alienating it, “ when the fairy was the most visible representative of American gay culture, Warner Bros.' 42nd Street portrayed its lead character, Julian Marsh, as a "masculine homosexual" who lent a gay sensibility to the film's narrative and the musical numbers that animated it”(Leff 1999). It was not until 1980 that this film made its way to the stage whereby earning a Tony award. Incidentally, the recurring of 42nd Street always surfaces during times of financial crisis at its worst, the great depression as well as World War II era. As stated before, its origin sprung out of the great depression. This was a time in recent American history where many survivors of the depression, recant literally starving from time to time because food was not only scarce but pricey. It is human nature to bring entertainment into the realm of unpleasant reality as a means of coping and dealing with current and even past situations which effect society as a whole, “42nd Street seems to have a habit of showing up during times of financial crisis”(Bubrisky 2008). As will be discussed further into this piece, the traditional Hollywood musical of such ethereal quality such as in 42nd Street allowed its audience a point of identification as well as comfort, “So much for plot. You could either not speak a word of English and still get your money’s worth because the real pleasure of "42nd Street" is its musical numbers. Standards like "We’re in the Money", Taking a look at another musical which reflects signs of the times so to speak, Gold Diggers of 1933 may be used as another excellent example. The characters which compose this plot line are actually performers looking for work in the world of theatrical musicals. This piece, like 42nd Street, uses the parody of financial depression as a backdrop, “As the title indicates, the film reflects a specific period in the nation’s history when the Great Depression was in full swing, and many Americans were struggling financially and were unemployed. Yet although these very real concerns are reflected in the film, the cheery proceedings (excepting the somber number that ends the picture) allow audiences a pleasant escape from the hardships of reality into a world where everything turns out all right in the end”(LeRoy, 1999). This period in history produced great deal of theater centered around a happy ending. This is again, an example of how cinema and theater and often conducive to the social, economical and political climates of their time, “Even when focusing on the personal relationships among its characters, Gold Diggers of 1933 can display a certain political sensibility. Yet first and foremost, the film was most likely intended to entertain audiences during the Great Depression and make them forget the troubles of the outside world, if only for a short time. In this goal the film succeeds admirably, and its continued appeal shows this success to be independent of the current political or economic climate”(LeRoy 1999). The concept of blue skies and silver linings is essential to understanding the purpose served by so many elements of entertainment and art. By creating first a point of reference for the audience; a setting or characters which can be easily related to by the audience the filmmaker is then able to bring the piece to an ultimate happy ending thus lulling the audience into a sense of contentment thus adding entertainment value. This is critical when one discusses aspects of morale in times of war and political unrest. Truly there are countless examples of theater’s marriage to the climate of the time period in which it is made. Movies made in the 80’s were simply not complete without the mentioning of the cold war or the threat of a possibly aggressive Russia. In today’s film and theater, unless the piece is a time piece, such mention is obsolete and even meaningless unless referring to the past. The new politics in film and stage is references to ‘9/11’ or the bombing of the world trade center. As a culture, we are first drawn into subject matter which we can either relate to or which we find strangely interesting due to the fantastical value of it. For example, the blockbuster hits of the 80’s were films such as E.T. and Alien. Science was still very involved with solving the mystery as to whether we were alone in the galaxy or whether there was an entirely different species of organisms inhabiting a near by planet just waiting to invade ours. This is a topic which has been revisited so many times that for the most part, Hollywood has given less though to making such films. We are now in a political climate which teeters on the brink of a world war, certainly with the concern of nuclear warfare not to mention biological warfare. Such films are often popular because these films greet audiences with their fears and typically a happy ending “blue skies and silver linings” follows putting every one at ease. We are reminded that we are surely capable of overcoming even the most catastrophic of events and occurrences. It is this capability and tool used since the dawning of theater, that we are shown examples of bad situations which in most cases, are somehow able to be worked out for the best. In the event that the best is no the outcome, we rationalize that what we have just seen is ‘only a movie’. Returning to an earlier time in our history of film and theater; the piece entitled Footlight Parade. This particular piece which is actually chosen for registry in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. This is due to its culturally and historically relevant significance. It is a piece about a man who is essentially about a director who mainly directs musicals but is in fact, failing in the business sense. He begins a new career in which he begins producing what are known as prologues. These prologues are in fact, live and brief performances which take place in movie theaters prior to the feature presentation. He faces conflict when his partners in business force him to come up with more and more marketable ‘prologues’. ALl the while this is taking place, the main character seems to not notice that his secretary is smitten with him. The take home message of the movie is truly a story of what so many have experienced where big businesses come in and seemingly smother out the smaller and more traditional ways of doing things. This was certainly a relevant theme at the time. Having taken a very brief look at some of what film and theater have done over the past century, in regards to focusing in on issues of the time period; it is important to mention specifically that Warner Brothers has actually earned a bit of a reputation for their propensity to create film which is directly conducive to the time period in which it is made as well as the issue of that period, “During the last Great American Depression, Warner Brothers was the one Hollywood studio that self-consciously set out to produce films connecting directly to people's experiences of tough times. Warner Brothers (whose story is told in a new documentary You Must Remember This) liked to boast that it made movies "torn from the headlines". Whether in gangster pictures or musicals, social dramas or biopics, the storytelling invariably had the same immediacy”(The Independent 2008). Some critics have dubbed the genre responsible for such films as 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933 and Footlight Parade have even gone so far as to refer to them as being within a genre of “escapists”, “No attack on the musical has been so persistent and forceful as that which brands the genre as escapist. The musical is an opiate, its critics contend, a drug which puts its spectator to sleep, thus inducing him to ignore the problem of the real world”(Altman 1977). This ties in with the notion that these films will exhibit the very core of what we are going through as a society but only to wrap the tale up neatly in the end as if to reassure the audience that ‘all’s well that ends well’ even though this is not an accurate assessment on how things tend to resolve themselves. Bibliography: Altman, Rick. 1981, “Genre: The Musical”, Rutledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. First Edition, Book {online}, retrieved November 21, 2008 from http://books.google.com/books?id=xTs9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=copyright&d q=mark+roth+spirit+of+the+new+deal Bubriski, Jennifer, 2008, “42nd Street”, Edge: Entertainment Theater, Article, {online}, retrieved November 21, 2008 from: http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=theatre&sc2 =reviews&sc3=performance&id=80972 Leff, Leanard, J. 1999, “42nd Street”, Cinema Journal, University of Texas Press, 39, Number 1, Fall 1999, E-ISSN: 1527-2087 Print ISSN: 0009-7101 DOI: 10.1353/cj.1999.0002, Journal {online}, retrieved November 21, 2008 from: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/cinema_journal/v039/39.1leff.html -------------------, 2008, “Warner Brothers: Heaven and hell on Earth”, The Independent: Films, Journal {online}, retrieved November 21, 2008 from: http://books.google.com/books?id=xTs9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=copyright&d q=mark+roth+spirit+of+the+new+deal LeRoy, Mervyn, 1999, “Gold diggers of 1933”, Article {online}, retrieved November 21, 2008 from : http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Bungalow/1204/dig1933.htm Read More