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Crafting Utopia and Dystopia: Film Musicals from 1970-2002

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Crafting Utopia and Dystopia: Film Musicals from 1970-2002 CRAFTING UTOPIA AND DYSTOPIA: FILM MUSICALS FROM 1970-2002 Travis B. Malone A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2006 Committee: Dr. Cynthia Baron, Advisor Dr. Larry H. Small Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Jonathan Chambers Dr. Ronald E. Shields © 2006 Travis B. Malone All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Cynthia Baron, Advisor With the end of the Hollywood studio era, big budget blockbuster musicals had to find ways to compete in the economic and cultural marketplace. Historical events such as the rise of television, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal influenced the way American audiences saw, and continue to see, the world. Film, theatre, and other artistic disciplines helped audiences understand, cope, and criticize societal changes. As audience perceptions changed, the film musical faced a crisis. In an attempt to maximize profits, Hollywood business practices forced an evolutionary branch in the development of the musical. One fork took the genre towards the embodiment of capitalistic and cultural excess as pointed to by Altman, Dyer, and others. These film musicals attempt to present Utopia. Film musicals such as Grease (1978), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Evita (1996) are large spectacles that utilize the high concept business model, as outlined by Justin Wyatt, to please audience expectations by managing conflict at the expense of presenting the story world as a utopia. The other branch of film musical exemplified in the films of Cabaret (1972) and All That Jazz (1979) criticize the price paid by an individual in pursuit of ideals that lie beyond dominant social values. The dystopic film musical connects with audiences and critics by drawing on the cynicism and skepticism of contemporary historic and cultural events to forward a clearly dystopic view of society. This study utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to analyze the connection between selected film musicals and the American culture for which they were produced. The study shows that from 1970-2002 film musicals promoted and marketed visions of Utopia that were reflective of specific historical moments rather than ahistorical utopia ideals. While a film like Grease shows that Utopia is the ideal high school experience, later films like Moulin Rouge! iv (2001) and Chicago (2002) depict imagination as a utopia to escape otherwise dystopic social realities. The interdisciplinary critical frames applied in this study allow scholars to examine the fluid nature of the boundaries between film, theatre, and mass entertainment. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This is my opportunity to thank those persons who have not only assisted in this project but also have given me the careful guidance and support I so needed to undertake this endeavor. I am extremely grateful to my committee for your support and guidance: Dr. Cynthia Baron, you often go above and beyond the duties of chair and I thank you for your support, the gifts of your expertise and time, and most of all for your mentorship and friendship; Dr. Jonathan Chambers, your support, attention to detail, but most of all the friendship you have shared with me over the past four years; Dr. Larry Small, thank you for your time, enthusiasm for this project, and passion for musicals onstage and screen; and Dr. Ronald Shields thank you for your kindness and sage advice that has proven invaluable to me throughout the research process. To my friends and colleagues that I have had the pleasure of meeting, sharing and commiserating with over the past few years: special thanks to Virginia Wesleyan College, especially to Dr. Sally Shedd and Tammy Dhority whose support and friendship have made it easier for me to undertake and complete this project; thank you to Sara and Jonathan for your continued friendship, you have been there when Becky and I needed you, and for that we are truly grateful; Dyrk Ashton, thank you for your guidance, assistance as a sounding board for my ideas, writing buddy, and source of insanity breaks throughout this process; to the staff, graduate students (past and present), and faculty of Bowling Green State University, whether you realize it or not, thank you for your friendship, in your own ways you have challenged me to become a better artist and scholar. It is impossible for me thank everyone, but none of this would have been possible without the never-ending support of my family. I can never thank you enough for your support of all of my artistic, professional, scholarly, and personal endeavors. To my parents and grandparents, you have helped make me the person I am today. You have helped me to vi understand the true nature of love and support. I can never thank you enough. To Becky and Brady, thank you for putting up with the late nights, mood swings, and occasionally forgotten chores. The two of you are a constant source of joy in my life, you keep me grounded and you continue to teach me to love life and be thankful for every moment we share together. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION. THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF THE FILM MUSICAL....... 1 CHAPTER I. THE TWO BRANCHES OF THE FILM MUSICAL GENRE ........................... 18 Film Studies and the Film Musical .................................................................................. 20 The Roots of the Musical – Theatre Scholarship on Musicals ........................................ 29 CHAPTER II. HIGH CONCEPT FILMMAKING..................................................................... 39 Hollywood Business Practice at the End of the Studio Era............................................. 41 Defining the High Concept Film Musical........................................................................ 47 CHAPTER III. UTOPIA AND CONTEMPORARY FILM MUSICALS ................................. 65 The Precepts of Utopia .................................................................................................... 66 Performance and Utopia in the Film Musical.................................................................. 70 Utopia as Ideology in the Film Musical........................................................................... 78 CHAPTER IV. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR AND TOMMY: INCOHERENT FILM MUSICALS IN A POLARIZED SOCIETY ................................................................... 88 Utopia as a Site of Cultural Critique................................................................................ 90 Jesus Christ Superstar ..................................................................................................... 97 Tommy..............................................................................................................................106 CHAPTER V. GREASE: THE QUINTESSENTIAL UTOPIC HIGH CONCEPT FILM MUSICAL.............................................................................................................115 CHAPTER VI. FILM MUSICALS IN THE 1980’S: CRAFTING PRODUCTS FOR REAGAN ERA AUDIENCES..........................................................................................................136 Xanadu .............................................................................................................................138 Popeye ..............................................................................................................................140 viii The Pirate Movie .............................................................................................................142 The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas...............................................................................144 A Chorus Line ..................................................................................................................146 CHAPTER VII. CABARET AND ALL THAT JAZZ: DYSTOPIA IN FILM MUSICALS........153 Dystopia and the Film Musical........................................................................................156 Cabaret ............................................................................................................................162 All That Jazz .....................................................................................................................170 CHAPTER VIII. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: SPECTACULAR UTOPIA AND FILM MUSICALS IN THE 1990s.............................................................................................177 Spectacular Utopias .........................................................................................................181 Animated Film Musicals and Utopia ...............................................................................186 CHAPTER IX. THE SPECTACLE OF CELEBRITY IN EVITA AND THE PROLIFERATION OF HIGH CONCEPT CULTURE IN THE 1990s ..........................................................198 High Concept’s Ramifications on Mass Culture .............................................................210 CHAPTER X. THE UTOPIA OF INDIVIDUAL IMAGINATION: MOULIN ROUGE! AND CHICAGO........................................................................................................................218 Moulin Rouge! and the Memory of Utopia......................................................................222 The Fantastic Utopia and a “Return” to Performance in Chicago...................................233 CONCLUSION. STUDYING FILM MUSICALS AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE......243 NOTES.........................................................................................................................................250
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