La La Land (2016) As the Contemporary Postmodern Hollywood Musical Film

Dancing, Dreaming and Transforming: La La Land (2016) as the Contemporary Postmodern Hollywood Musical Film

Amy Nonnekes Student Number: 11326816

Master Thesis

MA Media Studies: Television and Cross-Media Culture

University of Amsterdam

Date of Completion: 23 June 2020 Wordcount: 22.361

Abstract

The Hollywood musical film genre, which originated in the late 1920’s, is since its birth characterised by specific generic conventions and will forever be a genre associated with its own history and Hollywood’s history. However, only a few new musical films have been released within the last decade, which ensures that some of generic conventions may still survive, but are given a new meaning. The contemporary Hollywood musical film La La Land (2016) is a perfect example of a postmodern meta-musical film by touching upon and reviving the past while at the same time trying to be revolutionary by transforming the classical features of the Hollywood musical film genre. However, the meaning of contemporary musical films, especially in relation to postmodernism remains a highly undertheorized concept. The thesis statement that is central to this research is therefore: The musical film La La Land (2016) is a self-reflexive postmodern subversion of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, especially in the way it articulates the ‘dual-focus narrative’, a ‘critical utopia’ and the ‘Hollywood Dream’. With the help of a multidimensional analysis of the film La La Land (2016) this thesis shows that the film for the most part disregards the conventional ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’ to underscore the postmodern take on a traditional happy ending. Furthermore, the film articulates a ‘critical utopia’ by foregrounding the inherent reality-utopia dichotomy and also by means of portraying a contemporary take on the ‘Hollywood Dream’, which emphasizes the postmodern ideology of being sceptical about the possibility of realising utopian dreams. Moreover, the representation of the notions self-reflexivity and metareference also highly contributes to the postmodern character of the film, by deliberately and extensively commenting on the current state of its own genre.

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... 2

Table of Contents ...... 3

Introduction ...... 4

Chapter 1: The Hollywood Musical Film Genre vs. The Postmodernism Film ...... 8

1.1 The Hollywood Musical Film Genre ...... 8

1.2 The Postmodern Film ...... 14

1.3 Generic conventions and Postmodernism in La La Land (2016) ...... 19

Chapter 2: The Dual-focus Narrative ...... 25

2.1 The Dual-focus Narrative ...... 25

2.2 The Dual-focus Narrative in La La Land (2016) ...... 29

Chapter 3: Utopianism and The American Dream ...... 36

3.1 Utopianism and The American Dream ...... 36

3.2 Utopianism and The American Dream in La La Land (2016) ...... 42

Chapter 4: Self-reflexivity and Metareference ...... 49

4.1 Self-reflexivity and Metareference ...... 49

4.2 Self-reflexivity and Metareference in La La Land (2016) ...... 52

Conclusion ...... 57

Bibliography ...... 60

Introduction

“How are you going to be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist? You’re holding onto the past, but jazz is about the future.” (La La Land)

La La Land (2016), Damien Chazelle’s musical film that won an outstanding number of awards, amongst other things, for its unique cinematography, original music and impressive acting performances. This film can be regarded as a modern-day version of the traditional Hollywood musical film, by clearly reflecting on and being aware of the history that preceded it. The narrative of La La Land (2016) takes us to the lives of Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), two aspiring artists dreaming of becoming a famous actress and a famous jazz pianist in modern-day Los Angeles. The quote above already demonstrates the conflict and the tense relationship between the past and the future inherent to any performance of art, whereby director Damien Chazelle emphasises the significance of this quote for the film itself:

“I have in my head a version of the debate that John Legend and Ryan Gosling have in the movie about jazz. If you apply that to movies, there’s the same idea — do you try to preserve what you love about the past of an art form at the risk of marginalizing it?” (Damien Chazelle)

The Hollywood musical film genre was traditionally focused on dreamers, such as Dorothy’s dream of returning to Kansas in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Annie’s dream of having a family in Annie (1982) and Maria and Tony’s dream of being together in West Side Story (1961). Thereby, the premise of Hollywood being the place where your dreams come true is a timeless idea, something that La La Land (2016) is portraying by resurrecting and playing with the old art genre of the Hollywood musical film. Anthony Carew argues that by being a contemporary musical film with a modern-day take on the genre, La La Land (2016) is involved in a dialogue with the past and at the same time comments on the current state of the genre itself (Carew 10).The film itself is therefore also very self-aware of its explicit use of the phenomena of nostalgia, intertextuality and pastiche, by referring to the famous musical pair Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and to the popular ‘Golden Age’ musical films such as Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and The Band Wagon (1953). However, La La Land (2016) uses the phenomenon of nostalgia in a different way, namely this film can be seen as a highly self- reflexive musical or a so called ‘meta-musical’, by being a film about people in the film industry and a musical about artists in the music business. Director Damian Chazelle is also very self-aware of his explicit and specific use of nostalgic elements in the film by: “trying to call back certain things from the past that I felt had been lost and didn’t need to be lost. But also, really, the main goal was to try and update those things” (Damien Chazelle). The fact

4 that nostalgia is an essential feature of the film is evident, however there is something more going on than touching upon the past, namely the interrogation of ‘nostalgia for nostalgia’. Sabine Sielke states that the film:

“[...] merely takes a bow to its models and hints at the many “oddities” of classic musical ﬁlms and their cheerful mode of denial. Rather than disseminating nostalgia, Chazelle’s ﬁlm dissects it by foregrounding its materiality.” (Sielke 9)

Therefore, La La Land (2016) can be seen as a love letter to the ‘Golden Age’ musical films, while being a postmodern version of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre by means of portraying and subverting the notions of ‘self-reflexivity’, ‘utopianism’ and the ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’. The form and construction of these traditional Hollywood musical films can be clearly recognized in La La Land (2016), but the individual elements serve a different purpose within this postmodern musical film. One of these crucial elements can be identified as the so called ‘dual-focus narrative’, which is a frequently applied narrative form within musical films. For La La Land (2016) the question arises whether the film subverts the Hollywood musical film formula and the ‘dual-focus narrative approach’ by portraying a couple fulfilling their dreams, but not ending up as a couple. As stated above, the Hollywood musical films traditionally focused their narratives around dreams and dreamers, whereby ‘utopianism’ was a commonly used concept throughout the narrative, but especially within the songs. ‘Utopianism’ makes the (film)world seem more beautiful than the harsh reality, by dreaming of, describing or attempting to create a better society. In regard to the construction of the Hollywood musical film genre within La La Land (2016), it is important to analyse to what extent and in which ways utopianism is incorporated. What kind of utopian worlds can be recognized and are they similar to earlier forms? And is this utopian ethos mainly conveyed through the world of the narrative or only through the performance of the songs? A phenomenon related to utopianism and the Hollywood musical film genre is the ‘American Dream’, according to which dreams, ambitions and aspirations are achieved through risk- taking, sacrifice and hard work rather than by luck or chance. The questions that arise in relation to La La Land (2016) are, how is the ‘American Dream’ portrayed and what is its relation to the notion of ‘utopianism’? The above mentioned phenomena will all have a central role in this thesis. They will be extensively elaborated upon in the theoretical framework, and will serve as essential elements for analysing the film La La Land (2016). Taking all these notions into account, the following thesis statement can be articulated: The musical film La La Land (2016) is a self-reflexive postmodern subversion of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, especially in the way it articulates the ‘dual-focus narrative’, a ‘critical utopia’ and the ‘Hollywood Dream’. I will focus on these four key aspects, namely the ‘postmodern film’, the ‘dual-focus narrative’,

‘utopianism and the American Dream’ and ‘self-reflexivity and metareference’, which will each be thoroughly explored in four different chapters. Each chapter starts with a theoretical framework paragraph introducing and delineating the most important theories and theorists who contributed to scholarship on the topic. After each theoretical framework paragraph follows an analysis paragraph which consists of analysing and presenting the most important aspects and findings within the film La La Land (2016). The first chapter will function as an introductory paragraph to the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, while also focusing on the more recent notion of the ‘postmodern film’. More precisely, using the theories of Rick Altman, Richard Barrios, Steven Cohan and Thomas Schatz as a starting point, I will look at the ways in which the Hollywood musical film genre has evolved and what its most telling characteristics are. However, to substantiate the thesis statement, this chapter must also dive into what ‘postmodernism’ means in general and specifically what its relation is in regard to (musical) films. This will be done with the help of the books and texts from M. Keith Booker, Catherine Constable and Marianne DeKoven. In the second chapter the notion of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ will be addressed with Rick Altman as the central theorist. The third chapter will be dedicated to the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’ in musical films and the ‘American Dream’ as a specific form hereof, by citing the works of Lyman Tower Sargent, Richard Dyer and J. Emmett Winn. In the last chapter the focus will lie on the aspects of ‘self- reflexivity and metareference’ these films perform. The theorists that will be cited to give these aspects meaning are Jane Feuer, Werner Wolf and Hanna Maria Huber. Important to note is that the Hollywood musical film genre, and especially the ‘Golden Age’ musical films, is a popular research object that received a great deal of attention within the field of film studies. However, much of this research is solely focused on the rich history of the genre, on the Broadway musicals and on the significant relationship between the films and their music. This can for example be recognized in the books of Rick Altman (1987), Richard Barrios (1995) and Steven Cohan (2002). An exception can be found when looking at a number of more recent theorists, such as Sedat Yildirim and Sabine Sielke, who at times have interesting and insightful things to remark when talking about contemporary musical films in relation to postmodernism and nostalgia, but in general this is a rare occurrence. It could even be stated that the genre has become somewhat extinct since the end of the ‘Golden Age’ of musical films, because of the few new musical films that are being released. So, it has become even more meaningful to explore relevant questions as: What has changed within contemporary musical films with respect to the classical Hollywood musical films? What is the meaning of these new musical films within our current society and culture? Can notions of nostalgia, intertextuality, pastiche, self-reflexivity, utopianism and postmodernism be identified within contemporary musical films? With this thesis I hope to contribute to the existing knowledge regarding Hollywood musical films, expand and explore

6 other phenomena by analysing them in regard to La La Land (2016) and present new insights regarding the meaning of and ways to look at contemporary musical films. It has to be noted that the results of the executed analysis can by no means be applied to all the contemporary Hollywood musical films released. However, what it can do is propose a new and insightful way to look at these films instead of using the traditional and conventional ways to analyse and interpret Hollywood musical films.

Chapter 1: The Hollywood Musical Film Genre vs. The Postmodern Film

1.1 The Hollywood Musical Film Genre

“The musical is a genre forever associated with Hollywood history, musicals the definitive form of mainstream movie entertainment in cinema’s early days of sound.” (Carew 10)

The Hollywood musical film genre has a broad and multidimensional understanding and can be characterised by many individual characteristics. Therefore, it is important to start with elaborating on the rise of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, its ‘Golden Age’ and its aesthetic as well as narrative conventions. This first paragraph also introduces the most important terms for the theoretical parts of this thesis, which will subsequently individually be elaborated on in detail in the paragraphs below. Martin Rubin gives a possible working definition of a traditional musical film, namely: “a musical is a ﬁlm containing a signiﬁcant proportion of musical numbers that are impossible — i.e., persistently contradictory in relation to the realistic discourse of the narrative” (Rubin 57). The birth of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre can be traced back to the late 1920’s, when the American film industry dictated the world. However, this particular genre was a latecomer in comparison other film genres, for example the horror and animation genre respectively emerged around the 1890’s and 1910’s. According to Richard Barrios, this dynamic film industry faced a major irretrievable change that would turn its world upside down, namely the advent of the sound cinema (Barrios 4). In fact, Thomas Schatz argues that The Jazz Singer (1927) marked the debut of the so called ‘talkie’, a motion picture with synchronized sound, and can be designated as the first Hollywood musical film (Schatz 187). Noteworthy, Sheida Sheikhha and Behrooz Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari write that the first spoken words in The Jazz Singer (1927) were: “You ain’t heard nothing yet!” (Sheikhha and Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari 28). This film also signalled the start of the so called ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood musical films, which can be defined as an era spanning from the late 1920’s until the early 1960’s (Sheikhha and Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari 29). However, Barrios believes that the classical Hollywood musical film genre has not survived beyond its ‘Golden Age’, while other earlier film genres have mutated and survived throughout the years (Barrios 3). By specifically choosing the words of ‘not surviving’ in his writings around 1995, he points to the fact that:

“While it still exists on stage and remains popular in retrospective presentation, the musical has little to do with film in any current or ongoing sense. We are, apparently,

beyond the end of the rainbow, no matter how much we choose to bask in its glow.” (Barrios 4)

A possible reason for this could be Hollywood’s obsession with its own history and the fact that the genre will always be associated with its early days of mainstream sound movies (Carew 10). The Hollywood musical film genre and every new musical film made are always tied to and based on the former glory of the genre in its earlier times. Therefore, if contemporary musicals films keep reviving these old traditional musical films endlessly the genre is eventually dying out, because there is no attempt at modernizing the genre in order for it to survive for the upcoming decades. So, in this way the Hollywood musical film genre can be regarded as a paradox, just as La La Land (2016), by touching upon and reviving the past while at the same time trying to be revolutionary by modernizing and transforming the classical features of the genre.

Prominent theorists that started writing about the Hollywood musical film genre and its most important implications thirty to forty years after the ‘Golden Age’ period are for instance Rick Altman, Jane Feuer and Steven Cohan. They were at that specific moment able to clearly reflect on this ‘Golden Age’ period in time and could start fleshing out the structural basis of these Hollywood musical films. Most importantly, Rick Altman identified in his book ‘The American Film Musical’ (1987) the five major realms of the Hollywood musical film genre, which were subsequently highlighted and enforced by Sedat Yildirim and could be recognized as being: “setting, shot selection, music, dance and personal style of the major characters” (Yildirim 6). That these five realms are important for constructing these musical films is being emphasised by Altman through the creation of a specific generic understanding. The first major realm can be described as being the ‘setting’, which often signals the cultural and national background of the protagonists in musical films. Traditionally the settings were specifically important for representing opposites, such as the rich and the poor, by ways of comparative analysis (Altman 39). The second major realm introduced by Altman is the ‘shot selection’, which he subsequently divides in three sub-divisions, namely ‘duet’, ‘solo’ and ‘unmarked’. Altman acknowledges the fact that the ‘solo’ and ‘duet’ shots are crucial for the traditional Hollywood musical films, among other things for establishing the central ‘male-female duality’. On the other hand, musical films also deliberately make use of ‘unmarked’ shots to emphasise the unwillingness of the male or female character to participate in the coupling (Altman 35). He subsequently introduces ‘music’ as the third major realm of the Hollywood musical film genre and particularly focuses on the concept of ‘audio dissolve’. This technique points to the ability of music and sounds, in combination with the narrative, to foreground upcoming plot events. Besides, music also empowers the above mentioned notion of ‘male-female duality’ by being a complementary element during ‘solo’

9 and ‘duet’ shots (Altman 63). Furthermore, ‘dance’ can be regarded as the fourth major realm of Hollywood musical films. He once more underscores the value of this realm for the construction and depiction of the ‘male-female duality’. ‘Dance’ is especially meaningful in being an accompaniment for the musical numbers as well as for the burgeoning relationship between the male and female character (Alman 37). The last major realm can be identified as ‘personal style’, which Altman puts as the personal traits of characters which are determinative for the narrative as well as characteristic for the period the narrative is set in. By personal traits he means the portrayal of one’s cultural and national background along with their (desired) career and (practised) talents (Altman 44). Lastly, Yildirim also points out the importance of all the major realms for the construction and establishment of the ‘male- female duality’ (Yildirim 7). This duality obviously touches upon another important element within Hollywood musical films, namely the narrative approach called the ‘dual-focus narrative’ which will receive further attention in chapter 2. In regard to the structural basis of Hollywood musical films, it is also important to discuss the two stylistic logics of these films and make a clear distinction between them. In his book ‘Hollywood Musicals’ (2019) Steven Cohan addresses these two dominating logics as an ‘integrated’ and an ‘aggregated’ form and aesthetics. A musical film with ‘integrated’ form and aesthetics can also be called an ‘integrated musical’ and:

“[...] gives the impression that numbers move the narrative along, whether because they deepen a sense of characters’ motives and feelings or because they effect transitions from one action to the next, from one scene to the next.” (Cohan 19)

Thereby, the ‘integrated musical’ makes the transition from the general narrative to the musical numbers stylistically fluid, so that it seems like the characters could almost burst out into a song at any time they want. This stylistically fluid motion from the general narrative into musical numbers can be achieved through the use of three different strategies, for example by the use of musical underscoring playing in the background of a scene. In a like manner, stylistic fluidity can also be achieved by increasing the volume of the dialogue or orchestration, changing a character’s bodily gestures or changing the intonation of the performer to forecast a musical number (Cohan 19). The ‘aggregated musical’ is, on the other hand, described by Cohan as a musical which stylistically brackets musical numbers from the general narrative:

“In contrast with the integrated musical, an aggregated musical seems to add one number after another primarily as a distraction from the narrative because numbers momentarily pause the action.” (Cohan 19)

Furthermore, the ‘aggregated musical’ is best typified by so called show numbers, which often take place in fictional, imaginative or utopian places together with highly stylised costumes. These fictional scenes can also be recognized as being filmed and edited differently than the usual scenes within the narrative. However, these musical numbers can also easily be left out without changing or disrupting the overall narrative (Cohan 20). Lastly, it is important to remark that Hollywood musical films can also obviously be a hybrid form of the two.

As stated above, musical films often depict fictional spaces, fantasy scenes or utopian places. This phenomenon actually originated in the earliest days of the Hollywood musical film genre. In fact, Barrios points to this phenomenon as a peculiarly American concept: “For many years musicals had—the past tense need apply—a remarkable propensity for fulfilling wishes and making fantasies seem reasonable” (Barrios 3). According to Florian Zitzelsberger, in Hollywood musical films’ earliest days an important function of these films was to strengthen the American community, because America was at that particular time going through a period called the ‘Great Depression’ (Zitzelsberger 101). Until today, this connotation of musical films emphasising collaboration and togetherness within an American framework still exists:

“The musical’s focus on the entertainment industry thus at the same time designates a particular focus on the Americanness of this industry, apparent in the ways in which the musical foregrounds the craftsmanship of Americans—a reassurance of the belief in American community and talent.” (Zitzelsberger 101)

The arguments made within the above statement could be connected to the national ethos of the United States called the ‘American Dream’. This notion will, in relation to the Hollywood musical film genre, be discussed extensively in chapter 3. Besides, the notion of the ‘American Dream’ is actually part of a larger concept and can be recognized as a particular form of portraying ‘utopianism’. In his text ‘Entertainment and Utopia’ (1977) Richard Dyer states that: “far from being escapist, the musical is responsive to history through its form, which articulates in non-representational terms what utopia feels like” (Dyer 2). Broadly speaking, it can be stated that all film genres are to a certain degree involved in trying to portray utopian worlds and trying to project visions of utopian communities. Speaking specifically of the Hollywood musical film genre there is a thriving reality-utopia dichotomy, realistic conflicts versus idealistic resolutions, at work within narratives. These films traditionally desire a so called ‘utopian resolution’, but: “this resolution is anticipated whenever the performers break into song and dance” (Schatz 188). In a likewise manner, the terms ‘utopianism’ and ‘utopian resolution’ regarding musical films will be fleshed out in more

11 detail in the chapter 3, which is also dedicated to the notion of the ‘American Dream’. Another telling and remarkable element within the Hollywood musical film genre is the ‘self-reflexivity’ these films often carry out, either extremely consciously or somewhat unconsciously. Thereby, Zitzelsberger points to the fact that the musical film itself possesses a high potential of ‘self-reflexivity’ due to its specific narrative structure:

“Reading the segmentation into narrative and number, the musical’s dual registers, as mise en abyme, proves instrumental when looking at both a mirroring of the ﬁlm within itself (self-reference) and the mirroring of the industry and culture producing the ﬁlm (hetero-reference).” (Zitzelsberger 110)

With ‘mise en abyme’ he touches upon the technique of placing a story within a story. A phenomenon of reduplication, like standing between two mirrors with the outcome of an infinite reproduction of the image. Musical films often produce this phenomenon of ‘mis en abyme’, by for example mirroring the entertainment industry and the processes involved. Additionally, Dyer argued that due to this self-reflection and self-mirroring musical films were predominantly assumed to be ‘pure entertainment’ for the audience as well as for the producers, for whom the creation of entertainment was a central objective (Dyer 4). Moreover, Jane Feuer suggests that while ‘self-reflexivity’ within musical films has previously been recognized as a way of conserving its form, it actually: “uses reﬂexivity to perpetuate rather than to deconstruct the codes of the genre” (Feuer 454). As a matter of fact, there are more crucial factors to be addressed in relation to self-reflexivity and self-referencing within traditional musical films. This concept will therefore be discussed in more detail in chapter 4. Lastly, it is relevant to address Rick Altman’s ‘generic model’ in regard to the structure of films within the Hollywood musical film genre. Following the theories of Altman in his text ‘A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre’ (1984), two levels could be recognized, namely the ‘semantic approach’ and the ‘syntactic approach’, whereby: “The “semantic approach [ ... ] stresses the genre’s building blocks, while the syntactic view privileges the structures into which they are arranged” (Altman 10). More precisely, he characterises the ‘semantic approach’ in his book ‘The American Film Musical’ (1987) as follows:

“The format is narrative, length is extended (feature length), characters are romantic couple in society. Acting is a combination of rhythmic movement and realism. And sound is mixture of diegetic music and dialog.” (Altman 110)

On the other hand, the ‘syntactic approach’ is mainly described as the narrative strategy being ‘dual-focus’, whereby the ‘male-female duality’, parallelism and alternation are central to the realization of the overall narrative. Thereby, Altman extends his syntactic schema by mentioning that:

“Music/plot includes music and dance as expression of personal and communal joy, as signifiers of romantic triumph over all limitations. Narrative/number includes continuity established between realism and rhythm, dialog and diegetic music, on model of mystic marriage. And image/sound includes classical narrative hierarchy (image over sound) reserved at climactic moments (audio dissolve).” (Altman 110)

However, it is worth noting that there is a great possibility of performing a dual approach, both for other genre films and specifically for musical films. This dual nature of any generic corpus points to the fact that there are often different levels of genericity at play within (musical) films, whereby the ‘semantic’ and ‘syntactic’ elements of the genre are working together. Thereby, so called ‘inter-generic’ connections generate new generic possibilities, which are otherwise overthrown by single-minded approaches (Altman 12). In the paragraphs that cover the rest of the theoretical framework the individual characteristics of the underlying structure of the Hollywood musical film genre, respectively ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’, ‘utopianism and the American Dream’ and ‘self-reflexivity and metareference’, will be elaborated on in more detail.

1.2 The Postmodern Film

“The struggle of film ‘against itself’ makes for an interesting postmodern issue, particularly as movies begin to assert themselves as a vital part of the contemporary deconstructive enterprise.” (Burke 71)

The phenomenon that touches upon almost all the elements that will be discussed in the chapters below is ‘postmodernism’. Defining the term ‘postmodernism’ is notoriously difficult, because the phenomenon could be regarded as multidimensional and vague at the same time. Therefore, for the purpose of this thesis, the starting point of this paragraph will be ‘postmodernism in film’. So, rather than thoroughly scrutinizing all the implications of the notion of ‘postmodernism’ for different disciplines, the basic definition and characteristics of the term will be addressed. However, it is still useful to start off with citing the most general and widely used definition of the term ‘postmodernism’:

“A late 20th century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has at its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematical relationship with any notion of art. Typical features include a deliberate mixing of different artistic styles and media, the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, and often the incorporation of images relating to the consumerism and mass communication of late 20th century post-industrial society.” (Oxford English Dictionary)

With this general definition in mind, it is important to note that the general distrust of grand theories and ideologies is particularly important for the characterization of ‘postmodern in film’. In general, the ‘postmodernist film’ tries to subvert the prevailing conventions of the standard narrative structure in order to test the suspension of disbelief of the audience. With this in mind, Sedat Yildirim states that the mainstream conventions of narrative structure are mainly conceived as all the plot structures leading to a conventional happy ending. On the other hand, the main objective of ‘postmodernist films’ is to surprise the audience with an exceptional or sometimes even an upsetting ending to the plot by deferring from traditional narrative structures (Yildirim 36). However, Yildirim articulates the fact that the theories on ‘postmodernist film’ are only part of: “a small division of the cinematic works reflecting the ideas and themes of postmodernism through film. It obviously does not have a very old theoretical literary background” (Yildirim 36). But there are some agreed upon discernible characteristics that could be recognized in ‘postmodern films’, namely the use of nostalgia, pastiche, intertextuality, self-reflexivity, metareference and the mixing of high and low culture. These characteristics are packed together by M. Keith Booker, in one of the most prominent books about ‘postmodern Hollywood’, as the two key features of postmodern

14 aesthetics: ‘generic pastiche’ and ‘narrative, formal and thematic fragmentation’. According to Dyer, the term ‘pastiche’ could be best described as an evident aesthetic imitation of different art forms in order to form a new meaning (Dyer 1). Whereby ‘generic pastiche’, as stated by Booker, could subsequently be seen as films imitating other works within the same genre it operates in itself or as Booker states: “The most obvious aspect of this phenomenon is the increasing tendency of ﬁlms, in a variety of ways, to take other motion pictures as their objects of representation” (Booker 91). As a matter of fact, it could be stated that the term ‘pastiche’ is actually part of the umbrella term ‘intertextuality’, by functioning as a particular stylistic mode of ‘intertextuality’. Furthermore, according to Graham Allen the phenomenon of ‘intertextuality’ generally indicates: “Meaning becomes something which exists between a text and all the other texts to which it refers and relates, moving out from the independent text into a network of textual relations” (Allen 1). Another notion Booker connects to the postmodern aesthetics of ‘pastiche’ is ‘postmodern nostalgia’, whereby he clearly argues that this specific term is distinct from all other forms of ‘nostalgia’:

“[...] postmodern nostalgia is a primarily stylistic movement, a sort of imitation of earlier forms of nostalgia that lacks the utopian longing for a better world that seems to be the motivation of the nostalgia in such works as the classic Hollywood ﬁlms.” (Booker 51)

He suggests that ‘postmodern films’ are doubly mediated in a way that they possess representations of remembered representations. Thereby, ‘postmodern nostalgia’ has no direct link with a historical truth and cannot be regarded as a pure effort of trying to revive an unrecoverable past. Besides, ‘postmodern nostalgia’ is far more adept at recycling earlier cultural styles as nostalgic products, so it is more of a commercial phenomenon than other types of nostalgia (Booker 52). Moreover, ‘postmodern nostalgia’ also has an unmistakable connection with earlier music such as jazz. Booker also claims that music is crucial for portraying nostalgic visions within the ‘postmodern film’ and thereby touches upon another key feature of ‘postmodern films’:

“However, while the earlier movies located the sounds of an idealized past in works of high culture, postmodern nostalgia ﬁlms tend to draw upon the popular music of earlier eras, suggesting another form of the breakdown of the boundaries between high and low culture that has so often been cited as a key aspect of postmodernism.” (Booker 54)

Lastly, for the purpose of the upcoming analysis it is useful to briefly discuss the relationship between the notion of ‘utopianism’ and ‘postmodernism’. Marianne DeKoven argues that the

15 position of the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’ within ‘postmodern fiction literature’ is called into question:

“Utopia in postmodernity is multiply defeated and discredited, yet it persists in the form not only of desire for elimination of domination, inequality and oppression but also of desire for transcendence itself.” (DeKoven 91)

DeKoven regards the ‘postmodern utopia’ as a place in which characters desire and try to realise their visions of a utopia, despite disbelieving the real possibility of success. Therefore, the narrative strategy that is mostly characteristic for these stories is the representation of a powerful utopian desire with the scepticism of the possibility of actually fulfilling these desires (DeKoven 78). However, Booker demonstrates that these arguments are also applicable to the appropriation of ‘utopianism’ in ‘postmodern films’, by stating that:

“[...] the loss of faith in historical metanarratives during the postmodern era has been accompanied by a weakening of the utopian imagination, and in particular by a loss of faith in the possibility that utopian dreams might actually be realized.” (Booker 16)

Lastly, according to Catherine Constable, who frequently adheres to the theories of Booker in her book about postmodernism in film, Booker also indirectly links the notion of ‘generic pastiche’ to the fact that a lot of ‘postmodern films’ express high levels of (self-)reflexivity (Constable 69). In a like manner, Booker argues that ‘postmodern films’ are mostly based on pre-existing representations of reality, so that: “The tendency of postmodern ﬁlms to be based on the world of cinema rather than the ‘‘real’’ world [...], is very much a part of this phenomenon” (Booker 154). As a final point, Constable summarizes her findings according to a table which compares the characteristics of the classical Hollywood film with the characteristics of the postmodern Hollywood film (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Catherine Constable’s comparison of classical Hollywood film characteristics and postmodern Hollywood film characteristics.

As stated above, ‘narrative, formal and thematic fragmentation’ is also one of the two key features of postmodern aesthetics (Booker 20). By this notion Booker refers to the ways in which ‘postmodern films’ communicate the ‘fragmentation’ of its characters, the narrative and the overall structure of film. He summarizes the phenomenon of ‘fragmentation’ and its implications as follows:

“Modernist formal fragmentation is centripetal—one might even say utopian—in its orientation, challenging audiences to reassemble the pieces into a coherent whole, while postmodernist fragmentation is centrifugal, denying the very possibility of wholeness—or utopia.” (Booker 5)

In general, he state that the frequent use of the notion of ‘fragmentation’ in ‘postmodern films’ has a legitimate reason, namely “[...] it is clear that the fragmentation of most postmodern ﬁlms merely reﬂects—or even celebrates—the fragmentation of contemporary life” (Booker 6). Moreover, this ‘fragmentation’ also stems from the inability of individual artists to be an original source of art or to have their personal style, which Booker calls: “the increasing psychic fragmentation of individual subjects” (Booker 19). This loss of personal style subsequently leads to the extensive use of ‘pastiche’ as mentioned above. To get back to ‘fragmentation’ within ‘postmodern films’, the ‘fragmentation’ of characters can for example be expressed through the literal use of ‘schizophrenic characters’ who often experience discontinuous, plural and fragmented identities (Booker 4). Furthermore, Booker notes that this ‘fragmentation’ can also be recognized within the overall structure of the film or within the editing style:

“[...] the quick-cut style of many postmodern films serves a clear mimetic function as an expression of the increasing fragmentation of experience in the postmodern age. In addition, many postmodern films are so self-conscious about their formal fragmentation that this fragmentation itself becomes a metafictional commentary on postmodern conventions of film editing and narrative.” (Booker 6)

As an example he mentions a type of opening shot which shifts from character to character and from scene to scene within one continuous shot. Thereby, this shot calls attention to its own complex fragmentary nature by conveying a sense of frenetic activity without any cuts (Booker 2). Lastly, ‘fragmentation’ can also be articulated through the (overall) narrative of the film. Booker states that this can be done by adding certain features to the narrative that will interfere with the audience’s involvement in the narrative. This also calls attention to the decline of cohering to the traditional Hollywood narrative conventions in ‘postmodern films’. For example films that are constructed of a series of different compelling scenes, but do not allow these scenes to form a coherent whole (Booker 25). Additionally, films could place

17 scenes in reverse chronological order, instead of creating an illusion of continuity standard editing tries to pursue. In this way ‘fragmentation’: “forces audiences to think consciously of each scene as part of the history of the scenes that came before it” (Booker 36). To conclude, taking all these notions together can create a typical ‘postmodern film’ that for example:

“[...] frequently switches back and forth between color and black-and-white and between conventional ﬁlm and video. Weirdly tilted camera angles; strange, erratic camera movements; extreme close-ups; colored tints; slow-motion; and fast-motion all help to create disorienting effects, while the radically eclectic compilation soundtrack also adds to the sense of chaos and fragmentation that informs the ﬁlm.” (Booker 41)

1.3 Generic conventions and Postmodernism in La La Land (2016)

The following textual analysis of La La Land (2016) will prove, justify and substantiate the thesis statement mentioned in the introduction: The musical film La La Land (2016) is a self- reflexive postmodern subversion of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, especially in the way it articulates the ‘dual-focus narrative’, a ‘critical utopia’ and the ‘Hollywood Dream’. Therefore, I will be examining the different narrative strategies, aesthetic conventions and main themes of La La Land (2016) and subsequently compare them to the conventions of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre delineated in the theoretical framework paragraph of each chapter. The main focus will lie on trying to figure out in which ways the film differs or is similar to the traditional features of the Hollywood musical film genre. More importantly, the primary purpose of this analysis is finding out where this film stands in regard to the traditional Hollywood musical film genre. Important to note is that Michael Korensky argues that we are now living in a so called ‘perpetual post-musical-era’ wherein contemporary musical films are mainly trying to delve back into this seemingly moribund genre (Korensky 43). In the specific case of La La Land (2016), it can be said that the film structures its narrative according to specific generic principles, but also disregards some of them. To come back to the introduction of this thesis, the most important question essentially is: “How are you going to be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist? You’re holding onto the past, but jazz is about the future”. When this statement is transformed and connected to the film, it would be: “How are you going to make a meaningful contemporary Hollywood musical film if you are obsessed with the traditional conventions of the Hollywood musical film genre? You are holding onto the past, but making a postmodern contemporary musical film is about the future”. Hence, can the musical film still be regarded as primarily a traditional Hollywood musical film or is the contemporary postmodern perspective changing the meaning of these traditional conventions? The main argument that will follow from the analysis is that La La Land (2016) in some ways resembles, but mostly differs from the traditional Hollywood musical film genre conventions. By doing so, some of these generic conventions are surviving, but they are given a new meaning in this contemporary postmodern film. Furthermore, there is a strong discrepancy between the beginning and the ending of the film with regard to the meanings that are being conveyed. In general, the ‘Hollywood dream’ of success is first presented as just a hollow fantasy, then presented to be achievable through hard work and determination, and then presented to come at a cost. Moreover, the two protagonists highly contribute to conveyance of the film’s postmodern ideology, by showing the contrast and discrepancy between the postmodern and traditional aspects of the film.

It is important to start this analysis with the beginning of the film, because this part essentially dictates how the rest of the film will play out. The film begins with a six-minute musical number called ‘Another Day of Sun’, a song performed by hundreds of people during a traffic jam on one of the busiest highway ramps of Los Angeles. This first song actually indirectly foreshadows the ending of the film, when it turns out that the classical Hollywood musical film ending, especially the ‘and they lived happily ever after’ premise, does not apply to the overall ideals and meanings of the film. This foreshadowing is directly shaped by the inherent (male-female) duality of the film, which will be discussed and analysed in more detail in chapter 2. One of the most telling sentences of this song are: “A Technicolor world made out of music and machine. It called me to be on that screen. And live inside each scene” (Another Day of Sun, La La Land). This part reveals one of the film’s most important objectives, namely immersing its two protagonists into living partly in classical Hollywood musical film scenes. Moreover, the song convinces its audience directly that they are in fact dealing with an actual musical film, though a thoroughly constructed one as recognized by the Technicolor remark, by using the performance of a musical number as an existing framework to evoke a desired reception. Furthermore, the song is about people’s aspirations and dreams to succeed in Hollywood as an artist, actor or by practicing another creative profession. But this musical number shows that they have not yet realized these dreams, because it emphasises the fact that in reality it is hard to make it. In this way, the very opening scene already indicates that La La Land (2016) is a musical film that could deviate from the traditional Hollywood musical films. Especially because this seemingly utopian summery setting with bright colours and overly enthusiastic people actually has an inherent pessimistic undertone, which tells the audience that this film will be about dealing with the harsh reality (see figure 2). Thereby, this first six-minutes musical performance also shows the inherent paradox of the Hollywood dream factory that is Los Angeles, which will be discussed more intensively in chapter 3 and 4.

Figure 2. Bright colours and overly enthusiastic people highlighting the utopian ideal of making it in the Hollywood dream factory that is Los Angeles.

So, it can already be determined that this musical film can be mostly typified as an ‘integrated musical’. More precisely, the song starts off with a seemingly stylistic fluid motion from the real world into performing a musical number. This is exemplified by slowly focusing on the musical underscoring that is originating from one specific car and simultaneously focusing on the woman in the car humming along. Subsequently, her changing bodily gestures are noticeable, whereby she steps out of the car and bursts into a song and dance. Slowly more drivers join her, so that the entire traffic jam changes into an improvised stage for performing a musical number. Furthermore, it is striking that this entire six-minute sequence is edited without any visible cutting, so that the scene appears to be shot in just one single take, which in turn also emphasises the fluidity of an ‘integrated musical’. However, the condition for a film to be regarded as a musical film, as Rubin noted, is that it also makes noticeable transitions from songs into the realistic world. This becomes immediately clear when the film makes a sudden shift into a next scene, in which Mia and Sebastian are introduced as the protagonists of the film. The significance of this character introduction will be further elaborated upon in the next chapter, which delves deeper into the notion of the ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’.

The postmodern nature of La La Land (2016) is artiulcated through a lot of different features within the film, both as narrative and as aethetic components. Inherent to La La Land (2016) is the struggle of the film against itself, as Burke mentioned, by taking itself as an object of deconstruction. The film self-conciously borrows a part of the tradtional Hollywood musical film genre conventions, namely the ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’, ‘utopianism’ and ‘self- reflexivity’, and subsequently postitions them in a contemporary framework to turn the narrative into a postmodern tale. These are also the three main phenomena that will be analysed in the upcoming chapters in regard to their traditional and postmodern character in La La Land (2016). Furthermore, illustrating the ever-present tension between the tradtional generic conventions and the postmodern phenomena strongly contributes to the postmodern transformation the film undergoes. For the purpose of this chapter it is important to introduce some of the postmodern aspects of La La Land (2016) which are not directly connected to the three main generic conventions that will be discussed in the upcoming chapters. More precisely, La La Land (2016) deliberately tries to incorporate two types of postmodern aesthetics, namely ‘generic pastiche’ and ‘narrative, formal and thematic fragmentation’, to detach itself partly from the traditional generic conventions and to give the film a postmodern twist.

Figure 3. Intertextual references to the traditional Hollywood musical films Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Shall We Dance (1937) and Funny Face (1957).

It can be noticed that the film undeniably conveys the notion of ‘generic pastiche’ through the numerous imitations of other films within the Hollywood musical film genre, for example intertextual references to films such as Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Shall We Dance (1937) and Funny Face (1957) (see figure 3). The extent to which the film tries to recreate the looks, feels and even small recognizable gestures of these classical films, such as the dynamics between Mia and Sebastian during their tap dance sequence on the bench, is striking. Moreover, the fact that the film contains so many references to other films within the same genre causes a challenge to recognize the scenes that do not contain a reference. Besides, the phenomenon of ‘generic pastiche’ also includes the stylistic notion of ‘postmodern nostalgia’, as stated by Booker, which actually refers to the practice of constituting nostalgia for nostalgia. This concept can also be identified in La La Land (2016), because it deliberately constructs an imagery of traditional Hollywood musical films as well as of Los Angeles as the Hollywood dream factory. But the imagery that is being created can be seen as one that has certainly not existed in this specific way. More importantly, the film mainly tries to reflect the culture that surrounded the traditional Hollywood musical films and their ‘Golden Age’, and therefore has no real historical truth in a way that it floats freely through different era’s. A striking example of a cultural phenomenon signalling the depiction of nostalgia for nostalgia within La La Land (2016) is the jazz music. The portrayal of jazz in the film is characterised by a traditional approach, in a way that Sebastian wants to preserve jazz in its original form, while the film never shows a glimpse of jazz’s real history. So, basically the film solely recycles the culture of jazz that is constructed within other cultural products such as the traditional Hollywood musical films, without ever giving any historical details and truths.

Figure 4. The Rebel Without a Cause (1955) scene is recreated within the film’s narrative.

Additionally, an aesthetic example of this phenomenon is the double mediation of the Los Angeles Griffith Observatory within the film. The first time the observatory is shown is when Mia and Sebastian watch a scene showing this observatory from the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955) in the movie theatre. Consequently they decide to visit the real observatory themselves, which causes them to indirectly recreate the exact same scene they just watched in the movie theatre (see figure 4). In this way, La La Land (2016) takes the nostalgia of showing the scene from Rebel Without a Cause (1955) a step further by consecutively integrating the real location of the Griffith Observatory into the narrative. So, based on the examples of ‘generic pastiche’ it can be stated that La La Land (2016) is primarily involved in the process of portraying the ‘remembered’, instead of straightforward nostalgia reflecting the ‘unremembered’, to ultimately encourage the feeling of nostalgia for nostalgia the audience experiences. Lastly, the postmodern aesthetic of ‘narrative, formal and thematic fragmentation’ also finds its expression within La La Land (2016). Thematically the film is fragmented in a way that it reflects the fragmentary nature and imperfectness of real life, whereby the film partly deviates from the idea that there is a real possibility of fulling utopian desires in real life. In this way the film shows the complexities of real life, instead of reflecting the prevailing ideology of an almost careless life with the prospect of a positive future most Hollywood films possess. La La Land (2016) also emphasises its fragmentary nature by foregrounding the reality-utopia dichotomy that last throughout the whole movie, which will be the main focus of chapter 3. Furthermore, narratively speaking the film at times disregards chronology, especially in the first part of the film which contains the crucial parallel sequence, which will be thoroughly discussed in the next chapter. Moreover, the unconventional ending of the film completely distances itself from the notion of chronology, by being depicted as an imagination that could not have happened in either the past or in the future. Formally, La Land (2016) is also keen to draw our attention to frequent use of very bright colours as background colours, of which the deeper meaning will be discussed in chapter 3. To come back to the first part of this paragraph, the opening musical number ‘Another Day of Sun’ is a great example of a long shot which quickly shifts from character to character without any visible cuts, which makes the movement in this scene very fluid.

Figure 5. The camera moves rapidly to shift between Mia dancing and Sebastian playing jazz.

Moreover, another striking example of formal fragmentation is the scene in which Mia is dancing to the jazz music Sebastian is playing at the Lighthouse Café. In this frenetic scene the camera is shifting rapidly between Mia dancing and Sebastian playing piano, almost to the point that it makes the audience feel dizzy (see figure 5). Lastly, the film also frequently makes use of weird tilted camera angles and slow-motion effects to give scenes a disorienting effect. So far the two key features of postmodernism in film, ‘generic pastiche’ and ‘narrative, formal and thematic fragmentation’, have been discussed in regard to La La Land (2016). As mentioned above, the following chapters will each discuss the postmodern aspects of the traditional conventions, ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’, ‘utopianism’ and ‘self-reflexivity’, used in La La Land (2016) in order to the prove the thesis statement.

Chapter 2: The Dual-focus Narrative

2.1 The Dual-focus Narrative

“This dual-focus structure requires the viewer to be sensitive not so much to chronology and progression—for the outcome of the male/female match is entirely conventional and thus quite predictable—but to simultaneity and comparison.” (Altman 42)

In the above paragraph, the importance of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ in regard to the construction of the Hollywood musical film genre has already been briefly discussed. Therefore, the purpose of this paragraph is to delve deeper into the meanings and implications of the use of this narrative strategy in musical films. This concept of the ‘dual- focus narrative’ can actually be regarded as one of the foundational aspects for the construction of musical films. It is useful to start off by stating the main focus of the ‘dual- focus narrative’ according to Rick Altman, namely that: “the couple is the plot” (Altman 35). This statement already emphasises the gravity of the notion of ‘male-female duality’, already mentioned in the above paragraph, which is also a crucial element for the implementation of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ as stated by Cohan:

“Altman claims that all musicals have the same underlying structure: a dual focus privileging the couple downplays the plot’s linear progression by heightening paralleled elements (comparable numbers, scenes, settings, values, etc.).” (Cohan 17)

Historically speaking, the Hollywood musical film focuses its narrative around parallel stars of opposite sex, adhering to the principle of duality, instead of centring on one central character by means of the ‘single-focus narrative’ (Altman 19). Applying this type of narrative strategy to musical films also affects the traditional development of the plot: “Whereas the traditional approach to narrative assumes that structure grows out of plot, the dual-focus structure of the American ﬁlm musical derives from character” (Altman 45). Analysing the narrative of musical films according to the traditional and conventional film analysis is still possible, however: “Each segment must be understood not in terms of the segments to which it is causally related but by comparison to the segment which it parallels” (Altman 44). So, it can be stated that the plot is differently construed than classical Hollywood film plots, which follow the principle of A→B→C. Whilst the plot of musical films relies far more on parallelism, in such a way that the plot follows a principle of A/B, C/C’ (Altman 44). Thus, when applying classical narrative analysis to musical films the focus should ideally be on the conceptual relationship between segments and not on the secondary chronological relationship between them. For the reason that this cause-effect relationship is merely important for highlighting

25 the duality aspects of the segments (Altman 42). Noteworthy is that this ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’ can, according to Charles Altman, be recognized as an ancient and medieval narrative form. In fact, parallel storytelling in the form of duality has actually for a long time been one of the defining characteristics of medieval literature:

“Because the dual- and single-focus forms are not just literary genres but fundamental narrative configurations, they represent two basic modes of history- writing as well, two basic conceptions of time.” (Altman 16)

With this in mind, it is meaningful to address the most telling characteristics of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ as a specific storytelling strategy. As mentioned above, the narrative in most musical films does not follow the linear ‘psychological motivation’ model applied to traditional narrative strategies. Moreover, the plot is not necessarily motivated by actions in previous scenes, even if this impression is indirectly being created, and the overall structure of the plot is radically different from traditional ones (Altman 42). Generally, the narrative of the musical film is fixated on the portrayal of two different perspectives which causes a parallel of two storylines, whereby Pamella Lach draws attention to the resolution of this duality: “the genre as a whole revolved around the forging of common ground between oppositional forces” (Lach 20). Therefore, a lot of ‘dual-focus narrative’ musical films start off in ‘medias res’, which underscores the incompatibility and opposition of the main characters, even before background information and personal traits are revealed. Whereby this crucial information is: “withheld until the dual-focus parameters are set” (Altman 66). Consequently, Lach argues that the use of songs and dances is of great importance, in the first place for bringing the destined couple together, but also for symbolising that differences are surmountable. More often than not, the main characters are designated to have different cultural tastes, for example one protagonist is a dancer and the other protagonist a singer (Lach 20). Lach emphasises the fact that these cultural differences are a crucial element for fulfilling the purpose of the narrative:

“Not until these cultural differences can be overcome, through the forging of a middle ground or middlebrow culture, could the couple express their love for each other, thus signalling the film’s final and happy dénouement. This happy compromise, in turn, signified a utopian promise of a better world.” (Lach 20)

Similarly, the two protagonists also often tend to be engaged in the same or comparable activity, consecutively shown in parallel edited segments. Additionally, Altman points to another way in which the parallelism of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ can be voiced within musical films. Namely, through the portrayal of two opposite but equivalent groups instead of purely focusing on two individual characters. These two equivalent groups have to be

26 distinguishable in terms of sex, language, race or another differentiation device (Altman 58). In order to carry out the duality of these two groups within the narrative, a so called ‘contested space’ must be established whereby the groups desire to claim that particular ‘space’ (Altman 91). Taking all these argument into account, Lach also acknowledges some problems when focusing solely and too heavily on an analysis of the ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’ within musical films, causing a limitation of other important factors involved. Firstly, she draws attention to the fact that within such a narrative the notion of a male-female romantic couple is the leading factor, whereby: “The danger of such an approach is that it forces us to view gender in considerably narrow terms: male/active, female/passive” (Lach 21). This applies specifically and especially to the segments wherein the couple is romantically involved, in this way the audience is tempted to perceive these segments as particularly gendered by for example objectifying the female body. On the other hand, musical films are also repeatedly characterised by the crossing of gender boundaries, for instance by letting male characters dance and sing in the same ways as the female characters do. So, Lach argues that focusing on and analysing the blurring gender lines will lead to the reformulation of these fixed gender boundaries within musical films (Lach 21). Secondly, she points to another problem, namely that: “the dual-focus narrative is historically and theoretically limiting because it sacrifices its analysis of song-and-dance to the narrative” (Lach 22). Solely analysing the ‘dual-focus narrative’ in musical films means taking songs and dances, especially within an ‘integrated musical’, for granted. The songs and dances must be regarded as important self-contained factors for advancing the plot and not just as a vehicle for progressing the plot. That does not mean that the overall narrative has to be considered inferior or less significant, but: “Overcoming the integrated, dual-focus approach enables an exploration of the gaps that opened up when films transitioned between dialogue and song” (Lach 22). Overall, Rick Altman provides in his book ‘A Theory of Narrative’ (2008) a clear understanding of how the most important characteristics of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ work together when used in musical films. These elements all complement each other and help to illuminate the phenomenon of (male-female) duality. A telling metaphor for the ‘dual-focus narrative’ strategy is therefore also:

“[...] dual-focus narrative is a chess game, a balanced confrontation where the two sides move alternately according to a simple set of rules, each piece having a limited function meaningful only in terms of the larger fate of its side. The battle takes place in time, yet strategy must be conceived in space, the opponent’s position remaining fully as important as the attacker’s plans.” (Altman 57)

To conclude, Altman offers another remarkable reason for the use of a ‘dual-focus narrative’ within musical films, namely the fact that it has some compelling similarities in regard to the notion of (American) society itself. Whereby the musical can be seen as a ‘cultural problem- solving device’, by: “reconciling terms previously seen as mutually exclusive, the musical succeeds in reducing an unsatisfactory paradox to a more workable configuration, a concordance of opposites” (Altman 50). A society is generally characterised by multiple fundamental paradoxes like work vs. entertainment, progress vs. stability and order vs. liberty. Therefore, the musical film can be seen as an important instrument for reflecting the fundamental paradoxes of (American) society and showing that these paradoxes should not necessarily have to be mutually exclusive (Altman 50).

2.2 The Dual-focus Narrative in La La Land (2016)

The ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’ and the phenomenon of duality play an interesting but complex role within La La Land (2016). Similar to the six-minute opening musical number directly revealing the musical identity of the film, the representation of a ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’ communicates the adherence to the traditional generic conventions. However, it is striking that this ‘dual-focus narrative’ approach is not surviving throughout the whole course of film. This is therefore also an important factor for indicating that the film does not completely cohere to the traditional Hollywood musical film conventions and rather takes a more postmodern turn. More precisely, the unconventional and rare ending of the film marks a dramatic rupture from the traditional narrative conventions used in traditional Hollywood musical films and can be marked as a postmodern phenomenon. It has to be noted that straying away from traditional conventions in general does not automatically signal a complete postmodern transformation. However, La La Land (2016) uses the transformation of traditional conventions to test the suspension of disbelief of the audience by surprising them with an unconventional and shocking ending, which is a key characteristic of films with a postmodern character. To start off this part of the analysis, it is important to note that there are essentially only two characters that play an important role within the film, namely the two protagonists Mia and Sebastian. There are only a few secondary characters that advance the plot in the desired direction, but the story of Mia and Sebastian remains central at all times. So, this emphatically confirms Altman’s statement of: “the couple is the plot” (Altman 35), as this is also certainly the case in La La Land (2016). The ‘dual-focus’ character of the film immediately become clear when the two protagonists Mia and Sebastian are introduced, as already briefly mentioned in paragraph 1.3. More precisely, the beginning of the film start off as a typical Hollywood musical film, by introducing Mia and Sebastian as the two protagonists of the film in two parallel scenes and thereby disregarding the chronology of events. The linear progression of the plot is not of high importance, but the parallel sequence is mostly important for introducing the protagonists, their current lives and their ultimate dreams, before their paths literally cross. Both of their introduction sequences take approximately ten minutes and start off right after the first musical number ends. Mia and Sebastian are both stuck in traffic, while Mia is practicing lines for her audition and Sebastian is restlessly searching for the right jazz radio station to listen to. Mia’s distractedness causes Sebastian to aggressively honk and Mia to raise her middle finger at him (see figure 6).

Figure 6. This scene marks the start of Mia’s and Sebastian’s parallel sequence.

These small consecutive actions strongly underscore the incompatibility and opposition of the two main characters. In this way, the beginning of the film seems to acknowledge its similarities to the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, even though the narrative did not start off in ‘medias res’. In fact, figure 6 marks the start of Mia and Sebastian’s part of the parallel sequence. Whereby these sequences have the exact the same beginnings, but are presented from opposite points of view. Firstly, Mia’s sequence is shown, wherein the focus lies on the fact that she aspires to be a successful actress. However, her journey to success seems hard and it seems like she is almost at her breaking point, which leads the audience to believe that she will give up on her dream. For example, everything seems to be working against her when she has to audition with a coffee stain on her shirt while the casting directors seem to be focused on anything else than Mia. This scene shows the failure of her audition and at the same time shows a lot of people looking just like her wanting to pursue the exact same dream. Which in turn mirrors the stereotypical representation of Hollywood that is almost always depicted within (musical) films. To keep her from giving up on her dream and still keeping a sparkle of hope, Mia tries to immerse herself into the Hollywood film industry surroundings by working as a barista on the Warner Bros. lot. This ‘still belief in the unexpected’ mentality is also acknowledged within the next musical number called ‘Someone in the Crowd’, which takes place at a fancy cliché Hollywood party. Mia is dragged there by her friends who insist that maybe there could be: “Someone in the crowd could be the one you need to know. The one to finally lift you off the ground” (Someone in the Crowd, La La Land). Near the end of the song Mia runs into the bathroom, where the whole room goes dark and a spotlight appears. The meaning of the particular use of the spotlight will be discussed in the paragraph 3.2, because in La La Land (2016) it is a reoccurring aesthetic practice for showing another reality.

Figure 7. The slow-motion scene emphasises the hollowness of utopian cliché Hollywood.

After the bathroom scene a slow-motion movement is depicted, which proposes that Mia does not feel part of the Hollywood elite as she slowly and almost invisibly moves through the crowd of (famous) people dancing in slow-motion (see figure 7). This small scene emphasises the sadness and loneliness underneath the revelry and the utopian Hollywood dream factory full of clichés. Important is to now turn to the parallel sequence from Sebastian’s point of view, wherein the film shifts back to the moment where he is stuck in traffic on a highway in Los Angeles. Thereafter, the scene shows he is drinking coffee across the street of the club he hopes to own one day. He is upset that they turned it into a samba-tapas bar instead of keeping it an authentic jazz club. From this moment on Sebastian could be perceived as a so called traditionalist, because of his obsession with preserving jazz in its original form. When he arrives at his home he is surprised to see his sister who asks him why he has still not unpacked all the boxes in his house, indirectly asking what he is doing with his life now that he is unable to pay his bills. To which he replies: “When I unpack them in my own club”. By this statement his dream is revealed, namely the dream of having his own jazz club where jazz music is being performed in its original form. His sister subsequently says the following: “It’s like a girl broke up with you and you’re stalking her. You’re not still going by there, are you?”. Hereby, she refers to the jazz club he specifically goes to when drinking a coffee. His traditionalistic character and him obviously disliking changes can be deduced from the fact that he has not yet unpacked his boxes and is still obsessed with the traditional jazz club that changed its concept. Furthermore, his stubbornness and persistence also become clear when he says: “I want to be on the ropes, I am letting life hit me until it gets tired, then I am going to hit back. It’s a classic rope-a-dope. I’m phoenix rising from the ashes”. He still believes in the possibility of creating a utopia for himself and letting his dream comes true, even if he has to endure some tough challenges. After these parallel introductory sequences, Mia and Sebastian’s separate plots start to come together literally and figuratively. Before the film cuts to Sebastian’s part of the parallel sequence, Mia is shown walking past a wall painting of an audience and she hears Sebastian play his own jazz song on the piano, which intrigues her. The meaning of this wall

31 painting will be discussed later when talking about reflexivity in paragraph 4.2. She decides to walk into the restaurant where Sebastian works as a pianist playing background music. This scene shows her watching him closely as the spotlight is set on her again. Then there is a drastic cut to the parallel sequence of Sebastian, wherein it is revealed that he indeed works in a restaurant, but is only allowed to play the assigned setlist while he actually wants to play his own jazz songs. He decides to go for it and starts playing his own jazz song, which could later be recognized as being ‘Mia and Sebastian’s song’, and the spotlight is there again to immerse the audience into his dream. This scene abruptly stops and it seems like nothing happened, but then it shows that Sebastian is being fired because of his actions. Mia, who was watching his entire performance, wants to complement him, but Sebastian bumps into her and storms off in anger. So, as mentioned above, after this twenty-minute parallel sequence the use of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ to structure this musical film is almost entirely disregarded.

Figure 8. Old Hollywood fonts used for the transitions into new seasons and phases of their relationship.

Instead La La Land (2016) uses the different seasons to structure the start and continuing of Mia and Sebastian’s relationship, whereby these seasons are shown in an old Hollywood font as title cards to mark a transition into a new season (see figure 8). In other words, winter marks the beginning of the film, both Mia and Sebastian are not happy and have not been able to realize their dreams. At the start of spring they still have different tastes, different professions and different dreams that have to be overcome in order to build their relationship. But they slowly overcome these differences at a party where they accidentally run into each other, and this is when their love story starts. More precisely, it is the musical number ‘A Lovely Night’ which causes Mia and Sebastian to set aside their differences. In the beginning of the song they emphasise that: “And there's not a spark in sight. What a waste of a lovely night” (A Lovely Night, La La Land). While at the end they are dancing synchronously like

32 they have done this a million times before. Summer subsequently highlights the best time of their relationship, in which they encourage each other in pursuing their dreams. However, in this summer segment of the film there are already some signs foreshadowing their eventual break-up. This break-up takes place in the fall, which also signifies the fall of their relationship and in which an altercation causes them to disconnect for the first time. The importance and cruciality of this fight for the overall narrative will be discussed in more detail within paragraph 3.2. Thus, these different seasons indicate that Mia and Sebastian’s relationship changes accordingly and also demonstrates that the structure and plot essentially grow out of the characters. So, it turns out that the (male-female) duality, in wanting to pursue their own individual dreams without competing with each other, can be regarded as the main ideology that is created without the complete support of the ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’.

The last section of this part of the analysis will be dedicated to the unconventional ending of La La Land (2016), because this is the most telling and remarkable way in which the film deviates from the traditional Hollywood musical film genre. More precisely, the film does this by entirely disregarding the classical and predictable creation of an ending. One of the most important characteristics of the ‘dual-focus narrative’ is the fact that the two initially opposed protagonists end up together. This is not what happens at the end of La La Land (2016), because Mia lands a big role in a film and Sebastian does not want to stand in the way of her success, so eventually they decide to break up. Their duality in this film consists of multiple and multidimensional layers as mentioned above, all essentially building up towards the ending of the film. It can even be stated that the whole film would have had a different theme and ideology if the ending was different or completely omitted. The ending begins with another title card stating: ‘Winter, Five years later’. It starts with Mia, who made her dream come true and is now a famous actress, getting coffee at the same place she used to work as a barista. She gets home to her husband and daughter and they decide to go out for a night, not knowing that they would end up at Sebastian’s own jazz club. Consequently Sebastian is shown walking towards his club, indicating that he also fulfilled his dream. During this scene he walks past the same poster Mia had in her bedroom in the beginning of the film. This can be regarded as a metaphor for the fact that the next scenes will loop time back on itself. As soon as Mia and her husband sit down in Sebastian’s jazz club, Sebastian gives a little speech and notices Mia sitting in front of him. He then starts playing their song, which has been used frequently in the film to symbolise their love story. Subsequently, an immersing final eight-minute fantasy sequence is depicted in which a traditional Hollywood musical film version of how the film would have played out, if it would have incorporated all the traditional conventions and stuck completely to the genre formula,

33 is shown. An alternate narrative is being told in which Mia and Sebastian have an uncomplicated relationship and have a child together. Furthermore, Mia fulfilled her dream of becoming a famous actress and Sebastian kept supporting her by putting his dream aside, so that they eventually could ‘live happily ever after’. The utopian settings depicted within this scene will be discussed in more detail within the next chapter. In the last scene of this fantasy sequence Mia and Sebastian arrive at the same jazz club, but then the song ends and it is revealed that this was only Mia’s fantasy of an alternative ending of the narrative. Back in reality, Mia and her husband leave the club and Mia and Sebastian look at each other for one last time hinting that they are proud of each other despite the sadness they are feeling, they fulfilled their dreams but lost each other in the process. It could be seen as a pessimistic postmodern ending to an optimistic film, whereby the film reverses how in traditional Hollywood musical films the romance plot and professional plot merge together. Essentially, this analysis reveals that the two protagonists can be seen as embodying a traditional and postmodern aspect of the film. Namely, Mia embodies the postmodern aspect of the film, while Sebastian reflects the traditional aspect. As a matter of fact, Mia reflects the thought of not completely believing in the possibility of fulfilling her utopian imagination. However, in the end Mia is the one who fulfilled her dream completely by being an actress and having a family life, but cannot help herself to imagine how their lives would have turned out if they would have stuck to the traditional conventions. On the other hand, Sebastian could be seen as mirroring traditionalism, because he is convinced that there is a substantial possibility of fulfilling his utopian desires and holds on tight to this belief. He is a fundamental traditionalist whose dream is to open his own jazz club and to preserve jazz’s purity. It can be noted that these embodiments are essentially a form of performing reflexivity and will therefore also be discussed within the paragraph 4.2. So, in the end the film could mostly be recognized as being postmodern instead of being traditionalist, as the traditional conventions are used as an opportunity to transform the narrative into a postmodern tale. As has been noted in the above theoretical framework paragraph, the ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’ could be regarded as one of the foundational aspects of constructing a traditional Hollywood musical film. That said, this analysis shows that La La Land (2016) does not completely meet this expectation. The ways in which the film plays with the duality of its characters shows that it took the ‘dual-focus’ approach as a starting point to portray and convey a credible musical film. Subsequently it deviates from this course, and thereby gives a more postmodern twist to (male-female) duality and its conventional outcome. This is done through the deliberate rejection a conventional happy ending, and instead shocking its audience with an upsetting and untypical ending. Through this, the film places itself in postmodern realm rather than submersing itself into the traditional Hollywood musical film territory. The position of the utopian settings and the protagonist’s ‘Hollywood dreams’ in

34 regard to the traditional Hollywood musical film genre and the phenomenon of postmodernism, will be discussed in the next chapter.

Chapter 3: Utopianism and The American Dream

3.1 Utopianism and The American Dream

“While we often simply fantasize, at times we reason about our dreams, and sometimes we even act on them. Still, at its base utopianism is social dreaming, and includes elements of fantasy, most commonly early in the history of utopianism, but they never entirely disappear probably because a degree of fantasy is necessary to human psychic health.” (Sargent 4)

As stated in the first chapter, ‘utopianism’ is a multidimensional concept which is highly relevant for analysing the inherent generic structure of Hollywood musical films, because ‘utopianism’ is a particular ideology musical films wish to integrate and propagate. More precisely, Fredric Jameson considered the phenomenon of ‘utopia’ to have an inherent ideological reading:

“Works of mass culture cannot be ideological without at one and the same time being implicitly or explicitly utopian as well: they cannot manipulate unless they offer some genuine shred of content as a fantasy bribe to the public about to be so manipulated.” (Jameson 142)

It is worth recalling the definition of musical films, already mentioned in the first chapter, given by Rubin: “a musical is a ﬁlm containing a signiﬁcant proportion of musical numbers that are impossible—i.e., persistently contradictory in relation to the realistic discourse of the narrative” (Rubin 57). This statement clearly touches upon the ‘impossible’ and ‘unrealistic’ character of the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’. Gregory Claeys and Lyman Tower Sargent argue in their book ‘The Utopia Reader’ (2017) that the word ‘utopia’ was originally created by social philosopher Thomas More as a literary form and is derived from the Greek words ‘ou’ and ‘topos’, literally meaning ‘no place’. According to the authors the term ‘utopia’ thus refers to a non-existent society which is located in a particular time and space. Furthermore, the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’ is subsequently designated as an imaginative projection of a dramatically different life (Claeys and Sargent 1). Similarly, Sargent describes the general phenomenon of ‘utopianism’ in her article as follows:

“[...] social dreaming - the dreams and nightmares that concern the ways in which groups of people arrange their lives and which usually envision a radically different society than the one in which the dreamers live. But not all are radical, for some people at any time dream of something basically familiar.” (Sargent 3)

However, Claeys and Sargent stress the fact the notion of ‘utopia’ must not be confused with and reduced to solely being a literary tradition, a theological form, a feeling, a principle or a

36 state of mind. Most importantly, it must also not be regarded as a synonym for progress or making a society better in general (Claeys and Sargent 2). From these different understandings it becomes clear that a lot has been written about the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’ within (literary texts) throughout history, too much to extensively discuss in this particular paragraph. However, Sargent gives a clear and useful overview of the different forms of ‘utopianism’ that can be expressed within texts (see figure 9). For the analysis of La La Land (2016) it is of most interest to elaborate more on the utopian form called ‘critical utopianism’. The first theorist to coin the term ‘critical utopia’ was Tom Moylan in his book ‘Demand the impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination’ (1986) by stating: “A central concern in the critical utopia is the awareness of the limitations of the utopian tradition, so that these texts reject utopia as a blueprint while preserving it as a dream” (Moylan 10). He notes that texts including this phenomenon of ‘critical utopianism’ relied on the conflict and tension between the original and utopian world, that is to say that the ‘critical utopia’ itself is aware of its obvious limitations (Moylan 10). Thereby, Sargent argues that contemporary scholars, thus around the 1990’s, are perceiving the implementation of the phenomenon of ‘critical utopianism’ in texts as critically reflecting on its own genre (Sargent 8). So, it can be noted that the utopian genre since then has become more self-aware by starting to reflect on its own forms.

Figure 9. Lyman Tower Sargent’s definitions of different utopian forms (1994).

It is important to emphasise the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’ within the field of entertainment and specifically in regard to Hollywood musical films. To start off, according to Moylan the second half of the twentieth century was characterised by a strong revival of the utopian impulse (Moylan 15). So, the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood musical films was a particularly good time for the incorporation of ‘utopianism’, because during this post-war period a strong believe in society’s and technology’s ability to produce a better world was ruling. Thereby, Peter Fitting writes in his text about ‘utopian films’ that this period was: “[..] not only characterised by a certain utopian optimism, but by a distinctive style which summed up the gleaming promise of the future for decades to come” (Fitting 2). However, according to Dyer there is an important difference between (literary) texts conveying ‘utopianism’, as discussed above, and films portraying the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’:

“Entertainment does not, however, present models of utopian worlds, as in the classic utopias of Thomas More [...]. Rather the utopianism is contained in the feelings it embodies. It presents, head-on as it were, what utopia would feel like rather than how it would be organized. It thus works at the level of sensibility, by which I mean an affective code that is characteristic of, and largely speciﬁc to, a given mode of cultural production.” (Dyer 3)

Besides, Dyer notes that there are two taken-for-granted notions of entertainment in general, namely their ‘escapist’ nature and the fact that they often encourage ‘wish fulfilment’. However, these are exactly the notions pointing to the active involvement of various entertainment forms in conveying the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’, whereby they try to offer us images of a ‘better world’ or our inner desires (Dyer 3). They provide us with: “Alternatives, hopes, wishes—these are the stuff of utopia, the sense that things could be better, that something other than what is can be imagined and maybe realized” (Dyer 3). In his book ‘Hollywood Genres’ (1981) Schatz notes that in essence all Hollywood films contain utopian elements to a certain degree, by for example showing so called ‘utopian or idealistic resolutions’ for realistic problems (Schatz 188). Furthermore, when focussing specifically on the Hollywood musical film genre, it becomes evident that the narratives of these films also often strongly portray the reality-utopia paradox:

“The musical's gradual narrative progression toward a successful show and the principal performers' embrace project a utopian resolution, but this resolution is anticipated whenever the performers break into song and dance.” (Schatz 188)

However, Dyer notes that the communication of ‘utopianism’ only becomes successful when the presented utopian visions are derived from existing and real imaginative projections of the audience. In that way the audience of a musical film can perceive the portrayal of

‘utopianism’ as more accurate and realistic. By incorporating the notion of ‘utopianism’ in a musical film the emphasis will be on the discrepancy between ‘what is’ and ‘what could be’. To camouflage this obvious discrepancy, musicals: ‘[...] work through these contradictions at all levels in such a way as to ‘manage’ them, to make them seem to disappear” (Dyer 9). For the sake of the explicating the generic construction of musical films, it is also important to come back to the distinction made between the two stylistic logics of Hollywood musical films, namely the ‘integrated musical’ and the ‘aggregated musical’. Particularly because Fitting draws attention to the fact that the ‘integrated musical’ can be seen as more of a ‘utopian film’, whereby the utopian musical numbers are changing and progressing the plot (Fitting 9). Similarly, Schatz notes that the ‘integrated musical’ can also get the most out of its potential ‘utopianism’, by means of directly connecting the dances and lyrics of the musical numbers with a utopian motif to the real conflicts within the narrative. Musical films containing a fair amount of ‘utopianism’, by stressing the tension between reality and illusion, are worked out on two different levels of action. Namely, by characters bursting into musical numbers to transcend their interpersonal problems while expressing their true feelings and secondly by the narrative itself that solves interpersonal struggles by performing musical numbers (Schatz 188). Schatz sums up the above arguments by stating that:

“[...] the musical genre's basic oppositions derive from a narrative distinction between the dramatic story, in which static, one-dimensional characters act out familiar social conflicts and are oblivious to the camera/audience, and the musical production numbers, in which those same characters acknowledge their status as dynamic entertainers and perform directly to the camera/audience.” (Schatz 189)

A popular phenomenon related to ‘utopianism’ is the ‘American Dream’, the narrative on which America is build, the national American ethos and a set of beliefs which states that dreams, ambitions and aspirations are achieved through risk-taking, sacrifice and hard work rather than by luck or chance. It is justifiable and useful for the upcoming analysis to argue that the ’American Dream’ could and will be addressed as a particular form of ‘utopianism’. The traditional and most commonly used definition of the ‘American Dream’ can be attributed to historian James Truslow Adams. In his book ‘Epic of America’ (1931) he described and thereby popularized the phenomenon as follows: “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement” (Adams 404). However, Nicholas Deskos argues in his text that this particular characterisation changed during the post-war period in America. While referring to the original notion of Adams, he states that Adams indirectly claims that social class is irrelevant and that every American could achieve material comfort and personal happiness. But, Deskos remarks that this premise was no longer holding up after the 1940’s:

“[...] in post-war America the American Dream was redefined as a life of personal happiness and material comfort as sought by individuals. [...] As a result, the American Dream is no longer the measure of the quality of one’s individual character but more the measure of the value of the material goods that one has accumulated.” (Deskos 5)

Moreover, Deskos points to the fact that the concept of the ‘American Dream’ could still be regarded as relevant nowadays, especially because it is part of (American) popular culture and portrayed within for example television series and films (Deskos 3). Similarly, J. Emmett Winn states that: “The American Dream is entrenched in American popular culture” (Winn 1). In regard to American popular culture, K. Edington goes a long way in demonstrating why the American film industry became associated with the notion of the ‘American Dream’ in the first place. He states that the establishment of the Hollywood film industry occurred simultaneously with the dream of westward expansion in America (Edington 63). The Hollywood film industry subsequently became dominated by the idea of the pursuit of dreams, which could be clearly recognized when looking at the films from the 1920’s (and onward) and the actors starring in these films:

“The stars themselves were often ordinary Americans whose success was attributed to their natural virtue and effort simply magnified by the magic of the camera: anyone could be a star. The films, in turn, often celebrated the success of the ordinary individual rewarded for his (usually) or her persistence, determination, and innate goodness.” (Edington 64)

More importantly, Ken Hillis notes that: “The success of classical Hollywood narrative cinema relies on audience identification with an on-screen character or characters” (Hillis 3). At this specific time Americans were obsessed with the idea of the ‘American Dream’ and this cherished belief was even becoming rooted in American society. Much of the films from the 1920’ (and onward) explicitly communicate this prevailing ideal, so that watching these films in turn encouraged and strengthened the receptive audience’s believe in the ‘American Dream’. Lastly, it is relevant to address the book ‘The American Dream and Contemporary Hollywood Cinema’ (2007) by Winn, wherein he touches upon the fundamental aspects of the incorporation of the notion of the ‘American Dream’ in contemporary Hollywood films. More precisely, he differentiates between three possible themes concerning the communication of the ‘American Dream’ in these films, namely, ‘moralizing mobility’, ‘moralizing failure’ and ‘moralizing the material’. The first one, which he also calls the ‘rags- to-riches success story’ focuses its narrative around a moral working-class protagonist trying to realize the ‘American Dream’. Additionally, these characters are able to accomplish

40 success by determination, hard work and their inspiring motives (Winn 12). The second theme, ‘moralizing failure’ is the rational opposite of the former and could be described as working-class characters coping with failure without ever questioning the promise of the ‘American Dream’. Furthermore, the characters learn and grow from their failures by aiming to high and start to appreciate their working-class values again (Winn 12). Winn introduces the third and final theme as ‘moralizing the material’, which encompasses ‘emotionally and/or physically distressed upper-class characters’ forming a relationship with lower-class characters. This relationship can be regarded as reciprocal, in a way that:

“Circumstances bring them into a close cross-class relationship with a struggling working-class or poor person, who redeems the upper-class character by showing him or her the way back to living a full and happy life. However, all the members of the cross-class relationship benefit, as it becomes a symbolic microcosm of the myth of a classless America.” (Emmett Winn 13)

The above delineated themes thus show the inevitable tension between the ‘material’ (individualism) and the moral (brotherhood) when portraying the notion of the ‘American Dream’ within contemporary Hollywood films. In a like manner Glenn D. Smith Jr argues in his text that this tension can only be resolved through the illustration of the classical Hollywood love story, whereby the heterosexual relationship and the happy ending of the film are crucial:

“[...] only through the devotion and example of a romantic partner, one who fully understands and has incorporated the material and moral ideologies of the American Dream, does the protagonist eventually take responsibility for his actions and experience continued happiness and success.” (Smith Jr 224)

3.2 Utopianism and The American Dream in La La Land (2016)

In the most general sense, the film La La Land (2016) as a whole can be seen as immersing itself into a surface level utopia, because it for example does not show any poverty, crime, industrialism, homelessness, or racism. Moreover, both Mia and Sebastian can afford a decent home in Los Angeles, even when their jobs are not well-paid. But this is obviously a common phenomenon of Hollywood films in general, because films are supposed to immerse its audience into another and often non-existent reality. Moreover, when diving deeper into the meanings of the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’ in La La Land (2016), it could be noted that ‘utopianism’ serves different and complex functions for the narrative as well as for the postmodern ideology the film conveys. More precisely, it can be said that La La Land (2016) consciously builds a tension between the utopian spirit of the film and the postmodern sense of the ordinary world, in which the possibility of a realizing a utopian imagination is highly questioned. This can for example been seen when looking at the transitions between the musical numbers into the general narrative. Furthermore, the film can be identified as an ‘integrated musical’, as already mentioned in paragraph 1.3, which also means that it has a greater possibility of conveying the phenomenon of ‘utopianism’, as stated by Fitting and Schatz. This means that the musical numbers and the plot have a direct and reciprocal relationship, by which the lyrics of these numbers often contain explicit references to the plot. These musical numbers performed by Mia and Sebastian are crucial for depicting utopian settings and spheres. But most of all, these numbers are important for giving their dreams expression, form and substance. For example, the musical number ‘City of Stars’ Sebastian performs after he and Mia shared their passions, aspirations and goals at his favourite jazz club, after which he sings: “City of stars. There's so much that I can't see. Who knows? Is this the start of something wonderful and new? Or one more dream that I cannot make true?” (City of Stars, La La Land). These sentences and the utopian looking settings cause him to becomes temporarily locked in a dream state, but he remains insecure about the possibility of fulfilling his dreams, namely the one of opening his own Jazz club as well as his new dream of sharing a life with Mia (see figure 10).

Figure 10. The utopian settings emphasize Sebastian being locked in a dream state.

These shots can be regarded as utopian because of the bright colours that are being used, the almost perfect sunset and the older loved up couple dancing with each other. Additionally, this musical number presents what a utopia for Sebastian would feel like and thereby indirectly compares it to his real life, where he knows that Mia still has a boyfriend. In fact, the whole film deliberately plays with this reality-utopia paradox, which could be identified as an inherent feature of the film. For example, the song ‘City of Stars’ ends with a straight cut to the next shot wherein an almost empty parking lot is shown, which marks a sharp contrast with the utopian scene that precede it. This is followed by another scene in which Mia has to audition in front of two casting directors who never look up from their phones and send her away after she delivers only one line, which causes her walk out angry and feeling humiliated. In this way, the portrait of a utopia is immediately disregarded in order to show that the harsh reality is nothing like what is pictured within the songs. In fact, La La Land (2016) uses this contrast as a returning phenomenon, whereby a disturbance or interruption of a piece of reality creates an abrupt ending to the musical numbers. For example at the end of the musical number ‘A Lovely Night’, already mentioned in paragraph 2.2, when Mia’s phone starts to ring and it turns out to be her boyfriend calling. This marks an immediate shift into reality, causing Mia and Sebastian to end their utopian imaginations and go home. Similarly, when the musical number ‘Someone in the Crowd’, already mentioned in paragraph 1.2, ends the film immediately cuts to a shot with a sign stating ‘tow away, not stopping’ when Mia finds out her car is gone. Another telling element in relation to this reality-utopia dichotomy, is the use of a spotlight during musical numbers as an aesthetic indicator for marking the transition into the ultimate utopian imaginations of Mia and Sebastian. These spotlights on the characters show to transition into a utopian space, whereby these are the moments when everything goes back to one pure idea, the purest sense of dreaming and being oneself (see figure 11).

Figure 11. The use of spotlights brings out Mia and Sebastian’s inner utopian desires.

This can for example be seen when Sebastian decides to play his own songs at his work and it can be noticed that he feels like he is the centre of attention for a moment. In this scene he can truly be himself and it is at this moment it is revealed that playing his own songs is his ultimate utopian dream. Subsequently, when the spotlight dissolves he instantly gets snapped out of his dream and returns to the harsh reality, where he immediately finds out he is getting fired. So, when the spotlight eventually fades away, it is almost like a spell being broken. Another scene which uses the spotlight is when Mia rushes into the bathroom during the musical number ‘Someone in the Crowd’, already mentioned in paragraph 1.2. Here the spotlight is being used to illustrate her inner feelings and her vulnerable side, but also to emphasize what she is singing to herself, namely: “Somewhere there's a place where I find who I'm gonna be. A somewhere that's just waiting to be found” (Someone in the Crowd, La La Land). This once again emphasises Mia’s embodiment of the postmodern aspect of the film, by hinting at the insecurity in regard to fulfilling her dream and not knowing what the future holds. The last scene that is important to note in regard to the use of the spotlight is Mia’s final audition that essentially will make her famous and successful. At this particular audition she sings to song ‘The Fools Who Dream’ about her aunt making her dreams come true in Paris. When Mia performs this song the film sucks the audience into her world by drifting away from reality for a moment and this is the first moment that reveals why she is so motivated and determined to fulfil her biggest dream. Furthermore, she acknowledges the vulnerability and uncertainties that comes with chasing your dreams when she sings: “Here's to the ones who dream. Foolish as they may seem. Here's to the hearts that ache. Here's to the mess we make” (The Fools Who Dream, La La Land). So, the scenes using the spotlight mark the purest and realest moments of the main characters, but they also convey their most utopian and unrealistic dreams. Essentially this also reflects the postmodern thought of not believing in the possibility of fulfilling a utopian desire, whereby the utopian spheres imagined are not able to survive into reality. Additionally, another indicator for the level of utopianism that is being conveyed throughout the film is the colour pallet. Thereby, the use of colour also indicates where the narrative will lead to in regard to Mia and Sebastian’s relationship and the dreams they have. To indicate Mia’s disbelief in the possibility of fulling her utopian dream, she gradually stops wearing colourful cloths. Whereas in the beginning she mostly wears blue, yellow and purple dresses, in the end she wears grey and black clothes (see figure 12). These bright colours worn in the beginning of the film are also a clear reference to the traditional Hollywood musical films, because they are often times used to convey the optimism and gleaming outlooks of utopian spheres.

Figure 12. The clothes Mia wears reflect respectively her belief and disbelief of fulfilling her utopian dream.

Similar to the clothes worn, the background colours of several scenes signal the inner feelings of the characters and sometimes even foreshadow what will happen later narratively. For example, the red light in Sebastian’s house when he and Mia talk about the fact that he does not want to work for someone else. The red lighting shows that from here it will go downhill with his relationship and his career when he decides to join someone else’s band to earn some money to be able to care for Mia and himself. Another scene in which the colouring of lights indicate their inner feelings, is when Mia and Sebastian perform the number ‘City of Stars’ together in a green lighted room, which signals the underlying jealousy and envy that is to come now that Sebastian’s band is becoming successful. Lastly, the whole club is filled with a blue light when Mia and Sebastian look at each other for the last time, symbolising the contentment, fulfilment and introspection they feel by both fulling their dreams and being proud of each other (see figure 13).

Figure 13. Background colours indicating and foreshadowing Mia and Sebastian’s inner feelings.

Considering the fact that the tension between the possibility and impossibility of realizing utopian dreams is central to La La Land (2016), as stated above, it can be stated that the film can essentially be seen as a ‘critical utopia’ by commenting on the limitations of its own created utopia. This phenomenon is also relevant when analysing the representation of ‘American Dream’ within the film. In fact, the ‘American Dream’ and its objectives are obviously still relevant in our current society. People are still taught and encouraged to work hard if they want the possibility of achieving certain goals in life. However, what this film shows brilliantly is that for these dreams to come true in our current society you have to give up other things, because dreams always come with a cost. In this way, La La Land (2016) is very different from the traditional Hollywood musical films, that are obsessed with creating a narrative that will lead to a perfect ending. More precisely, La La Land (2016) foregrounds the struggles and scepticism the protagonists experience while trying to fulfil their ‘American Dreams’, hereby the focus does not lie on the creation of and the working toward a conventional perfect Hollywood musical film ending. In the above paragraph the notion of the ‘American Dream’ is defined as being a commonly used phenomenon within musical films. Within La La Land (2016) this is also the case, but for this analysis and this particular film it is more convenient to start calling it the ‘Hollywood dream’. Namely, because the narrative is focused on the protagonists wanting to become successful artists within the heart of professional entertainment and glamour that is Los Angeles. As a matter of fact, it could be stated that the phrase ‘becoming famous, if you work hard for it and meet the right people’ is designated to be the ethos of Hollywood. However, in La La Land (2016) the ‘Hollywood dream’ of success is first presented as just a hollow fantasy, then presented to be achievable through hard work and determination, and then presented to come at a cost. Furthermore, the notion of the ‘American Dream’ is transformed into a more postmodern thought of the ‘Hollywood Dream’, which tells the audience that ‘utopianism’ is a belief that must be recognized to be almost always unattainable and unrealistic. It is important to note that the portrayal of a ‘critical utopia’ in La La Land (2016) can indeed be seen as postmodern and not purely as a specific form of an ‘anti-utopia’. A ‘critical utopia’ does have ‘anti-utopian’ characteristics, but this does not mean that the portrayal of an ‘anti-utopian world’ is automatically also a depiction of a ‘critical utopia’. The portrayal of a ‘anti-utopian world’ can therefore also not directly be seen as postmodern. Similarly, postmodernism can in some ways indeed be seen as ‘anti-utopian’, but not all forms of ‘anti- utopianism’ can be regarded as postmodern. So, the portrayal of a ‘critical utopia’ in La La Land (2016) can be seen as postmodern because it reflects the scepticism that comes with trying to fulfil utopian dreams, which is a fundamental characteristic of the use of ‘utopianism’ in postmodern films. It cannot be seen as ‘anti-utopian’ because it does not completely reject the possibility of fulfilling utopian dreams and is also not denying the very existence of a

46 utopian world. That these utopian dreams are often hollow and meaningless in the cliché dream factory that is Los Angeles is underscored by Sebastian when he talks to Mia about being fascinated by the film industry when walking around at the Warner Bros. lot: “That’s LA. They worship everything and they value nothing”. One of the most important scenes that shows the struggles that come along with trying to realize the protagonists ‘Hollywood Dreams’, is the fight that essentially causes Mia and Sebastian to break up. In this scene Sebastian surprises Mia by being able to come home in between touring with his band. At his particular moment, the house is completely lit green again, signalling the jealousy and envy that is finally going to be expressed. They have dinner together when Sebastian asks Mia to go on tour with him for a little while, indirectly putting his own career over Mia’s, who needs the time to work on her first solo play. At this particular moment their relationship changes immediately and they stop being supportive of each other’s dreams and careers. Subsequently, Mia asks if being in this band is his plan for the long haul, now that she believes he gave up his ultimate dream of opening his own club just to make money and have a steady job. She asks him if he likes the music that he has to play, to what he responds with: “I don’t know what it matters”. Essentially, he accuses her of wanting him to have a steady job and he convinces himself of the fact that: “This is the dream, this is the dream”. Finally, this fight ends with Sebastian telling Mia in anger: “Maybe you liked me more when I was a failure because it made you feel better about yourself”. To come back to paragraph 2.2, wherein the distinction was made between Sebastian symbolizing the film’s generic traditionalism and Mia symbolizing the film’s postmodern character. It can be recognized that Mia essentially already lives in a utopian looking world. In that she works at the Warner Bros. lot and her home looks like a typical traditional Hollywood musical film set with bright colours and film posters on the walls. While Sebastian’s world on the other hand seems monotonous and lifeless, in that his house is colourless and full of unpacked boxes. Thus, while Mia already lives in a utopian looking world, she does not really believe in the possibility of her utopian world actually fulfilling her dream. While Sebastian does not live in a utopian world yet, but strongly believes in the possibility hereof. He is convinced of the fact that it will all work out in the end, even when his life takes him on a small detour. The above statements, made during Mia and Sebastian’s fight wherein they voiced their different opinions, also emphasise the tension between traditionalism and postmodernism in La La Land (2016). Namely, Mia could be regarded as a hopeless dreamer, but is in the wrong when she accuses him of giving up his dream, while she herself does not belief in the real possibility of becoming a successful actress anymore. On the other hand, Sebastian feels the pressure to prove to Mia that he can have a steady job and make money to support her and himself, thereby he is even willing to give up his dream. In his way,

47 giving up his dream temporarily causes him to encourage Mia to do one more audition. Mia acknowledges she cannot take the rejection anymore: “Maybe I am not good enough. Maybe I am one of those people who always wanted to do it, but it is like a pipe dream for me. You said it yourself, you change your dreams and you grow up, maybe I am one of those people and I am not supposed to”. Consequently, all the above statements in a way connect to the fundamental theme of the film articulating the fact that postmodernism changes the traditional generic conventions of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre. So, to conclude this paragraph, it can be stated that only the utopian musical numbers are similar to the kind of utopian worlds portrayed within the traditional Hollywood musical films. In fact, utopianism in traditional Hollywood musical films mainly consists of a portrayal of a positive utopia, in which the dreams of the protagonists always come true. There is also no sharp distinction made between reality and utopian spheres, in this way the whole narrative can be seen as telling a utopian story instead of only letting the musical numbers portray a utopian world. However, what La La Land (2016) wants to achieve is making sure that these utopian spheres illustrated in the musical numbers do not survive and morph into reality. Thereby, the film could be recognized as conveying the idea of a ‘critical utopia’. Which in turn signals to postmodern aspect of the narrative, wherein the utopian imaginations expressed within the songs are not wholly believed to happen in reality. Lastly, the ending of the film depicting a lot of utopian spheres, already discussed from a narratological perspective, will be discussed in more depth within the next chapter because of its clear connection to the notion of self-reflexivity.

Chapter 4: Self-reflexivity and Metareference

4.1 Self-reflexivity and Metareference

“The world of the musical becomes a kind of ideal image of the medium itself.” (Elsaesser 13)

The notion of ‘self-reflexivity’ is a phenomenon which is almost always present within Hollywood musical films, sometimes very explicit or somewhat implicit, as already mentioned in chapter 1. For now it is important to briefly focus on the essence of the term ‘self- reflection’. Nanna Verhoeff points to the fact that the notion of ‘self-reflection’ can be regarded as doubly ambiguous. The central issue addressed here is the relationship between the words ‘self’ and ‘reflection’, which can essentially create four types of ‘self- reflection’: “the mirroring of the work, as in mise-en-abyme [...] or of the viewer, as in literal mirroring effects; reflection on the work, or reflection on the viewer, the act of viewing, and the effect of it – its performativity “ (Verhoeff 52). Robert Stam argues that, originating from psychology and philosophy, the term ‘self-reflexivity’ referred to the ability of the mind to take and see itself as an object (Stam 151). Thereby, he also touches specifically on the phenomenon of ‘filmic reflexivity’: “by which films foreground their own production, their authorship, their textual procedures, their intertextual influences, or their reception” (Stam 51). As a matter of fact, ‘self-reflexivity’ is an important element within the generic structure of the Hollywood musical film, because it essentially deconstructs the codes of the genre itself. Koresky even states in his text that the musical film genre is inherently self-referential: “The traditional musical can’t really make room for other forms; it’s both self-sustaining and self- destructive. It is alone in the dark, dancing with itself” (Korensky 45). Thereby, Cohan addresses the fact that the production and performance of (popular) entertainment within musical films is often been set as the central theme of the film (Cohan 17). The notions of ‘mise en abyme’, ‘self-reference’, ‘hetero-reference’ and ‘metareference’, which are closely related to ‘self-reflexivity’, all play an important role in constituting the (dual-focus) narrative of a Hollywood musical film. ‘Hetero-reference’ has to be seen as the opposite of ‘self-reference’ and could, according to Zitzelsberger be described as: “the mirroring of the industry and culture producing the ﬁlm” (Zitzelsberger 99). The notion of ‘mis en abyme’ has already been sufficiently covered in chapter 1, therefore this concept will not be discussed in much greater detail within this paragraph. A specific and special form of ‘self-reference’ and a way to express ‘self-reflexivity’ is called ‘metareference’, which Werner Wolf delineates as:

“[...] a special, transmedial form of usually non-accidental self-reference produced by signs of sign configurations which are (felt to be) located on a logically higher level, a

‘meta-level’, within an artefact or performance; this self-reference, which can extend from this artefact to the entire system of the media, forms or implies a statement about an object-level, namely (aspects of) the medium/system referred to.” (Wolf 31)

From this above statement the exact meaning and central point of the term ‘metareference’ is difficult to grasp. But Hanna Maria Huber clarifies this complex statement in a more understandable manner, namely she describes it as media viewing themselves ‘from the outside’ or from a so called ‘meta-level’ to subsequently refer to its own medium (Huber 6). However, it is then crucial that the audience understands these references and picks up the necessary referential cues. So, an interaction between the viewers and the film is essential: “[...] metareference is not merely a ‘message’ encoded in a given medium but requires a recipient who cognitively realizes it” (Wolf 25). The remainder of this paragraph will be specifically dedicated to implications of self- referential elements, whereby Jane Feuer’s text ‘The Self-reflexive Musical and the Myth of Entertainment’ (1995) could be regarded as the most interesting text for discussing ‘self- reflexivity’ within Hollywood musical films. She starts off by stating that musical films have: “evolved toward increasingly greater degrees of self-reflectivity” (Feuer 442). Furthermore, all entertainment is to a certain extend ‘mythified’, in a way that entertainment pretends to have a greater value than they actually have. Along similar lines, Feuer notes that all musical films are filled with deceptions and could therefore be seen as pure ideological products (Feuer 443). Thus:

“Art musicals are structurally similar to myths, seeking to mediate contradictions in the nature of popular entertainment. The myth of entertainment is constituted by an oscillation between demystification and remythicization. Musicals, like myths, exhibit a stratified structure” (Feuer 443).

Thereby, she differentiates between three forms of entertainment myths, namely the ‘myth of spontaneity’, the ‘myth of integration’ and the ‘myth of the audience’, whereby she points to the fact that musical films generally combine all three myths. The first form could be described as the attempt of self-reflexive musicals films to mask the fact that the seemingly spontaneous song and dance performances are in fact highly (technologically) calculated. So, the ‘myth of spontaneity’ functions to: “make musical performance, which is actually part of culture, appear to be part of nature” (Feuer 447). The ‘myth of integration’ is described by Feuer as the desire of self-reflexive musicals to overcome the segregation of groups and in this way unify the community and the audience. Musical films for example show this through changing characters’ isolation into integrating them into a group or society throughout the narrative of the film. Hereby, these films are: “promoting audience identification with the

50 collectively produced shows, the myth of integration seeks to give the audience a sense of participation in the creation of the film itself” (Feuer 449). Lastly, Feuer refers to the ‘myth of the audience’ as the construction of an apparent privileged relationship between the self- reflexive musical and its audience. In a similar way to the previous myth, this myth also tries to manipulate the feelings of its audience and give them the impression of the ability to participate in the performances. Musical films try to incorporate this direct musical-audience relationship by for example using theatrical audiences within the film itself to trigger identification. Or by positioning the camera at a front-row position, in a way that the audience is positioned as if they were present at the performance of that particular musical number (Feuer 450). Lastly, Feuer ends her text by noting that musical films go to great lengths in order to articulate the above myths and consequently their ‘self-reflexivity’:

“All ritual involves the celebration of shared values and beliefs; the ritual function of the musical is to reaffirm and articulate the place that entertainment occupies in its audience’s psychic lives. Self-reﬂective musicals are then able to celebrate myths created by the genre as a whole.” (Feuer 453)

4.2 Self-reflexivity and Metareference in La La Land (2016)

As already stated in paragraph 1.3, self-reflexivity can be regarded as a particularly tricky subject, because it can be argued that the Hollywood musical film genre is an inherently self- referential genre devoted and bound to specific motifs and mannerisms. Any new contemporary Hollywood musical film can almost only be seen as a palimpsest, due to the fact that it contains recognizable traces of the films that came before. In part this is also true for La La Land (2016) in a way that it is very aware of its own generic history and contains numerous intertextual references to older traditional Hollywood musical films, as already mentioned in paragraph 1.3 in relation to ‘generic pastiche’. However, what sets the film apart from purely being another self-reflexive Hollywood musical film within the demarcated genre, is that it is not only reflexive of its own genre but also comments on the actual current state of the genre in relation to the phenomenon of postmodernism. La La Land (2016) predominantly comments on the current state of the genre by emphasizing the inability of the traditional Hollywood musical film conventions to survive and keep their original meanings in a contemporary (postmodern) musical film. More precisely, different elements within La La Land (2016) reflect Los Angeles, the (musical) film industry, the characters’ self-awareness, the history of the genre and the current state of the genre. With this is mind, it is important to note that in essence all recognizable self-reflexive elements are merely self-referential or self-referential with a meta-dimension. First of all, La La Land (2016) can be seen as a highly self-reflexive meta-musical film, by being a musical about artists in the music business and a film about people in the film industry. The meta-aspect of La La Land (2016) is mostly articulated by foregrounding the process of the film’s own production. For example, the use of spotlights, already discussed in paragraph 3.2 in relation to the reality-utopia dichotomy, which indirectly reflects the production side of the (musical) film. It also once again shows that the protagonists are essentially living inside one big film scene as mentioned in paragraph 1.3. Another way in which the production of the film is reflected is when Mia and Sebastian are walking past and looking at a specific film set on the Warner Bros. lot. Remarkably this set will later be used as a real set in the utopian ending sequence, showing Mia and Sebastian dancing like they are part of a classical musical number. In this way, the film builds a framework wherein the characters themselves are witnessing the production of a scene coming up later. What can be remarked from this example is that the protagonists are to a certain extent aware of the fact that they are used as pawns in a game of self-reflexivity and metareference the film plays. But, at the same time they are also aware of their own position and ability to perform in the creation of a musical film.

Figure 14. Mia and Sebastian looking into the mirror to reflect on themselves and the characters they play.

In other words, the protagonists of the film are implicitly acknowledging the genre, by being conscious of the fact that they are in a musical. They are for example living in a world where they are aware of the existence of Rebel Without a Cause (1955). So, it be can assumed that they know the traditional Hollywood musical films they are referencing in their dancing, their surroundings, the way they dress and even the way they behave. When Sebastian and Mia talk to each other for the first time he finds out Mia aspires to be an actress and subsequently tells her: "guess I'll see you in the movies”. Hereby, he indirectly acknowledges them being aware of the fact that they are part of a film themselves. Another way in which the film shows the characters’ awareness is when they are looking at themselves in the mirror (see figure 14). In these scenes Mia and Sebastian are looking at themselves to have a moment of self- reflection, but they also indirectly look at the characters they are playing in this particular musical film. At the same time, the audience can recognize the soft-focus old Hollywood close-up style and the yellow lightbulbs typically seen backstage, again foregrounding the production side of (musical) films. So, the film plays with the fact that the protagonists partly acknowledge that they are in a musical film and uses this to bend the traditional conventions into a postmodern direction by almost overacting the reflective aspect within the film. As mentioned above, the film also, on a meta-level, reflects the film industry, Los Angeles as the centre of film culture and specifically Hollywood as the centre of producing traditional Hollywood musical films. Whereby, Los Angeles is the place where the imagery, values and motifs of old Hollywood are endlessly reproduced by new Hollywood films. The biggest reference to Los Angeles is obviously the title of the film, namely La La Land (2016), which refers to the abbreviation of the city Los Angeles as well as to the conventional singing of musical numbers in traditional Hollywood musical settings and Los Angeles surroundings. As already mentioned in paragraph 1.3, the opening number ‘Another Day of Sun’, shows the harsh reality and the inherent paradox of the Hollywood dream factory that is Los Angeles. Thus, in this way the imagery of Los Angeles being the ultimate idealised dream is immediately disregarded.

Figure 15. Post-card highlights of Los Angeles used wihtin La La Land (2016).

Accordingly, Mia and Sebastian are both struggling to live in a city where they are constantly reminded of its utopian pop-culture (film) history, especially due to the way in which the city is depicted. Furthermore, the representation of Los Angeles consists predominantly of ‘post card highlights’, which are the most iconic and utopian looking places of the city, for example the Rialto theatre, the Griffith Observatory, the Hermosa Beach Pier, The Lighthouse Café, Grand Central Market and the landmark Angels Flight (see figure 15). These are also the settings primarily used for utopian spheres depicted in the film. However, as already extensively discussed in the previous chapter, the reality-utopia dichotomy is central to the film’s ideology, whereby the two-sided depiction of Los Angeles is also contributing to this. So, aesthetically La La Land (2016) cannot be seen as an adequate reflection of the real Los Angeles, but more as a representation of the narrativized and glamorized Los Angeles as commonly used in films and popular culture. On the other hand, the film bends this imagery to its will in order to show a more realistic view of the struggles people face when living and trying to make a career in Los Angeles. Lastly, the most important reflexive perspective the film takes is commenting on the current state of its own genre by subverting the traditional generic conventions and by taking jazz as an implicit but telling metaphor. More precisely, the film mainly subverts the conventional ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’, the conventional depiction of ‘utopianism’ and the ‘American Dream’. The fact that the ‘dual-focus narrative strategy’ does not survive after one third of the film reflects the Hollywood musical film genre not surviving in its entirety within the contemporary film industry. Similarly, the eight-minute ending sequence is essentially one big reflection of the genre itself, in a way that it shows what the film would have looked like if it stuck to the conventions of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, as mentioned in paragraph 2.2. Moreover, this sequence also contains a short scene in which Mia and Sebastian watch their own home videos, they are literally looking at themselves living the ‘happily ever after life’. It can even be stated that this image is triply mediated, because the audience witnesses Mia’s fantasy sequence in which Mia and Sebastian look at footage shot of themselves in an alternate reality. Besides, La La Land

(2016) portrays a ‘critical utopia’ instead of conveying a complete utopian story without splices of reality and real world complications traditional Hollywood musical films are known for. In general, La La Land (2016) deliberately chooses to subvert these conventions to indirectly show that a film of this kind that conveys different meanings can still be regarded as a musical film, despite it taking a postmodern take on the fulfilment of dreams. Speaking of the film reflecting the current state of the genre, the notion of jazz can be seen as a remarkable metaphor for the development and transformation of the Hollywood musical film genre. This can be recognized when closely observing the conversation Mia and Sebastian have about his passion for jazz music when he shows Mia the famous Lighthouse Café. In this scene Mia confesses she strongly dislikes jazz music, to which Sebastian responds in a defensive but very passionate manner with: “It’s conflict it’s compromise, and it’s just new every time. And it’s dying, it’s dying on the vine. And the world says let it die, it had its time, well not on my watch”. What he says can be seen as highly self-reflexive, because with the first sentence he indirectly refers to the fact that each new Hollywood musical film has to find its own comprise between the past of the genre and its potential future. Thereby, Sebastian’s stubbornness and traditionalism reflect the films complex relationship with the past and the current state of the genre. In this way, it almost like the film is directly talking to itself and asking the question of: how could this film be revolutionary while at the same time preserving and respecting the past? The last two sentences of Sebastian’s quote, knowing Sebastian being a traditionalist himself, again refer to the fact that the musical genre is dying and therefore needs to be revived or at least transformed to preserve its existence. As a final point, it is interesting to come back to the wall painting Mia walks past in the beginning of the film, already briefly mentioned paragraph 2.2, in regard to its remarkable reflexive nature. This old and faded looking wall painting, painted on the exterior of the restaurant Sebastian works at, shows an audience in a cinema. When Mia walks past it, it almost seems like the audience in the painting is watching her. This can be seen as a metareference to La La Land (2016) being a film about a film, but it is also a visual cue for the film’s and Mia’s awareness of performing in this particular film. However, the wall painting can also refer to the actual audience that is watching La La Land (2016) in the cinema, whereby the film acknowledges its own awareness of being a musical film that generates a real audience. This essentially touches upon the overarching question that surrounds this entire overly self-reflexive musical film, namely: who is actually looking at whom? One reflexive aspect that should be highlighted once more in regard to reflexivity is Mia and Sebastian’s meaningful reflection of respectively postmodernism and traditionalism, which is already extensively discussed in all of the previous chapters. However, notable is that this is obviously also an indisputable reflexive element of La La Land (2016), if not the biggest one. So, what sets La La Land (2016) apart from just being another self-reflexive

Hollywood musical film within the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, is that it goes to great lengths trying to reflect on the current state of its own genre in order to express the prominence of its postmodern ideology over a traditionalist ideology.

Conclusion

The overarching purpose of this thesis was to examine the position of the contemporary Hollywood musical film La La Land (2016) in respect to the traditional Hollywood musical film genre. Therefore, the thesis statement that had to be proven, justified and substantiated was: The musical film La La Land (2016) is a self-reflexive postmodern subversion of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, especially in the way it articulates the ‘dual-focus narrative’, a ‘critical utopia’ and the ‘Hollywood Dream’. In essence, the multidimensional analysis that has been done demonstrates that La La Land (2016) can be regarded as a self- conscious postmodern musical film that revisits a lot of the traditional Hollywood musical film generic conventions and deliberately juxtaposes these classical conventions with postmodern conventions. More precisely, from a narrative as well as an aesthetic perspective La La Land (2016) tries to create a tension between the past and the present, between reality and utopian spheres, between a traditionalist ideology and postmodern ideology and most importantly between affirming and subverting the generic conventions. The beginning of La La Land (2016) is mostly dedicated to the conveyance of a credible integrated musical film and a credible traditional ‘dual-focus narrative’. However, after the first twenty minutes the film for the most part disregards this entirely strategy, to show that a musical film can also maintain its (male-female) duality without adhering to the conventional way of structuring a narrative. Moreover, the unconventional ending sequence also marks a dramatic rupture from the traditional and conventional way to end a Hollywood musical film, by disregarding a happy ending and failing to merge the romance plot and professional plot together. Ultimately, this is done to strengthen the main ideology of the film, namely that the fulfilment of dreams does come with difficulties and sacrifices. A phenomenon that strongly contributes to this postmodern ideology is the portrayal of a ‘critical utopia’. The ‘critical utopia’ portrayed in La La Land (2016) is characterised by the creation of a conscious tension between the utopian spirit and spheres of the film, mostly conveyed through the performance of the musical numbers, and the postmodern sense of the ordinary world in which the protagonists experience real life problems. Moreover, the central objective of conveying an imagery of a ‘critical utopia’ is illustrating the postmodern thought of not completely believing in the possibility of fulfilling utopian desires, whereby the utopian imaginations of the protagonists are not able to survive into reality. Important to note is that the portrayal of a ‘critical utopia’ can be seen as postmodern and not as purely a specific form of an ‘anti-utopia’, because it foregrounds the scepticism towards the fulfilment of utopian dreams but does not reject the possibility fulfilling these utopian dreams in its entirety. In regard to the inherent reflexive character of La La Land (2016), it can be said that

57 the film obviously draws heavily on its own Hollywood musical film history, by referring to numerous popular ‘Golden Age’ musical films. However, what separates the film from the traditional Hollywood musical film genre in terms of ‘self-reflexivity’ is that it extensively comments on the current state of its own genre. This becomes apparent from closely observing the way in which the film uses jazz music as an implicit but interesting metaphor to articulate the need for revival of the Hollywood musical film genre. Nevertheless, the most important reflexive element of the film is the protagonist’s embodiment of the tension between the traditional and postmodern aspects of the film. Hereby Mia reflects the postmodern aspects of the film by not completely believing in the possibility of fulfilling her utopian imagination. While Sebastian on the other hand is convinced that there is a substantial possibility of fulfilling his utopian desires and holds on tight to this belief throughout the whole film. In the end, none of these two perspectives wins from the other one, but this is exactly what the film tries to tell its audience. Because in essence La La Land (2016) itself reflects the impossible dream or the so called ‘pipe dream’, by attempting to make a film with a postmodern ideology within the traditional Hollywood musical film genre. It tells the audience a postmodern story set in a utopian looking old Hollywood with an unflinching look at real life, but conveying a postmodern ideology naturally comes with sacrificing a lot of traditional Hollywood musical film conventions. However, as with any research done, it is important to highlight any possible limitations to this research, which could consequently be addressed in further research. One obvious limitation is the fact that this research only focusses its analysis on one contemporary Hollywood musical film. So, in order to affirm and validate the findings of this research more research has to be done in regard to other contemporary Hollywood musical films. This will specifically be interesting, because in this way research is able to find out if the postmodern approach of La La Land (2016) is characteristic for all or at least more than one contemporary Hollywood musical film made in the last few years. This could well be the case when looking at the current situation wherein a lot of films aim to transform and revolutionize specific generic conventions and thereby try to explore the boundaries of the specific genre they operate in. Therefore, it would also be interesting to investigate if the subversion of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre conventions is connected to particular directors of contemporary musical films or if La La Land (2016) is an exception in the way in which director Damien Chazelle portrays and conveys his own ideas and ideals through the film. So, it can be concluded that La La Land (2016) has an obvious impulse for preserving the art form of the traditional Hollywood musical film genre, but at the same time is driven to revolutionise it in a postmodern direction. Maybe La La Land (2016) can even be regarded as the perfect combination of what made the old good and the new better. Coming back to

Michael Korensky stating that we are now living in a so called ‘perpetual post-musical-era’, the question arises whether we are in fact beyond the end of the rainbow? In a way La La Land (2016) indeed shows that the traditional Hollywood musical film genre can no longer completely survive in its originality within this contemporary postmodern film. However, La La Land (2016) is not mourning the genre’s demise and extinction, precisely for the reason that it wants to transform the traditional generic conventions in order to give them a new ideological meaning in the process. In fact, La La Land (2016) sets the example for other contemporary Hollywood musical films to come, in a way that it has found a balance between the past, present and eventually the future by still portraying the traditional aspects of ‘dancing and dreaming’ but also by ‘transforming’ these traditional conventions, like the title of this thesis already foreshadowed.

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