(no subject)

[green_queen]

So I have this assignment due in an hour and 15 movies and I was completely panicked about it because I could NOT get to sleep last night after having only written 800 of the 2500 words I needed and I had to be up at 9. I took the dog to get her haircut at 9, then came home, took a panadeine and went back to sleep for an hour and a half. I woke up feeling excellent and finished the assignment 10 minutes ago. I don't think it's half bad, either - I got to write my own question, so I'm writing about how modern musicals subvert gender norms. I have loads of other theories on how musicals fit into the modern film and television world, but my lecturer didn't agree with them, so I left them out. Still, I got to write about Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cabaret and Chicago.

Moral of this story: when stressed, take drugs and sleep it off.

Uh.

ETA: Let's play spot the awesome Spacey-awards winning directors who I've met, shall we? PJ AND JOSS OMG.

Green Queen

Comments

[flawed-karma.livejournal.com]

That is a paper I would love to read.

There are so many musicals that blur the lines. Don't forget the classic Victor/Victoria, the newer classic Avenue Q. You have Les Miserables which contributes, as does Annie Get Your Gun.

But the first musical that comes to mind when thinking about subverting gender roles would be La Cage aux Folles.

Cabaret too.

Never realized we had so much in common. *perused your LJ interests*

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

I wanted to include many, many more, but my teacher's always ranting at me about staying focussed and I only had 2500 words. Also it's a film essay, not a stage essay, which excludes Avenue Q.

[flawed-karma.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, film. Gotcha.

*grin* I hear musical, I think plays, Broadway. Come from being a New Yorker and a theatre gypsy, I suppose. Tromping from audition to audition, showing up for work in leotard, danc tights and tiny skirt..ahhh, the good old days. *grin*

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

There were other ideas I had, too. Does Velvet Goldmine count as a musical? What about Priscilla, Queen of the Desert? Why are musicals so much of a queer icon?

Alas, as I said, I had a word limit and a picky lecturer.

[flawed-karma.livejournal.com]

I would consider VG a musical, since music figures prominantly in the film, not to mention the way the music drives the story. If you follow that definition, then yep. It's a musical.

Prissy, on the other hand, I wouldn't think so.

Musicals seem to be gay icons simply because of the sheer numbers of gay men who work in the entertainment field. I would reasonably estimate that over half, probably closer to sixty percent of the men I worked with in theatre (amatuer, local, regional, professional) were gay.

There' s also, according to my gay male friends, a feeling of kinship with actors. Putting on a costume, another person's face and words and living for those 2-3 hours as someone else. It's something many of my friends have to do all day every day. They can't be themselves, they have to be what society/parents/work demands they be.

That's why A Chorus Line rang so true with every gay man I know. It all came down to the human condition. You can never truly be yourself, only what someone wants you to be if you want to survive.

And now I need coffee. This is way too [hilosophical for half six in the morning!

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

Priscilla has all the performative aspects of a musical except singing. Flashdance was in my musical class and it had all the aspects of a musical except the singing. Where does one draw the line?

But why are gay men particularly drawn to *this* kind of performance? There's got to be something in the overt performative style of the musical, the romance of it or something, that draws them in. For that matter, why is the musical such a beloved form among filmmakers when most ordinary people think it's cheesy these days? I mean, so many TV shows have a musical episode, and so many filmmakers are enamoured of musicals. It's like it's the ultimate form of film or something.

I don't wake up at half six in the morning. I'm a university student.

[flawed-karma.livejournal.com]

Drawing the line is subjective, which is why it's so hard to classify certain films.

For me, the draw to musicals is the way music is used to replace conversation, move a plot, provide exposition.

I don't know why my gay friends loves musicals, I'm not sure why they're rawn to them. However, the majorioty of my gay male friends had a cultured upbringing, were taught to appreciate music and fine films, they went to museums, took dance classes and the like. Maybe it appeals to them because of the love of it instilled in childhood.

Or, as Pete says, maybe it's just the fact a lot of hot gay guys are gyrating wildly, hot and sweaty, in make up, on stage.

For me, going to a theatre is like going home. I remember the thrill and the nerves, I remember the flop sweat, the stage fright, the nausea that lasted halfway through the first scene. And I remember the energy when the house was packed and lively.

As for getting up that early, I haven't been to bed yet! It's almost half eight and I've been up for about 24 hours now.

And in honor of your uni-ness, I give you my nasty Dean icon.

Also: Nyah. *grin*