Commentary: Escapism in musical films

http://www.helium.com/items/1421334-gene-kelly-utopia-esapism-movies-films-musicals-musical-films-richard-dyer-textual-analysis?page=2

"Therefore this is imaginary escapism, for the viewer as much as for the character. There are no real changes for either and escapist needs and their proper fulfilments are to a large extent created by a dominant system in which entertainment operates. Dyer touches on this fact at the start of his essay calling entertainment "a type of performance for profit performed before a generalized audience", he goes on to add that because it is professional entertainers who produce entertainment "it is also largely defined by them"."

"Dyer's relationship between Utopian sensibility and the inadequacies in society as presenting "an instance of the ways in which people may come to invest in their own unhappiness." This would make sense in terms of post-war musicals where most, if not all, of the audience members would be feeling great unhappiness and wishing for something better, living with memories but having hopes and dreams for the future."

"the stars are nicer than us, characters more straightforward than people we know, situations more soluble than those we encounter". Non-representational signs include colour, texture, camera angles, editing, movement and the musical score. These things do not represent anything concrete. They determine the attribution of meaning to a large extent. The non-representational signs actually create more fully the utopian effect as they involve the emotions."

"Indeed deep social needs were essential in the post-war era where musicals became set in exotic places, far from the stresses of New York. The comparison is even shown in parody form on screen in Brigadoon when Tommy (Kelly) returns from Brigadoon/Utopia to New York/Reality, after having experienced the wonder of the Scottish Highlands. His return home is to a place most audience members will recognise as a stereotypical view of New York. Full of noise, activity, plush restaurants, diamonds, furs, latest fashions, alcohol and smoke filled air."

"Entertainment offers the audience the idea of utopia where negative aspects of the real world are eradicated in favour of other sensibilities. He also suggests that specific inadequacies in society are compensated for by utopian sensibilities inherent in mainstream entertainment, which are abundance, energy, intensity, transparency and community. I will now discuss these five sensibilities and relate them to key numbers in the aforementioned musicals."

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