At the beginning of the year 2010, movie critic Bob Mondello triumphantly declared “It's going to be another musical decade,” noting the way the previous ten years have prompted a movie musical “resurgence” paving the road for a bright music-filled future.
When looking at the history of musicals over the course of time, this does not always seem to be the case. In spite of the fact that the film musical was an audience favorite during its “Golden Age” era (1927 until the mid-1950s) and celebrating great successes such as 42nd Street (1933) or Singin’ in the Rain (1952), it seems to have deteriorated in quality and reputation. Since recent movie musicals apparently have hit a different, more successful, nerve with audiences, the question is why the genre now sees an uplift in box office numbers. Which elements of recent movie musicals keep audiences glued to the screen? How do they work in tapping into audiences’ emotions, prompting them to participate?
This thesis will be influenced by the methodology of reception study scholar Janet Staiger. Staiger’s 1992 Interpreting Film: Studies in the Historical Reception of American Cinema and Perverse Spectators (2000) reconsider the way audiences make sense of films. With her historical materialist approach taking into account all “traces” of audiences interacting with filmic material, she sets out to find an understanding of why certain films prove to be successful with audiences at certain times (Kemper). She investigates the “modes of address and exhibition,” “establishes the identities and interpretative strategies and tactics brought by spectators to the cinema” and acknowledges cultural groups such as fans who “produce their own conventionalized modes of reception” (23; emphasis in original).
It is the purpose of this thesis, then, to take up the approach of looking at the “contact zone” (Kemper) between films and audiences in order to investigate filmic addresses fostering audience engagement. In doing so, an assortment of recent film musicals that have achieved considerable box office success including Moulin Rouge!, Across the Universe, Hairspray, and Mamma Mia! will be analyzed with regard to particular addresses picked up by audiences, thereby creating the “event” of movie-going. The central question investigated here then asks: Which elements of a particular film are focused on by critical reports and how do these elements shape the movie-going experience, participation, and engagement of viewers?
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Film Musical and the Study of Film Audiences: A Theoretical Background
2.1. The Fluctuating Popularity of the Film Musical
2.2. From Spectators to Audiences
3. The Use of Pre-Existing Material
3.1. The Jukebox Musical
3.2. Showcasing the Songbooks of Mega Bands in Across the Universe and Mamma Mia!
3.3. Spotting the Song: The Anachronistic Use of Music in Moulin Rouge!
4. The Conscious Extravagance of Camp
4.1. The Camp Sensibility
4.2. Camp’s Spectacle and Tragedy in Moulin Rouge!
4.3. The Camp Journey towards Self-Affirmation in Hairspray
5. Nostalgic Remembrances and Reinventions of the Past
5.1. Nostalgia as a Form of Narrative in Film Musicals
5.2. “Grow Back Down Again!:” Personal and Collective Remembering in Mamma Mia!
5.3. Rewriting History in Hairspray
6. The Focus on Female Validation and Empowerment
6.1. Developments in Women’s Films
6.2. Revisiting ABBA’s Songs: The Power of Friendship and Independence in Mamma Mia!
6.3. Role Reversals and Power Shifts in Across the Universe
7. Conclusion
8. Works Cited
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This thesis investigates why contemporary film musicals have successfully engaged massive audiences, moving beyond the genre's earlier reputation as a niche or "mindless" category. By applying the reception study methodology of Janet Staiger, the research analyzes how films construct specific "modes of address"—such as pre-existing material, camp aesthetics, nostalgia, and female empowerment—to foster audience participation and emotional identification.
- The transition of the film musical from a niche genre to modern blockbusters.
- The role of "jukebox" soundtracks in triggering audience recognition and participation.
- The function of camp and irony as a deliberate mode of audience engagement.
- The use of nostalgia to create personal and collective meaning for viewers.
- The strategic re-gendering of musical numbers for female validation and empowerment.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1. The Jukebox Musical
The practice of using pre-existing songs by a popular artist or group and creating a unifying, “often frivolous,” plot only became quite common in musical film around 2001 and caused such films to be labelled “jukebox” or “catalog musicals” (Sternfeld and Wollmann 121). Although similar to the often produced biopics of the 1930s and 40s, which showcased the alleged life and song collection of show business personalities like George Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue (1945) (Cohan 11), an existing set of songs is here used for driving forward a fictional storyline. Broadway examples of jukebox musicals include We Will Rock You and Good Vibrations, which compile songs by Queen and The Beach Boys, respectively. In recent years, audiences have also been treated to screen versions of jukebox musicals with the likes of Moulin Rouge! (2001), Rock of Ages (2012), and also with the hit TV show Glee (2009-present). This type of musical is often accused of eschewing a “developed or complex narrative in favor of a simple plot or biography as the excuse to visit favorite songs,” so that one can safely identify the music as accounting for the main attraction posed to audiences (Taylor 150-1). Just like Janet Staiger, one would have to reject David Bordwell’s theory of “normative reception” theory when looking at a jukebox musical since his assumption of viewers who are first and foremost interested in “cognitive acts−especially the act of solving a problem” presented by the plot cannot be confirmed (Perverse Spectator 3). A clear orientation on profit maximization is also associated with this kind of musical as its commercial success is assumed on the basis of using familiar material (Sanjek 259). In this respect, it is often set up as a blockbuster whose characteristics, according to York, include a huge marketing potential through the use of popular actors, or in the jukebox musical’s case, solo singers or bands (8-9).
Chapter Summary
1. Introduction: Outlines the recent resurgence of the film musical and establishes the methodology centered on Janet Staiger’s reception studies.
2. The Film Musical and the Study of Film Audiences: A Theoretical Background: Explores the history of the musical and the transition from classical spectatorship theory to modern audience reception studies.
3. The Use of Pre-Existing Material: Analyzes how "jukebox" musicals like Across the Universe and Mamma Mia! utilize familiar songbooks to create audience engagement.
4. The Conscious Extravagance of Camp: Discusses the function of irony and camp aesthetics in Moulin Rouge! and Hairspray as a deliberate tool for audience address.
5. Nostalgic Remembrances and Reinventions of the Past: Examines how films invoke personal and collective nostalgia to foster deeper emotional connections with viewers.
6. The Focus on Female Validation and Empowerment: Investigates the "re-gendering" of songs and the shift toward female-centered narratives as a strategy for modern blockbuster success.
7. Conclusion: Synthesizes findings on how the use of the familiar, surprise, and identification work together to ensure the contemporary success of the genre.
Keywords
Film Musical, Reception Study, Janet Staiger, Audience Engagement, Jukebox Musical, Camp, Nostalgia, Female Empowerment, Re-gendering, Blockbuster, Performative Spectatorship, Cultural Identity, Intertextuality, Popular Music, Media Studies
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this thesis?
The work explores how contemporary film musicals have achieved a resurgence in popularity by analyzing the specific strategies they use to engage audiences, focusing on the intersection of the film's "address" and the viewer's "reception."
What are the primary thematic areas investigated?
The research examines the use of pre-existing music (jukebox musicals), the deliberate use of camp aesthetics, the deployment of nostalgia as a narrative device, and themes of female empowerment through song re-gendering.
What is the central research question?
The thesis asks which elements of contemporary musicals are emphasized by critical reports and how these elements actively shape the movie-going experience, viewer participation, and overall audience engagement.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The work utilizes a historical-materialist reception study approach, primarily based on the theories of Janet Staiger and Stacy Ellen Wolf, to analyze film reviews as "traces" of audience reception.
What content is covered in the main body?
The main chapters provide a theoretical foundation followed by detailed analyses of specific films—Across the Universe, Mamma Mia!, Moulin Rouge!, and Hairspray—categorized by their specific mode of address.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
The work is defined by terms such as Film Musical, Reception Study, Audience Engagement, Camp, Nostalgia, and Female Empowerment.
How does Moulin Rouge! use music compared to the other films?
Unlike the other films which focus on the oeuvre of a specific band, Moulin Rouge! employs a compilation of anachronistic music from diverse artists to create a "frenzy" of song that serves a narrative function through collage.
In what way does the thesis address the "re-gendering" of songs?
It analyzes how changing the gender of the original singer of familiar songs in Mamma Mia! and Across the Universe subverts traditional power hierarchies, allowing female characters to reclaim songs previously associated with submissive or desperate narratives.
- Quote paper
- Amelie Meyer (Author), 2014, The Musical as Event. Modes of Address in Contemporary Film Musicals, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/537850
