I would like to research on the famously (or infamously?) lavish Metro Goldwyn-Mayer film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, but I'm not sure yet what my thesis or the narrowed focus of the paper will be. I have chosen an excellent primary source though, which is...
Singin' in the Rain (1959)
Directed by Stanley Donen
Main Claim/Thesis: I don't know what that would mean for this movie, but it probably means the movie's main message, or its main themes. Persistence. Not giving up on your dreams. Unselfishness. Loyalty to friends and love for your art over greed or want of fame. Love crossing over boundaries.
Evidence: Several scenes in the movie. The motives of the characters, and the contrasts between the protagonists(s) and antagonist(s). For example, concerning the last theme mentioned above, Don Lockwood is a major movie star who falls in love with an aspiring stage actress who is still a "common" chorus girl, Kathy Selden.
Purpose of Source: Entertainment, mostly.
Audience/Use of Source by Me: The intended audience was the public, mostly the American public, or more-specifically the typical, white all-American family. I am going to use this source to analyze its details, themes, techniques, choreography, musical characteristics, that are typical of an MGM musical of that time period, also discussing why I think it became so popular and such.
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1 comment:
i like how you describe the lavishness of these films... it is interesting to think about ornate productions, or things that seem over the top, if that mean about the lavishness. it is kind of like contemporary melodrama, maybe? so it might help to locate some experts on the genre in order to get a sense of the ways in which the films are interepreted and the debates that surround them. sounds good--
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