How is Los Angeles integral to the themes or narrative of 'La La Land'?

 

(Chazelle, 2016)

The critically acclaimed ‘La La Land’ (2016), has won 6 Academy awards and depicts a contemporary musical featuring Ryan Gosling as a struggling jazzist, and Emma Stone as an aspiring actress who find each other in their struggle to stardom. Damien Chazelle “sweep us up into a dream of love that’s enhanced in an urgent present by the mythic power of Hollywood’s past” (Morgenstern, 2016, p.1). They have succeeded in doing this by setting the film in Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood, and famously a city that people chase their dreams to. La La Land pays homage to Hollywood’s history through references, intertextuality and landmarks. Setting the film in LA has many layers of meaning; with its nickname ‘City of Stars’ being the films recurring song, its extensive Hollywood musical history and the title ‘La La Land’ being able to be interpretated as a playful reference to the city. This city, Los Angeles, becomes a character itself within the film.

 

The golden age of Hollywood extended between the 1920’s and the 1960’s, where musical films peaked during that era, such as the musical ‘Oklahoma!’, until there was a decline in popularity until the 20^th century (Sheikhha, & Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari, 2014). America’s contribution to the development of musical theatre was with its unique Broadway theatre, which deeply influenced the European West End musical theatre, and released many of the integral pieces to theatre today, such as ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952) and ‘Swing Time’ (1936). ‘La La Land’s’ references to musical films places the film in a lineage that draws a connection from itself to the Hollywood musical’s Golden Age (Lewis, 2024, p.30). According to Lewis (2024, p. 33), there is an ‘intentional juxtaposition of the nostalgic homage with a contemporary pessimism’ that was generated through its intertextuality. From Gosling’s swing on a lamppost that mimicked ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ to the screening of ‘Rebel without Cause’ on their first date at the Riatto which is a popular and famous significant landmark in Hollywood, the film is packed with layers of references to perfectly invoke a feeling of nostalgia of the homage to Hollywood in contrast to the contemporary setting and story (Lewis, 2024, p.32).

 

(Chazelle, 2016)

Hollywood was founded in the 1800’s where it was home to the early film industry, and a brand of inspiration, integrity and inclusion was formed: with the Hollywood ‘sign’ being symbolic of the dreams and opportunities that can come true in the city and significant of those brand values (Ede, 2011, p.13). Despite, Hollywood’s traditional film industry being challenged in recent years due to the
arising digital era, Hollywood’s brand has always been present and is a place that built on aspirations and inspirations that let “Hollywood both foster and furnish our dreams” (Ede, 2011, p.12). ‘La La Land’ celebrates this heritage with the characters dreams, and how they explore them with the city’s landmarks, such as the Griffith Observatory. The Griffith Observatory is noticeably one of the most recognisable places in not just LA, but the world; although it is now closed off to tourists, is the perfect place to produce cosmic drama in television and film. The landmark could be metaphorical for the cities nickname ‘Los Angeles: The City of Stars’ and make it a literal meaning with Its location on Mount Hollywood that has a clear view of the Hollywood ‘sign’ allows for the perfect view of city and the best view of the stars (Leslie & Margolis, 2017). The film has reoccurring and significant song of the same name, ‘City of Stars’ that is a poetic metaphor for being on the cusp of great success or failure in Hollywood, whilst simultaneously mixing their personal lives with the celestial power of Hollywood (AI, 2024). When the protagonists are dancing in the auditorium to this song, their love and passion transcends the stars of the city, foreshadowing both of their great successes. The Hollywood ‘sign’ being in eyeline at this pivotal turn in their relationship could represent the balance between their careers and love that they failed to manage with each other (Lewis, 2024, p.31).

 

In comparison to the films ending, this blog will conclude with many examples of how Los Angeles is recognisable, just as they did when Sebastian and Mia are drawn into the ‘city of stars’ where they are confronted by a visage of their lives together with their success. The couple dance through a set stage of all the famous landmarks of Los Angeles: the Griffith Observatory, Walk of Fame stars, Hollywood ‘sign’, Rialto Theatre and Watts tower. This scene implies that Los Angeles is a character within their love by presenting its landmarks as significant points within their story; it is done through a musical theatre number as a final linkage to Hollywood’s heritage (Hunt, 2022). Alongside these attractions, the Warner Bros. Lot, the café, and Sunset Boulevard are mentioned which are all recognisable names and locations that non-theatre fans can engage with.

(Lana, 2015)

 

References

AI, S. (2024, January 16). City Of Stars - Unveiling the Luminous Quest for Dreams and Love. Song Meanings and Facts. https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/city-of-stars-unveiling-the-luminous-quest-for-dreams-and-love/

Chazelle, D. (Director). (2016). La La Land. Lionsgate.

Ede, L. (2011). The Hollywood film industry. In L. Geraghty (Ed.), Directory of world cinema. Vol. 5, American Hollywood (pp. 12-15). Intellect Books.

J. Naden, C. (2011). The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre. In Google Books (pp. 1–4). Scarecrow Press Inc. https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=adJ5J1kwj3wC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=hollywood%27s+musical+golden+age&ots=BY7fE1NxTg&sig=eCyHH7jYfyRzedCADVD_I9nHLoE#v=onepage&q&f=false

Lana, H. (2015). Review: “La La Land: The City of Stars.” Blogspot.com. https://elblogdehydrelana.blogspot.com/2017/04/critica-la-la-land.html

Leslie, S. W., & Margolis, E. A. (2017). Griffith observatory: Hollywood’s celestial theater. Early Popular Visual Culture, 15(2), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/17460654.2017.1318517

Lewis, H. (2024). La La Land. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197682616.001.0001

Morgenstern, J. (2016, December 8). “La La Land” Review: That’s Entertainment. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/la-la-land-review-thats-entertainment-1481209205?tesla=y

Sheikhha, S., & Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari, B. (2014). The Evolution of the Twenty-First Century Musical Film: Comparing Contemporary Hollywood Musicals to those of the Golden Age of Cinema. Avanca Cinema, 28-35. 

Student Blog Interaction

Student blog https://up2196358.weebly.com/ shows an extensive knowledge of the movie, but more specifically the representation of the indigenous people of Australia. Beginning with an introduction that clearly states their opinion and the argument of the blog, and finishing with a neat and concise conclusion, the blog consists of four points with clear responses to the set topic. The blog site is visually engaging with a structured homepage, and each individual blog has images to accompany the point they are making; one image has a caption to clearly demonstrate what happens in the end credits to the reader and pinpoint the exact moment they are discussing.

It is evident that the student has worked on improving their academic writing style and use of valid academic sources through the course of these blogs, which as resulted in a formal, clear and succinct writing style. The student has developed their own personal writing style, with a good flow of points that allows for an easy and engaging read; they have managed this with their diverse terminology and use of adverbs. Their sources mainly consist of academic arguments, and they have used quotes, such as “Tokenistic representations”, directly from these sources to support their argument. Their APA 7 referencing is done correctly, with their in-text references having the authors name, date and page number in brackets. This demonstrates that they have made it clear where they have received that information from. There grammar, punctuation and spelling are all appropriate for undergraduate studies.