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I saw this story pop up in my timeline at LEAST six times today. I thought it was sweet. Love a good musical. I’m a showtunes guy from way back. Haven’t seen “La La Land” yet, but it sounds like Gosling and my forever baby Emma Stone did a bang up job with everything. Absolute home run from what I gather. Oscar gold.
I am firmly anti-cheesy engagement pics. Always have been. Always will be. Keep it simple. As a big showtunes fan and an even bigger Old Hollywood fan, these pics had me feeling differently at first. Points for creativity. Extra credit for making ol’ Bri smile and warm the dark recesses of my black heart.
SPOILER ALERT
So imagine my surprise when I realized that “La La Land” is – from what I can tell – really just some messed up story about shattered Hollywood dreams and complicated, young love that ultimately ends in an unfortunate breakup. Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) strut their way through Hollywood on their way to stardom, fortune and fame. But somehwere along the way, shit gets muffed up and the starcrossed lovers end up calling it all off, however moving on to achieve professional success. Not exactly the best couple brand you want to align yourself with.
Here’s the synopsis from Wikipedia:
“Five years later, Mia is a famous actress and happily married to another man (Tom Everett Scott), with whom she has a daughter. One night, the couple stumble upon a jazz bar. Noticing the Seb’s logo she had once designed, Mia realizes Sebastian has finally opened his club. Sebastian spots Mia in the crowd, visibly unsettled. He begins to play their love theme, prompting an extended dream sequence in which the two imagine what might have been had their relationship worked perfectly (“Epilogue”). The song ends and Mia leaves with her husband. Before departing, she shares one last look with Sebastian, and they both smile.”
Doesn’t exactly scream “til death do us part.”
This falls firmly in the “Great Gatsby” genre of “You probably should have thought this theme through a bit more.” The Gatsby era is one of American excess and delicious gluttony. The Gatsby story, on the other hand, is one of horrific tragedy and regret. Whenever someone invites me to a Gatsby themed party, I just sit around and wait for the part of the evening when someone gets run over by a car. Murder-suicide optional..
[via Refinery29]
Image via YouTube
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Brian McGannon
What do I love? I love happy hour, a good golf tan, and getting moderately drunk during dinner.
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You should see the Manchester by the Sea engagement pics.
Unless they are funny and satirical, what purpose do engagement pics even serve at this point?
Obviously for those sweet, sweet Instagram likes
Uhhh, you’d have to see the movie. It’s not as negative as you’re making it out to be, and I can see how some people would walk away despite the ending thinking it was romantic.
SPOILERS
They don’t break up because they don’t love each other anymore, they even say their always love each other, and it’s actually pretty amicable. He helps her out by getting her to an audition that launches her movie career but requires her to go to Paris to film, while he has to keep selling out as a musician and touring the US if he wants to pursue his own dream of owning a jazz club. They go their separate ways because that’s what people do, and when they meet up later they have a”what if” moment had they stayed together but ultimately they are happy for each other and the choices they made. So it’s more of a bitter sweet ending.
That’s the point of the movie if you really love someone you don’t hold them back from their dreams even when that would require you to let them go. She taught him he has to sacrifice sometime and even some of his creativity when he sold out to join the band because she saw it as a step towards achieving his dream. He taught her to not give up and its ok to be discouraged but you should never despair when faced with rejection or failure in her pursuits.
Or maybe some other deep shit i dk
I still they they could have made it work like a few years down the line once they reached some of their goals.
Yeah but how many of us have been in similar situations where we look back and think what if we did this, or what if we said that, surely we could’ve made the relationship work AND gotten that dream job, house, family, and everything else we ever wanted? We all have.
And that’s why people love this movie and it’s receiving so much praise. It’s not because it’s a throwback to golden Hollywood of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, it’s not the songs, and it’s not because it’s Hollywood’s patting themselves on the back. It’s because that final montage, that painful nostalgia of past relationships and all their promise, resonated with all of us.
That being said, I’m really pulling for Hell or High Water for best picture. Fucking love westerns.
I’m with Brian, I was definitely bummed out by that ending.
Ain’t no party like a Gatsby party, ’cause a Gatsby party don’t end until someone is facedown dead in the pool.
It’s all about the aesthetic. Duh.
I actually 100% agree with you and this the Gatsby thing is a personal pet peeve. Great book (and movie) though.
Your Blog Post Has Me Convinced That No One Actually Reads Articles Anymore, Brian. If you were to have read the Refinery29 Article, you’d see that the couple was instead reenacting Mia and Sebastians “what if” ending… as if they had indeed gotten their “happily ever after”. Clearly they paid attention to the movie, which is why it was made so clear in the article what their intention was… but you probably just looked at the pretty pictures and went off to the races. Making you a victim of what you attempted to accuse others of doing. Ahhh, the irony.