> I don't know the proper word for it. I meant
> the singing musical part in movies where the
> normal storyline (the narrative) suddenly
> grinds to a shuddering halt, and the "heartfelt
> digressive solo" takes over with complete
> vengeance, consuming the actors such that they
> look all starry-eyed and do things like jump up
> lightly on top of a picket fence and skip and
> jump along it. And then when it's ALL OVER,
> they go back to some semblance of normalcy.
> That's what I meant by breaking suspension of
> my disbelief; the transition is too abrupt on
> the silver screen.
>
> It's not that I hate all heartfelt solos. I
> like arias in live opera and Broadway shows;
> you EXPECT the actors to advance the story by
> singing and showing real sweat and tears
> throughout. And movie theme music in
> the /background/ is a great place to hear
> beautiful solos, like Celine Dion's emotional
> aria, "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic.
> Maybe I just can't handle seeing people who
> sometimes can't sing that terribly well, but
> who sing up close into the camera and its
> deathless celluloid eye. Grah.

I understand your thoughts and arguments, but I think a lot of the songs in Mary Poppins advance the storyline. Spoonful of Sugar does, for one, and so do the songs about the bird woman and the advertisement in the paper. I also think that the, er, goodness of the songs makes up for the fact that maybe some of them don't move the story along.

-eric "But yeah, if in reality someone were to suddenly start singing out of nowhere, even to advance the storyline, it would be very strange" sleator
Thu 26 Apr A.D. 2001