I chose to write on “Singin’ in the Rain”.   The scene I chose to write on takes place towards the end of the movie when Don is pitching the idea for his upcoming “talkie” movie.  I chose to write on this scene because I think that it is very unique and different than traditional Hollywood scenes.  The first thing I would like to talk about is how long the scene is.  The scene lasts for about 15 minutes.  What is unique about this length of this scene is that at first glance it has almost little effect on the development of the narrative.  The scene is simply placed in front of the audience purely for entertainment.  The scene features Don dancing, singing, and performing as he tries to make it big in New York.  Last Wednesday’s class (4/16) we discussed how rare it was for a scene to keep an audience entertained for so long without building on the narrative.  Many students agreed with this and thought that the scene didn’t contribute to the narrative arc of the film.

I disagreed with the majority of the students’ thoughts and thought that the scene played an extremely significant part in the development of the story in the film.  I think that the scene is Don’s self-reflection on his career in show business. I also think that this scene allows the audience to understand Don on a deeper level and see his opinion on the decisions he’s made throughout his life.   This scene shows the character development Don has made throughout the movie.  In Don’s idea for the movie he starts out signing “Gotta dance” and performs dancing moves for agents as he tries to make it into show business.  This scene mimics Don’s actual start in show business and he took up all and any stunt double jobs to further his career.  As Don’s movie idea continues he is seen at a big time party with lots of important people. This scene shows the perks of show business.  One of the main reasons Don wanted to be in movies, for the fame.   Don is later turned down by the dancing woman because he isn’t wealthy.  Giving him yet another reason to pursue fame and wealth.   As Don’s film idea progresses he ends up becoming famous and ends up still not getting the dancing woman.  Don’s film idea ends with him in a look of disappointment until another young character is shown dancing and singing the same line “Gotta dance” that Don was singing when the scene started.  The young man makes Don happy again and inspires him to keep dancing. I thought that this scene showed the audience what Don finally realized is important in his life.  That the fame he thought he wanted wasn’t important and the thing that really mattered was doing what he loved to do, dancing.  I really enjoyed watching this movie.  I thought it was refreshing to see a movie that was simply a fun watch and didn’t have a strict agenda they were trying to push.