Gold Diggers Of 1933 Analysis
Gold Diggers of 1933 Evyn Espiritu
Unit 2 Response Paper Oct. 6, 2010
Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933)—a story about three strong showgirls who marry three rich gentlemen—emphasizes spectacle over realism, constructing a beautiful world of symmetry and dance. The film’s diegetic reality (showgirls during the Great Depression) mirrors its diegetic performance (a Broadway musical about the Great Depression)—neither of which reflects the actual conditions of the “real” Great Depression. Why? During the 1930s, Americans went to see filmic musicals to escape the harsh confines of their reality, to glimpse a world of fantastical opportunity. Therefore, the cinematic musical’s supra-diegetic music, extravagant sets, and geometric choreography—specifically within the number “Shadow Waltz” directed by Busby Berkeley—combine to create an “on-screen fantas[y],” enabling the viewer to “inhabit luxurious spaces well beyond his or her financial means” (Fischer, 120). However, these spaces of fantasy did not stretch to re-imagine conventional gender roles. Rather, the camera’s abstraction of female bodies ultimately emphasizes objectification and sexual regulation, even within …show more content…
Even the lyrics of Shadow Waltz stress the power of imagination: “Let me dream a song that I can bring to you . . . Let me linger long, let me live my song.” During the Great Depression, viewers wanted to leave their harsh realities and escape into the world of entertainment, if only for a while. However, escape is ultimately fleeting; as the shot of the flower creating ripples in the pond illustrates, illusion is always broken. Likewise, the concluding shot of the audience members and the lowering curtain reminds the viewer that the fantastical “reality” of “Shadow Waltz” is merely an illusion, a musical within a
Unit 2 Response Paper Oct. 6, 2010
Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933)—a story about three strong showgirls who marry three rich gentlemen—emphasizes spectacle over realism, constructing a beautiful world of symmetry and dance. The film’s diegetic reality (showgirls during the Great Depression) mirrors its diegetic performance (a Broadway musical about the Great Depression)—neither of which reflects the actual conditions of the “real” Great Depression. Why? During the 1930s, Americans went to see filmic musicals to escape the harsh confines of their reality, to glimpse a world of fantastical opportunity. Therefore, the cinematic musical’s supra-diegetic music, extravagant sets, and geometric choreography—specifically within the number “Shadow Waltz” directed by Busby Berkeley—combine to create an “on-screen fantas[y],” enabling the viewer to “inhabit luxurious spaces well beyond his or her financial means” (Fischer, 120). However, these spaces of fantasy did not stretch to re-imagine conventional gender roles. Rather, the camera’s abstraction of female bodies ultimately emphasizes objectification and sexual regulation, even within …show more content…
Even the lyrics of Shadow Waltz stress the power of imagination: “Let me dream a song that I can bring to you . . . Let me linger long, let me live my song.” During the Great Depression, viewers wanted to leave their harsh realities and escape into the world of entertainment, if only for a while. However, escape is ultimately fleeting; as the shot of the flower creating ripples in the pond illustrates, illusion is always broken. Likewise, the concluding shot of the audience members and the lowering curtain reminds the viewer that the fantastical “reality” of “Shadow Waltz” is merely an illusion, a musical within a