Self Reflexive Aspects of Singing in the Rain

Singin’ in the Rain (MGM, 1952) is an American musical comedy directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. The film comically emulates the transition from the production of silent movies to ‘talkies’ in Hollywood during the 1920s. The narrative follows a successful silent film star named Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and his glamorous blonde on screen partner Lina Lamont as they attempt to adapt The Duelling Cavalier a silent film, into a talking film. However, the shrill sound of Lamont’s voice cast serious doubt of the potential success of the film. Lockwood’s musically talented sidekick Cosmo Brown (Donald O’conner) suggests that the film be turned into a musical, and recommends Lockwood’s love interest Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds) perform the musical numbers to be dubbed in place of Lamont’s ungodly voice. Ultimately, their plan unites Lockwood and Seldon and leaves the audience with a text book happy ending. The text provides an autobiographical look at Hollywood itself and the introduction of recorded sounds during the 1920s. The text ultimately becomes the subject and calls attention to its own fictional condition. This essay will analyse the texts self-reflexivity with specific reference to genre and adaptation.
Self-reflexivity is a term used to describe a text which refers to its own making and composition. A self-reflexive text emulates its own generic make up and makes talking about or referring to itself the key focus of the unfolding narrative. Self-reflexivity has been used as a framework to analyse film genre and narrative, highlighting the conventions that make up textual and stylistic constructs (Altman 1999, p.102). Self-reflexive texts remind the audience that they are not watching ‘reality’ it is purely a reconstructed representation of reality. Arguably, Singin’ in the Rain is one of the most notable examples of self-reflexivity at work. The narrative of this text is based on the making of a Hollywood film and the trials and tribulations that go

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