Sweeney Todd: 'Stereotype' Of The Genre
Sweeney Todd
Amy Crosse
ENG 225
Instructor Bryde
December 15, 2014
Genre theory is the “stereotype” of the genre. Meaning, what one expects from a specific genre. For instance, a horror film is expected to illicit fear in the audience, while a musical is expected to have minimal spoken dialogue, and a dramatic tragedy is expected to have conflicts and end in a tragic or sad manner. Genre conventions and attributes contribute to the fulfillment of the genre theory. The genre conventions or techniques of a horror film such as recurring plot points featuring multiple murders, keeps the film grounded in the genre of horror, and gives definition and depth to the film. While the genre attributes or specific details like the back story of the main character that lead to the villainy, refine and accentuate the genre. When genre conventions and attributes are balanced, it is possible to cohesively combine multiple genres that would not normally go together, like horror, musical, and dramatic tragedy. An excellent example of the balance of these three genres is Sweeney Todd (Burton, 2007). …show more content…
Sweeney Todd (2007) can be classified as dramatic tragedy, a horror, and a musical film.
Originating on Broadway, Sweeney Todd is one of the “most critically acclaimed musical[s] of the past half-century” (Teachout, 2008). Sweeney Todd fulfills the genre theory expectations, and delivers a cohesive balance between the genre attributes. Non-fantasy musicals are seen as a “risky curio rather than a box-office staple” (Teachout, 2008). While non-fantasy musicals are not as popular in film as they are on Broadway, Sweeney Todd perfectly marries the genres of horror and musical while adding a subtle dash of dramatic
tragedy. Sweeney Todd (2007), directed by Tim Burton, and written by John Logan, Hugh Wheeler, and Christopher Bond, opens with Todd and Anthony, a fellow sailor/traveler, aboard a ship bound for London. In this very first scene Todd and Anthony are conversing about London in song. Through this song we learn about Sweeney Todd’s past and that he is returning from prison, where he was wrongfully held. There was another man, Judge Turpin, that wanted Todd’s wife for his own and had Todd locked up wrongfully so he was out of the way and the judge could move in on Todd’s wife. When Todd returns to London he meets Mrs. Lovett, a pie shop owner, whom recognizes him from before he went to prison. She tells Todd about his wife being raped by the judge and taking poison to kill herself, and that the judge is the legal guardian now of Todd’s daughter Johanna. After hearing this news Todd starts to plot his revenge against the judge and all who wronged his wife. Meanwhile Anthony, Todd’s traveling mate, is walking through the streets of London and spots Johanna in a window. Through song he vows to steal her away from her obvious prison, and care for her. Todd visits the market place on his search for those he wishes to vanquish and comes across Pirelli a fake Italian barber, who later threatens to reveal Todd’s true identity. Todd kills Pirelli and his assistant Toby becomes Mrs. Lovett’s restaurant worker. Mrs. Lovett become Todd’s accomplice in the murders to follow by baking the meat from the dead bodies into pies and selling them in her shop. Todd builds a trap door in the floor of his shop to dispose of the bodies into the bake shop’s basement. Toby grows to love Mrs. Lovett like a mother and vows to protect her when he starts to suspect Todd of foul play. Eventually Todd has killed everyone he intended with the exception of the judge, whom slipped through his fingers when Anthony burst into his shop declaring his love for Johanna and his plan to steal her away while the judge is out (the judge is sitting in the barber’s chair). Todd finally kills the judge at the end of the movie after helping Anthony plan another, this time successful, rescue for Johanna. Just before Todd kills the judge he kills a beggar woman who has found her way into his shop. Todd then gets his opportunity to kill the judge and is successful.
Todd then ends up killing Mrs. Lovett by waltzing her into the fire of the bake house, when he discovers that she mislead him to believe that his wife was dead and the beggar woman he had killed was in-fact his wife. The film ends with Todd cradling his dead wife in his arms and his own throat being slit by Toby in retaliation of Mrs. Lovett’s death. The expectations of the tragic drama genre theory are that the main character or one of the main characters will have one or many instances of conflict that leads to building suspense and ends in a tragic or sad manner. For Sweeney Todd there is an external struggle with an opposing character (the judge) for the affections of a woman, namely Todd’s wife Lucy. This external struggle is met by a plot twist sending Todd far from his wife, only to return with an internal struggle of not being able to protect and defend her for many years and feeling as if he had lost her. The internal struggle is further deepened when Todd is lead to believe his wife has died from self-poisoning, thus bringing out anger and creating a “monster” which is the basis for the horror aspects of this film. At the end of the film Todd realizes that his wife did not die from the self-poisoning as he was lead to believe and that he has in-fact killed her himself. Todd then allows himself to be slain and dies cradling his dead wife in his arms. Because of the specific dramatic tragedy featured in this film the genre of horror is also integrated into the film. There are two basic types of horror according to David Ryan (2014), the creep-out such as Paranormal Activity (2009), and The Sixth Sense (1999), and then there is the gross-out such as Hostel (2005) and Sweeney Todd (2007). The “monster” created by the intense internal struggle and the dramatic external struggle previously mentioned, fulfills the expectation of a frightful villain that inflicts physical pain upon other characters in the story. The gore that is featured in this film fulfills the gross-out that is expected of slasher horror films with lots of spraying blood as each throat is cut and many bodies being dropped into the bake house’s basement, head first. In the film Todd, which is an alias, also makes the transition from loving husband Benjamin Barker to cold, heartless, blade wielding, serial killer Sweeney Todd. This aspect of the film “produce[s] fear or anxiety in the viewer” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) because it depicts the frailty of the human condition and eludes to the notion that anyone could become a serial killer. Consequently, because this film is based on a musical Broadway production it is part of the musical film genre as well. The expectations of the musical genre are that there is minimal spoken dialogue and that the in-song dialogue will move the plot and story forward (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). The many songs in this film do just that. Instead of the characters singing to the audience they sing to each other in a conversation that reveals more of the plot and drives the story forward (Teachout, 2008). For instance, when Mrs. Lovett and Todd first decide to cook the bodies into pies, they sing their conversation of what kinds of “meat” they could serve in the song titled “A Little Priest.” All in all Sweeney Todd beautifully combines the genres of dramatic tragedy, horror and musical by perfectly balancing the genre conventions and attributes. This film even expands the boundaries of horror by adding the cannibalistic aspect of the unsuspecting shop customers, and the idea that anyone could become the next serial killer, if the conditions are right. This musical film is both eerie and bloody, as well as suspenseful and tragic.
References
Burton, T. (Director). (2007), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros. & DreamWorks.
David Ryan, M. (2014). 'CREEP-OUT ' VERSUS 'GROSS-OUT '. Metro, (180), 30.
Teachout, T. (2008). The Hollywood Musical Done Right. Commentary, (2), 49.
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.
Amy Crosse
ENG 225
Instructor Bryde
December 15, 2014
Genre theory is the “stereotype” of the genre. Meaning, what one expects from a specific genre. For instance, a horror film is expected to illicit fear in the audience, while a musical is expected to have minimal spoken dialogue, and a dramatic tragedy is expected to have conflicts and end in a tragic or sad manner. Genre conventions and attributes contribute to the fulfillment of the genre theory. The genre conventions or techniques of a horror film such as recurring plot points featuring multiple murders, keeps the film grounded in the genre of horror, and gives definition and depth to the film. While the genre attributes or specific details like the back story of the main character that lead to the villainy, refine and accentuate the genre. When genre conventions and attributes are balanced, it is possible to cohesively combine multiple genres that would not normally go together, like horror, musical, and dramatic tragedy. An excellent example of the balance of these three genres is Sweeney Todd (Burton, 2007). …show more content…
Sweeney Todd (2007) can be classified as dramatic tragedy, a horror, and a musical film.
Originating on Broadway, Sweeney Todd is one of the “most critically acclaimed musical[s] of the past half-century” (Teachout, 2008). Sweeney Todd fulfills the genre theory expectations, and delivers a cohesive balance between the genre attributes. Non-fantasy musicals are seen as a “risky curio rather than a box-office staple” (Teachout, 2008). While non-fantasy musicals are not as popular in film as they are on Broadway, Sweeney Todd perfectly marries the genres of horror and musical while adding a subtle dash of dramatic
tragedy. Sweeney Todd (2007), directed by Tim Burton, and written by John Logan, Hugh Wheeler, and Christopher Bond, opens with Todd and Anthony, a fellow sailor/traveler, aboard a ship bound for London. In this very first scene Todd and Anthony are conversing about London in song. Through this song we learn about Sweeney Todd’s past and that he is returning from prison, where he was wrongfully held. There was another man, Judge Turpin, that wanted Todd’s wife for his own and had Todd locked up wrongfully so he was out of the way and the judge could move in on Todd’s wife. When Todd returns to London he meets Mrs. Lovett, a pie shop owner, whom recognizes him from before he went to prison. She tells Todd about his wife being raped by the judge and taking poison to kill herself, and that the judge is the legal guardian now of Todd’s daughter Johanna. After hearing this news Todd starts to plot his revenge against the judge and all who wronged his wife. Meanwhile Anthony, Todd’s traveling mate, is walking through the streets of London and spots Johanna in a window. Through song he vows to steal her away from her obvious prison, and care for her. Todd visits the market place on his search for those he wishes to vanquish and comes across Pirelli a fake Italian barber, who later threatens to reveal Todd’s true identity. Todd kills Pirelli and his assistant Toby becomes Mrs. Lovett’s restaurant worker. Mrs. Lovett become Todd’s accomplice in the murders to follow by baking the meat from the dead bodies into pies and selling them in her shop. Todd builds a trap door in the floor of his shop to dispose of the bodies into the bake shop’s basement. Toby grows to love Mrs. Lovett like a mother and vows to protect her when he starts to suspect Todd of foul play. Eventually Todd has killed everyone he intended with the exception of the judge, whom slipped through his fingers when Anthony burst into his shop declaring his love for Johanna and his plan to steal her away while the judge is out (the judge is sitting in the barber’s chair). Todd finally kills the judge at the end of the movie after helping Anthony plan another, this time successful, rescue for Johanna. Just before Todd kills the judge he kills a beggar woman who has found her way into his shop. Todd then gets his opportunity to kill the judge and is successful.
Todd then ends up killing Mrs. Lovett by waltzing her into the fire of the bake house, when he discovers that she mislead him to believe that his wife was dead and the beggar woman he had killed was in-fact his wife. The film ends with Todd cradling his dead wife in his arms and his own throat being slit by Toby in retaliation of Mrs. Lovett’s death. The expectations of the tragic drama genre theory are that the main character or one of the main characters will have one or many instances of conflict that leads to building suspense and ends in a tragic or sad manner. For Sweeney Todd there is an external struggle with an opposing character (the judge) for the affections of a woman, namely Todd’s wife Lucy. This external struggle is met by a plot twist sending Todd far from his wife, only to return with an internal struggle of not being able to protect and defend her for many years and feeling as if he had lost her. The internal struggle is further deepened when Todd is lead to believe his wife has died from self-poisoning, thus bringing out anger and creating a “monster” which is the basis for the horror aspects of this film. At the end of the film Todd realizes that his wife did not die from the self-poisoning as he was lead to believe and that he has in-fact killed her himself. Todd then allows himself to be slain and dies cradling his dead wife in his arms. Because of the specific dramatic tragedy featured in this film the genre of horror is also integrated into the film. There are two basic types of horror according to David Ryan (2014), the creep-out such as Paranormal Activity (2009), and The Sixth Sense (1999), and then there is the gross-out such as Hostel (2005) and Sweeney Todd (2007). The “monster” created by the intense internal struggle and the dramatic external struggle previously mentioned, fulfills the expectation of a frightful villain that inflicts physical pain upon other characters in the story. The gore that is featured in this film fulfills the gross-out that is expected of slasher horror films with lots of spraying blood as each throat is cut and many bodies being dropped into the bake house’s basement, head first. In the film Todd, which is an alias, also makes the transition from loving husband Benjamin Barker to cold, heartless, blade wielding, serial killer Sweeney Todd. This aspect of the film “produce[s] fear or anxiety in the viewer” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) because it depicts the frailty of the human condition and eludes to the notion that anyone could become a serial killer. Consequently, because this film is based on a musical Broadway production it is part of the musical film genre as well. The expectations of the musical genre are that there is minimal spoken dialogue and that the in-song dialogue will move the plot and story forward (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). The many songs in this film do just that. Instead of the characters singing to the audience they sing to each other in a conversation that reveals more of the plot and drives the story forward (Teachout, 2008). For instance, when Mrs. Lovett and Todd first decide to cook the bodies into pies, they sing their conversation of what kinds of “meat” they could serve in the song titled “A Little Priest.” All in all Sweeney Todd beautifully combines the genres of dramatic tragedy, horror and musical by perfectly balancing the genre conventions and attributes. This film even expands the boundaries of horror by adding the cannibalistic aspect of the unsuspecting shop customers, and the idea that anyone could become the next serial killer, if the conditions are right. This musical film is both eerie and bloody, as well as suspenseful and tragic.
References
Burton, T. (Director). (2007), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros. & DreamWorks.
David Ryan, M. (2014). 'CREEP-OUT ' VERSUS 'GROSS-OUT '. Metro, (180), 30.
Teachout, T. (2008). The Hollywood Musical Done Right. Commentary, (2), 49.
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.