La La Land: A Mix of Old and New

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of seeing La La Land in theaters (before the Golden Globes, too thank goodness) and I can honestly say I definitely enjoyed the film, for it's message, setup.  And especially for the nostalgia.

Last February, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Los Angeles for a science conference (I know, boring right?)  But the trip itself was eye-opening.  The conference was in downtown, which in itself was a lot of fun.  Los Angeles downtown is a mix of old and new, of delight and poverty.  I've never been in a big city before, so it was my first time experiencing that.  The last few days, my labmate and I stayed with a family member who works in the entertainment industry.  He showed us around to some of the other sites, like Venice Beach, fancy houses in Beverly Hills, the Getty Center.  Los Angeles feels like a dreamworld compared to the midwest and I enjoyed my time there.

That's what La La Land felt like.  It felt like a trip to LA.  It encompassed the old and new of LA in a way that made it enjoyable, I hope to older and newer film fans.

In case you haven't seen or heard about the movie, it follows the journey of two artists: Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz musician.  They meet in several unlikely moments, eventually inspiring each other to pursue their stretch dreams of writing plays and owning a jazz bar.  One of the most poignant moments in the film is Sebastian's admission that jazz is a dying music form in today's world.  Young people do not appreciate it and clubs are closing down left and right.  He ends up performing piano in a group headed by Keith (actually John Legend) who performs jazz that has been updated for a modern audience.

Oddly enough, the film itself is a take on how film musicals were once filmed and is given a modern spin.  Emma Stone plays canon Emma Stone character, full of wit and sarcasm while Ryan Gosling plays cool guy with a slight cynicism.  Even one musical number is interrupted by the ringtone of an iPhone.  Meanwhile, the song and dance feel very old-time with the only modern song really being the jazz groups modern jazz song.  The filming also had that old world film feel.

It felt like I was back in Los Angeles whilst watching.  I loved the dry modern humor overlayed on a background of realism that I though exemplified the truth of people trying to make it in a world most of us are excluded from.  And yet at the same time, people in all creative professions go through similar hoops, trying to stand out and make themselves known.

As Mia sings in Audition, "Here's to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem."  Whether you are an actor, musician or even a scientist or writer, we push ourselves into worlds that aren't always welcoming, for which we must put the craziest stuff out to be known.