The Musical as Synthetic Entertainment

Jane Feuer, in her essay “The Self-Reflective Musical,” writes that a prolific characteristic of the musical film genre is to create an illusion of enhanced entertainment by manipulation of three themes: spontaneity, integration, and recognition of an audience. These themes all serve to naturalize individual musical performance and to involve the film’s audience more closely with the plot and its characters. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952, USA), true to its genre, encompasses this artificial aura of entertainment, deceiving its audience into genuine concern for its characters. Key to the musical's power as a genre has been to embody American popular mythology. For example, by juxtaposing romantic relationships with the inherent energy and grace of song and dance, the musical illuminates courting with an almost magical quality. By celebrating common traits of the musical genre film, Kelly’s most celebrated work turns entertainment into myth, convincing...