arts // no. 8

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> Glorifying cocaine dealers in the entertainment industry

Greg Waldock
Staff Writer

 

ark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ smash

hit Uptown Funk grooved its way
into our hearts last year, with its smooth
funk and slick ’7os veneer. Versions of
it were sung in schools by teachers, in
churches by the clergy, in shady car lots
by shady car salesmen. It became so
ubiquitous across so many groups, people
forgot—or never realized—the song is far
from innocent. It’s entirely about selling
coke, and it’s not even vaguely veiled.

The first two lines in the song are

straight-up cocaine references. “This
hit, that ice cold/Michelle Pfeifer, that

white gold.” Michelle Pfeifer is another
name for coke, a reference to the actress’
role in Scarface. With opening lines
as obviously drug-related as these, it’s
pretty amazing how much mainstream
popularity the song had, outside of radio.
The song goes further: “Ride to Harlem,
Hollywood, Jackson, Mississippi.” Ronson
and Mars are singing about going to the
biggest cocaine centers of America in
the ’7os and slinging it, making massive
amounts of money in the process.
Cocaine had a very interesting role
in the ’7os. This was the time when it
started to become the drug of choice in
the growing music and film industries,
and it was also when the foundations

Life: A musical

> ‘La La Land’ film review

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

krekkk

here are a lot of movies that pay
tribute to different types of films,
like the various genres in the films
of Mel Brooks and silent films in The
Artist. Now, the same person who
brought you Grand Piano and Whiplash,
Damien Chazelle, brings a film that pays
tribute to the golden age of musicals in
the modern era. La La Land not only
references many things in musicals,
but it is also about reviving pastimes.

It is just another day of sun in Los
Angeles, and Mia (Emma Stone), an
actress who works ina studio's café
and is trying to make it big in the city,
meets Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz
pianist who is also trying to make his
big break. They both work together to
help Mia make a one-woman play and
help Sebastian open a jazz club, and
everything changes when Sebastian’s
best friend, Keith (John Legend), offers
him a position in his new band.

The first half of the film has what
you would usually expect in a musical,
and the second half looks like a film
made by Jacques Demy. There are a lot of
tracking shots throughout, like in most
of Chazelle’s films. La La Land contains
references to various things in musicals.
The film begins with the Summit
Entertainment logo in the style of the
1950s, and the screen expands to show

 

that the film is presented in Cinemascope

to reference This is Cinerama. There are

also references to West Side Story, the

musicals of Gene Kelly, and the films

of Jacques Demy. It is similar in ways

to Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,

except that it does not look like an opera.
While La La Land looks like a musical

from the 1950s, it also looks like a movie

made today, as there were handheld

shots midway through the film. The

musical numbers in it are elaborate,

like the piece in the beginning of the

film when everyone in traffic instantly

bursts into song. This might cause you

of the modern war on drugs would
be laid. Cocaine dealers who sold in
California or New York had, and have, a
very different reputation from ordinary
drug dealers. A certain style and pizzazz,
accurately shown in the song and music
video, was expected from people who
sold coke to movie stars and massive
pop artists. The persona was portrayed
often in the film and television of
the era, usually examining the darker
implications of having a drug trade so
sustained by professional industries.
The entire song is a glorification
of that drug trade and its dealers’
personalities. Ronson’s “character” is
smooth, slick, attractive, and happy,

 

to wish that life was really like a musical
and you could sing about anything.

The film is also an analogy of the
past and present. In the beginning of
the film jazz is very popular, but at end
jazz popularity is declining. Sebastian
makes a point that musicals began
with jazz and that they should bring
back live jazz, which is the reason he
wanits to open a jazz club. It also shows
that fixing something will not make it
cool, in the case of Keith’s new band.

Despite the film ending with a big
musical number that goes full force in
the references to musicals, the ending is

theotherpress.ca

  

Screenshot via YouTube

revelling in the riches and women the
coke brings. While the music video
emphasized the historical ’7os feel given
off by the groove, the lyrics themselves
make no indication of the period. Though
it’s probably not what Ronson and Mars
intended, the song can easily come off
as an endorsement of the drug trade
today, and all the associated problems.
To the song’s credit, however, the
groove is solid. A strong bassline backed
up with energetic vocals makes for a great
song with a very upbeat and funky tune.
And to its further credit, getting average
white parents across America to tap their
feet and sing about selling cocaine in the
streets of Harlem is an impressive feat.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in La La Land (2016)

somewhat disappointing. Still, by the time
you are reading this review, the film might
have gotten the Golden Globe for Best
Comedy/Musical, and it could also get the
Academy Award for Best Picture this year.
La La Land shows that musicals are a
great thing, and that it is possible to bring
back something from the past. If you
would like to see a film that is similar, I
would recommend viewing The Umbrellas
of Cherbourg, and if you would like to
see what a jazz club looks like in real life,
you can go to Frankie’s, which is located
across the street from BC Place Stadium.