Monday, February 12, 2018
I'm in Heaven
Top Hat tells the story of the whirlwind romance of Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont. They meet, flirt, misunderstand each other, fall in love, fall out favor and eventually decide to marry, all the while singing and dancing. What is this film telling us about love and romance? Does "the course of true love never did run smooth"? What is it based on? What is the role of communication and (mis)understanding? What about the marriage of Horace and Madge: is that a failed relationship -- or just another stage? Are Jerry and Dale really in heaven -- or is it all an illusion?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The movie, Top Hat, has a subtle but interesting interpretation of love and romance in the real world. It depicts two different types of love and romance through two different relationships, one with Jerry and Dale and the other with Horace and Madge. The love stories between these two are very different but are both controlled by things like jealousy and loyalty. Jerry and Dale are the ideal couple who at first don’t really click but eventually fall head over heels in love with each other. They are almost inseparable and really like spending time with each other, especially when they dance. As Jerry describes it, when he’s with Dale he is “in heaven”. On the other hand, Horace and Madge’s relationship is much more of a realistic relationship. There is trust but jealousy and loyalty issues. The two are also separate most of the time. In the movie, they travel to different countries and don’t seem fazed by the fact that they are apart from each other. They also don’t seem to have as strong of feelings for each other. Their conversations don’t seem to have nearly as much happiness or emotion like when Jerry and Dale talk together. The difference between the two relationships are quite staggering but are probably more alike than meets the eye. The older couple’s relationship is probably a stage that happens with relationships later in life. Now while Jerry believes he is in heaven now, this is probably just an illusion. There will always be problems that arise and while he may think his relationship with Dale is perfect, it will probably end up similar to Horace and Madge’s relationship.
ReplyDeleteIn the film Top Hat we get a glimpse into the time and what a love story looks like. This is not however a traditional love story in the sense of them meeting and falling in love. Most films based on love have the characters know the other person and fall in love and have that love challenged by something but in this movie they twist that formula just a little bit. They make the characters fall in love and face adversity for that love, but this adversity is not knowing the true Identity of the other. They meet and then they fall in love but under the wrong identity causing conflict for later in the film. This is showing the importance of communication and how a misunderstanding of even something like an identity can effect more than just the two people involved in the relationship. Gaining understanding for the characters is the main plot of the movie and having the audience know that they are confused only makes the plot more interesting for the viewer. This film makes sure the audience understands the importance of communication from the beginning. Finally looking at the other relationship in the film between Horace and Madge we can see a marriage that is going through a very tough stretch. Truths come out about affairs that Horace has had in the past and challenge whether the can stay together or drift apart. This film gives two sides of relationships the honeymoon stage with Jerry and Dale and the side after marriage for many years where it becomes more difficult to work things out.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship of Horace and Madge seems to represent the opposite of what Dale and Jerry’s relationship is in Top Hat. Madge is nonchalant about the idea of her husband, Horace, flirting with other women even when it is supposedly with her best friend: Dale. Dale however is much younger then Madge and could not imagine a women being okay with her husband acting in an unfaithful way. The misunderstanding of Dale thinking Jerry was Horace serves as the conflict in the movie. Conflict is normally featured in Hollywood style films such as Top Hat. I think the directors of Hollywood films incorporate these conflicts into their movies to add interest to the story as well as make the story more relatable to people. When it comes to Hollywood musicals however incorporating conflicts becomes more important than ever. This is true because the idea of people singing and dancing throughout the day is quite unrealistic so conflict can add realistic elements. Madge and Horace’s seemingly imperfect relationship can be seen as a way the directors of Top Hat tried to engage the viewers with a much more realist relationship in comparison to Jerry and Dale dancing and singing their way through their first encounter to their wedding. This being said it is no doubt that audiences enjoy seeing somewhat unrealistic scenes in movies because it is entertaining and impressive. Movies like Top Hat also make viewers crave the type of seemingly perfect romance Jerry and Dale have all while dancing perfectly in sync.
ReplyDeleteTop Hat is as story of how love is innately imperfect but still beautiful. Like many things, love is imperfect as this movie shows through two separate couples: Jerry and Dale, and Horace and Madge. With Jerry and Dale, top hat shows a love full of passion and excitement along with mistakes riddled throughout. Jerry and Dale are head over heels in love with each other and their passion shows during their dancing scene in the rain. They seemed to just click together as they dance joyfully in the rain. This is to show how exciting and fun a new relationship can be. The movie also shows how easy it is to encounter mistakes along the way as a simple misunderstanding turns into a huge obstacle. Of course by the end they finally clear up the confusion and finally get married. Jerry and Dale are an example of the beginning of relationships and love. On the flipside, the movie also has Horace and Madge, an older couple with a more matured love. They have been married for many year and they demonstrate the later stage and how their love changes. They are no longer dancing around and having fun, the new and exciting portion of their relationship is far gone. They have known each other as a person and the love has changed, there is a loss of passion at this stage. When Madge was told of Horace allegedly having an affair, her first thought was think if Horace was actually still that lively. This stage is less about the bright passion that they had and more about the love that is still there but in a different form.
ReplyDeleteThe film Top Hat there is more than just one portrayal of love or people in love, and I think writer wanted to convey the idea love grows and changes over time. The first and most prominent example of this is the romance between Dale and Jerry. Though that have just met, their affection is deep and their love is young and vibrant. In his song “Heaven”, Jerry expresses how he feels like he is in Heaven with Dale; then in his song “Cheek to Cheek” he says how all he wants is to be by her side. Both of these examples show how falling in love is the fun part and in the beginning everything is exciting and great; however, the relationship between Horace and Madge is very different. Throughout all their interactions, they seem to have very little excitement in their relationship, as if the only thing holding them together is marriage and not true love for each other. This does not however mean that their relationship is failing. The difference in duration of each couple is meant to show that over time the relationship changes. The author wants the audience to come away with the idea that in the beginning, everything is like a movie but as time progress people may stay together but slow down. This idea is also seen in more modern culture. The honeymoon phase or early periods of a relationship are often considered the best.
ReplyDeleteI think that there are kind of stages in a relationship and couples change stages depending on how long they have been together. I feel like the movie Top Hat shows two different stages of a relationship. The beginning stage, and the stage where you’re married to someone for a while. Jerry and Dale show the beginning stage of a relationship. It is very apparent that they are in love and it really shows that they’re having a good time with each other. Jerry especially tries impressing her through his dancing and singing and very kind gestures. And they also dance and sing together showing how in love they are. This is very similar to how most relationships start out where both people act especially nice to the other person and also try impressing the other person. And as relationships get longer and longer, eventually they hit the stage where Horace and Madge are at. They’ve been together for many years and have spent so much time together. I don’t think that their marriage is failed or anything, I just think it reflects a normal marriage. They act normal around each other and have very casual interactions with each other. They don’t sing or dance with each other or anything, and I think that just shows that they’ve been together for such a long time. Like after being with someone for a really long time, you tend to stop trying as hard to impress the other person. I think that they know that they love each other, which is why they’re married. But they don’t feel the need to have to show it as much as Jerry and Dale do. They don’t have to worry about how the other person feels or thinks because they already know since they’ve been together for so long. So I think that the couples in Top Hat just show different stages of relationships.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the film top hat is trying to present to its viewers that the love that is going to be harder to get, one you are really going to have to work for is truly the type of love that is worth it. In other words, nothing worth while comes easy. We see this as Jerry has to work very very hard to get Dales full love and attention however in the end it is totally worth it. For example, after he first meets her, he could have just given up and accepted that she was annoyed with his behavior, but he most certainly does not do so. He puts his own reputation at risk just trying to get her attention. Another example of this, would be right after Jerry finds out she's just gotten married. At this point especially you would think he'd accept defeat. However, his desire to be with her, and his love for her keeps him moving forward and trying to wi her over in the end. On the opposite side of this spectrum, we have Horace and Madge. Madge admits/tells Dale that the true and almost only reason she married Horace, was because it was the "easy thing to do" because if she was married to him she wouldn't have to worry about finances, she wouldn't have to worry about other men chasing her around, etc. however, as the film emphasizes, love that is easy is not the same as love that makes you happy. For example, Horace and Madge are in a way miserable together, they barely talk, the never see each other - each is always traveling, there is no fire between them, and they have almost no faith/trust in each other - due to lack of communication. Overall, their relationship is bit very good at all. We also see this right after Dale "marries" the french guy (forget his name 😬😅). After this marriage - an easy one since they'd been friends for forever and were almost always together anyway, she was somewhat relieved she wouldn't have to worry about "Horace" (aka Jerry) pursuing her anymore , however at the same time she wasn't at all satisfied or happy. As the film also depicts relief and happiness are two VERY different things!!
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the things that are worth fighting for will be hard to get sure, but they will also be very rewarding and pay off big time, while what comes easy, well, "comes easy, goes easy".
The film “Top Hat” is without a doubt a film about love and the challenges of it for our main characters in their whirlwind romance. They two main characters must deal with and overcome many misunderstandings in order to eventually get together and be happy while they pull another married couple into their misunderstandings causing more conflict. Overall, however, both relationships ended successful in the filmmaker’s perspective. The two leads eventually after talking and clearing up their misunderstandings as well as the older Horace and Mage make up and remain together while they are happy for the new couple. This film preaches the message that there must always be communication between a couple in order for major misunderstandings such as these to be able to take place. The film also shows that if true love is meant to be then it will happen eventually no matter how many hurdles and hoops the couple must jump through to accomplish this goal. In addition to this the romance between Horace and Mage shows that even as the relationship grows older communication is more important than ever. After everything is explained and all of the couples finally talk and communicate the love springs to life and everyone is happy.
ReplyDelete