Monday, February 12, 2018
Is Fantasy Fluff?
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?
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I think that the movie shows that love is going to start out good and then there are going to be twisted along the way along with the idea that communication is key in a relationship. In the movie, Jerry starts out loving Dale and is head over heels for her giving the viewer the idea that they are going to have the happiest marriage ever. This gives the viewer that marriage will be a good thing at first and you will be happy and dance and goes to be as happy as can be. However, as the marriage progress Horace and his wife are seen as almost the older couple and they were seen not very caring about each other to suggest that as marriage goes on it becomes harder to love that same person and that the two people might end up drifting apart. When Horace’s wife is seen not really caring about her husband cheating when Dale says that Horace (really Jerry) asked her to marry her. Horace’s wife is just surprised and she does not really know what to think and wonders if she is talking about the same man that she married. Horace’s wife is also not surprised to find out that she has been cheated on and for Dale is hurt by that and wants to teach Horace a lesion. The idea that Horace’s wife is fine with him cheating on her is something that two young lovers would never try or think to do. That just goes to show that marriage is going to be something that becomes harder to keep going after the fairy tale beginning. The other thing that the movie shows is that it is important to have clear communication. If you and the girl that you like do not have good communication then it is hard to make things work this was most evident when Jerry was mistaken for Horace by Dale and then Dale was all confused with who he was and whether or not she liked him. This communication error almost leads the worst thing possible to happen to Jerry and have Dale get married to Bendini. Once Jerry and Dale get good communication then they end up getting happily married after they sort out the marriage with Bendini showing and telling the viewer that in order to have a successful marriage there needs to be good and clear communication. Another part when we can see this is when Horace’s wife is not confronting him about the possible cheating. This caused there to be tension in the relationship that there shouldn’t have been any. Reinforcing the idea that communication is key to keeping a relationship happy.
ReplyDeleteThe film Top Hat gives two clear examples of the opposite ends of the marriage spectrum and the importance of communication within a relationship. In the beginning of the film Jerry is immediately attracted to Dale and claims he is in love with her. He shamelessly dances above her bedroom to annoy/flirt with her. The next day he follows her around disguising himself as her carriage driver. Even though she is not interested in him, Jerry continues to “chase” Dale. Their first dance happens when Jerry find Dale caught in the rain and he begins to sing and dance and she joins him after being reluctant at first. A sign of the state of their relationship. By the end of dance they are both enjoying themselves and the first signs of their love for each other is shown. These first few scenes represent the early stages of love/marriage when the two partners are having fun and excited about being with each other because of a shared interest. On the flip side, the marriage of Madge and Horace is the other side of the marriage spectrum. Madge and Horace are visibly not interested in each other and are more focused on their work and their other obligations than one another. This is shown when Madge is talking with Dale about how Horace has likely cheated on her and Madge is not surprised and seems to not be affected at all by Horace’s unfaithfulness. Lastly, the miscommunication in the film not only plays a comedic role but stresses the importance of communication in a relationship. If Jerry had communicated early to Dale about his love for her and who he actually is their problems would have gone away. Secondly, if Horace would have confessed that he cheated on Madge earlier in their marriage maybe they would not have bitter feeling towards each other, guessing about the bad things they believe their spouse has done and fearing the repercussions.
ReplyDeleteThe film tell us that love and romance are tricky subjects to master Throughout the film, Jerry shows that he knows how to talk to women and how to get their attention. HE gives of the sense that he has done it before, and with great success. Dale seems to be a very caring and sweet woman who knows what she wants in a man. She knows right away that Jerry is the type of man she wants to spend her life with, but with the misunderstanding between the two, we see how depressions takes over her life. Towards the end of the film, she marries another man because he offered to be her security blanket. The offer was to satisfy her needs to the smallest amount with money and one sided love. She knew that she did not love the man, but she also knew that she needed someone who loved her greatly to take care of her broken heart. Although the viewers know the truth behind the situation and how most Hollywood films go, we get the sense that it will all turn out ok in the end. When the sudden marriage is arranged and completed, the comfortability with the movie suddenly shifts into a dramatic worry. We think that our obvious lovers will never connect, ad because of a stupid accident. The film does a great job of challenging our comfortability of classic love stories that we learn about when we are children. The type of stories that always introduce two lovers, a problem, and the happiest resolution. The film did turn out to follow this plot, but with much drama, confusion, and a great amount of dancing.
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