Lab 9 Instructions: A Star is Born

1. Made in 1953 (and a close remake of a 1937 non-musical picture of the same title), A STAR IS BORN can be viewed as Hollywood's response to the rise of television. In what ways is this film saying to viewers, "Don't stop coming to movie theaters"? What is it offering that small-screen, black-and-white TV programming could not? Can it still uphold that challenge in 1998?

2. Remade again in 1976 as a rock musical starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, A STAR IS BORN obviously speaks to something fundamental in the American psyche. What is its appeal? What basic myths of modern American culture, such as rags-to-riches success, reinventing the self, the health and sanctity of marriage, built-in obsolescence, "ain't success a bitch!"--is this film addressing?

3. What category of film is this? It was made one year after SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, which was in many ways the endpoint in the classical Hollywood musical genre. A STAR IS BORN is, generically, not a conventional musical; what other genres does the film embrace? Does it do so successfully? In what way is this film a deep reflection on the rise and fall of musicals, and of the need to provide viewers with newer, more "realistic" forms of entertainment?

4. Assess the formal complexity of the great "Born in a Trunk" sequence. In terms of narrative development, how does this sequence fit in with the rest of the picture? In what ways is it a comment on the rest of the action? Appreciate the variety of musical moods Garland projects in the sequencce. From what you know about Judy Garland the actress, in what ways is this sequence autobiographical? And in what ways is the entire film autobiographical--in a clever, distorting way. (Garland's life between the late 40s and 1953 was marked by drug and alcohol addiction, two divorces and a third marriage, and multiple suicide attempts.)

5. The film offers a compendium of twentieth-century modes of entertainment media. Catalogue the various media that are represented, and consider how each one functions within the story. Does the film offer a hierarchy, or is it simply making the case for the richness of entertainment, regardless of the medium. And what is it saying about the intersection of the media industry with personal lives of performers and of the public? Is the final message all that rosy?

mehopper@mit.edu