The Seductive Sensations

Far different from any other film we have watched so far in Intro to Film Studies, Chicago is a musical centered around two aspiring performers: Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. But there's one big obstacle that stands in their way: they both are murders. Roxie slayed her spouse, and Velma slaughtered her sister (say that three times fast) along with her husband as well. At first, I wasn't too sure if I would like this film, but as it progressed, I began to catch onto it. The movie is set up in a way in which reality and the womens' dreams of becoming actresses go hand in hand. It's a mix of real life and a stage show, which can get confusing at times until you realize what the director's intention is.

One common theme that I noticed in this film is that the women have the power. This was extremely evident when all of them were singing in jail, while on death row. They put on a huge production, called "Cell Block Tango". Each of them told their story about why and how they killed their husbands, and I found it hilarious that one of them got so aggravated when her husband was chewing (no not chewing, POPPING) his gum. I mean, who kills someone over gum? At least the rest of the women had more valid reasons, such as finding out that their husband was cheating, or being accused of cheating themselves. But either way, it was clear that the men weren't very powerful in their relationships. In another one of the songs, the lawyer (Billy) was the star of the show, yet his voice wasn't very powerful. I could barely hear him, yet the women were loud and clear. No character summarized this better than Queen Latifah, or should I say, Mama, as she commandingly strutted across the stage singing: "when you're good to Mama, Mama's good to you".

There's just one thing that threw me off a little bit with this film - it is set in the 1920s, yet the video looks so high-quality since it was filmed in 2002. It felt a little weird to me, especially since I've gotten accustomed to watching older movies in Film Studies, but undeniably, it isn't set in modern times. There are no smartphones, no HD televisions, no computers, and none of the other modern commodities that most of us live by. But there are cameras and newspapers (what are newspapers? People actually used to read those?) as well speaker systems and microphones.

I am looking forward to seeing what happens next in Chicago, and how Roxie and Velma end up. Will they rise to fame? Or will they fall to the death row...?