Musicals and Why I Love Them

So, everyone has something they absolutely love. And more often than not, this love is ridiculed by many of any one person's peers. My laughable love is for musicals.
When I first started watching movies, musicals were usually the only things I COULD watch that really interested me. I had a world of cartoons to watch, but those got very old, very fast. My mom was never very strict on other things like curfews or chores, but I was NOT allowed to watch just anything. (She only recently told me I could start watching R-rated movies without her approval first; I was ecstatic!)

But one genre held out; I was able to watch almost every musical on the planet. Along with a few other titles that have stuck with me (e.g. Home Alone, Ghostbusters, and Beetlejuice), musicals formed my foundation of cinematic love.

And why wouldn't they? Although there is usually some masochistic undertones, with the swooning lead lady who can't keep herself together when the suave male lead is around; the obvious romanticized point of view, where life is full of joy and even the lows are highs - these things are easily overlooked, even being a feminist, because something makes you want to love these movies. The talented actors and actresses who aren't cut out simply for film, but for Broadway! The set is full of light and beautiful colors. The entire air of the film is joyous and makes the audience sick with love for the characters.

Musicals propose a way of life that has stuck with me, and helped me through the harshest moments. Singing IS my escape from the dark realities of the world; musicals showed me a life where when you were kicked down, you get back up - and you do it while dancing.

My first musical, not surprisingly, was The Wizard of Oz. This was a great choice on my mom's part, because it fueled an interest in musicals AND black-and-white films. Fun fact: this is one of the very few musicals my mom will even tolerate. I remember being in awe, too, of Judy Garland. She was only a teenage girl at the time, and there she was - singing in all her glory, leaving a legacy of wonderful female leads for years to come. It even sparked my imagination when she  flew over the rainbow and landed in MunchkinLand, where the colors popped and fairy-tales came to life. It was my first exposure to a world where reality was warped in a way that helped you mentally overcome these obstacles.

And I was in love.

Not long after that, I saw Annie. (Goodness, Annie was perfection. I have a post-it note on my mirror that says "You're never fully dressed without a smile!") And then, only recently, did I remember these loves and begin going back even farther.

I ended up finding some newer loves; Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Repo! The Genetic Opera, and of course the 2012 version of Les Miserables. But my favorite musical is OLD, and I found it only a few months ago: Singing In The Rain. I realize it's a classic. I realize how cliche it is to love that musical above all others, but there is nothing better then sitting down after ANY kind of day and watching Gene Kelly (And Donald O'Conner!) sing. The movie s so light and joyous, happiness bubbles up inside me just thinking about it.

So when I asked my grandmother to buy me musicals for my birthday, I wasn't kidding in the slightest. And now, when I proudly show off my collection of 65 musicals on DVD (and a few on Blu-Ray!), I take it seriously.

And when I've had a long, good, bad, great, terrible, simple, boring, or exciting day, I don't hesitate to pop in a new musical I've never seen before and fall in love with the lead male right along with Judy, Debbie, Julie, or Ginger.