Source 4 - The Gendered Score: Music in 1940s Melodrama and the Woman's Film

The Gendered Score: Music in 1940s Melodrama and the Woman's Film is a book by Heather Laing which primarily focus on the problems facing gender and emotion in the film scores of movies. Some arguments that are made are how “women in melodrama and the women's film, for example, are often placed in weak or vulnerable social positions.”(Laing 4). This source can be deemed as useful in the sense that it talks about the impact of film scores in melodramatic films and how they are targeted specifically at certain genders. The information is certainly reliable because it is academic. The source could possibly be biased because the author is a female and by the title, The Gendered Score: Music in 1940s Melodrama and the Woman's Film, the reader is aware of what to expect. I could potentially see myself using this source to show what emotions are evoked towards women with the use of music in melodramatic films. This can help my argument in the sense why music is important within the melodrama because of the emotions created by the film score. This source has definitely changed some of my thoughts on the melodrama in a film sense and could potentially change parts of the shape of my paper. 

Source 3 - Melodrama, Two Ways

In Dan Wang’s Article Melodrama, Two Ways he talks a lot about melodrama as a mood and parts of its origin. He describes how frequently melodrama appears in a musical contexts for instance in film. One could say the whole point of this article is to describe the melodramatic mode. This source is very useful and helpful in my paper because the article touches on what melodrama stands for within a certain contexts that pertains to the connections and transitions of my research paper. The article also shows the connection between music and melodrama as a mode and genre. This source is unlike my other sources because it talks deeply about melodrama and what music stands for within it. The article can definitely help my research paper when I first start off talking broadly about melodrama, its origins, and why music is important for the two to exist. This source if very academic and reliable, in some instances it uses sources from works we've read in class. 

Peter Brooks The Moral Occult

Sometime morally we cannot make decisions that are in our best interest or make us happy.  Many times we make decisions based the reactions and actions of others and not on make will make us happy. Choosing between what we deem as right for us and what is right for others can be summed up when Brooks says “the domain of operative spiritual values which is both indicated within and masked by the surface of reality"(Brooks 5). In other words he believes we hide under the surface our true desires. This thought/belief of what is deemed right for us or other is called the moral occult. The melodramatic film All That Heaven Allows is a perfect example of this moral occult. In the film Carrie the main character is a widowed mother of two who falls in love with her gardener Ron. In one instance of the film Carrie tells her children that she is engaged to Ron and this infuriates them. Due to the fact that she and he come from two different classes her children naturally reject Ron. Carrie must choose what is morally right for her or her children. Despite her love for Ron, Carrie chooses not to marry him because that is what is morally right in the situation and also so that she would not lose her children. Carrie decides her children’s happens is more important than hers. After she tells them she is no longer going to marry Ron, her son Ned informs her that he will living and her daughter also tells her that she will be busy. Carrie realizes that she would be losing her kids regardless with or without Ron; she changes her mind and goes back to Ron ignoring her children’s thoughts of him. The moral occult within this film is made clear and is noticed. The film supports Brooks’ claims about the moral occult and how we hide things “by the surface of reality” (Brooks 5).

Source: Dark Victory

Dark Victory is a movie from 1939 and is a melodramatic film which uses music in its scenes. Particular scenes stood out to me in this melodrama which I connected to having an impact on me emotionally. The plot of the film is very melodramatic because there is a woman who becomes ill, falls in love with her doctor, finds out she does not have much time to live and hides it from him. The love and chemistry the two main characters have for each other and the undeniable future of the main character certainly tugs on the heart strings. When watching this melodrama I was aware that it would be dramatic and over exaggerated, but what I did not realize was the effect it was going on me emotionally. Being that I am writing my paper on the importance of music in the melodrama film Dark Victory is a good source for examples of why music is important. Music forms a connection with the audience and that connection is a need in order to have a melodrama film. Scenes in this piece of work utilize music to emphasize danger, passion, hope, and sadness. I firmly believe that this film is an excellent source and support for my paper and would add to it greatly. 

Academic Source: Music and Emotion

The main idea behind this source is to show how people become engaged when certain music plays because of the emotional experience they feel; Music and Emotion makes this connection possible and is a perfect source in proving this. Since my paper is about finding the reason why music is important and crustal aspect within a melodramatic film this source is able to help in proving music’s importance. In the book the authors are able to support their claims about music and emotion with good examples and facts. The book talks about film theory and how music is an important aspect of it and in doing so it is able to tie in the emotional aspects of music in film. Music and Emotion literally connects music to emotion and shows the impact they have on each other. The examples used prove to be very helpful, I believe that the authors include a lot of interesting facts and ideas; they also seem very knowledgeable in the subject of music and emotion. This academic source is very useful and helpful in supporting my own claims and arguments within my research paper. Strength is definitely brought to my paper with this academic source. 

Blog Post 3: Potential Research Topic

For the final paper I think it would be interesting in possibly writing our own short piece of melodrama. In doing so we could explain with research what made the work a melodrama and what emotions we were trying to convey and, what emotions we wanted to pull out from the audience. After writing the short piece one could potentially talk about the morality, the style, symbolism and the narrative of our piece and why these things are important within the work. The research could be used to back up why we chose to write the piece in a certain way and why certain decision were made during the writing process. It could also be used to support certain claims, for example, why a sense of morality is important within a melodrama. Primarily using the research to backup and support claims can be the focus of the research aspect of the paper. 

All That Heaven Allows

The film  All That Heaven Allows was filmed from a time period much different than today’s, but still bares similarity to current time, one being melodrama. Melodramas attach themselves to one’s heart, making them feel a spectrum of emotions. Exaggerations, music, over the top characters and attitudes, unrealistic expectations, realizations, love, hatred and betrayal can all describe melodramas; such things as these can been seen in All That Heaven Allows. From the beginning the film starts off dramatic. In the film the main character Carry (a recent widow) falls in love with a man named Ron, but he’s from a class much lower than hers. A melodramatic seen occurs when her and Ron decide to get married. As she tells her kids about this marriage they are infuriated at their mother and do not approve it at all. In her children’s minds, how could their mother betray their father by marrying a man like Ron? As one can see they are being very overemotional and this becomes even more melodramatic in the film as the scene is accompanied by serious music. As the movie progresses, this “Style” (page 38) of melodrama continues and can been seen throughout the whole movie, eventually leading to a cliche happy ending.