La La Land : It would have been better if the ending had been more "tragic"

I don't buy this whole "she got her big break and became an A-list celebrity in 5 years." That doesn't normally happen even for actors who get a huge break. The message this sends to me is like those motivational posters you saw in 3rd grade, with some animal like a cheetah and a moral inscription below "Shoot for the stars!" Works for kids but not for adults, especially adults who know that industry. The same goes for Sebastian opening Seb's. It would've been better if the film ended on a hopeful note and not on this unrealistic fantasy note. I would've preferred to see both of them making progress on their dreams, but not actually reaching them. It would have made the entire film far more rewarding, but it's just another "happy ending" film with the "sad ending" being that they didn't stay together.

That doesn't normally happen

Why impose normalcy/realism on a musical drama? The "unrealistic fantasy note" is congruent with the notes played in the rest of the story, which is by nature not in the realistic style.

Most elements in this story are heightened, the better to emphasize the moral point as in any fable say, about a lowly girl who becomes queen. Two top values are held briefly in fragile equilibrium, then something happens to upset it. Mia ends up attaining her exact dream; it's important that she does because something less, in the realistic style, would not really stress the contrast between what has been gained and what has been lost. Again, in keeping with the style of a fable.


"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson