Renegade Review: La La Land

Welcome Renegade Nation it’s me Naughty Nicole and it’s time for another Renegade Review. And this time around, we’re focusing on the frivolity that is La La Land. Now I’ll admit that up until the most epic of Oscar faux pas, I didn’t have any inclination to see La La Land – or even Moonlight for that matter, but since the Hollywood Elites are patting themselves on the back, I thought maybe we should see what all the fuss is about… right?

But the shine is coming off of La La Land. Various marginalized communities – women, African Americans, and jazz lovers – emerged to take the film down a peg. And what ensued was an all-out war waged mostly on Twitter between fans and the movie’s detractors. While it might seem odd that a movie as guileless and nostalgic as La La Land – which draws as its inspiration from the classic musicals Singin’ in the Rain and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg – has provoked such ire, this is the pop cultural world we live in. Every piece of art is now politicized and parsed for its problematic elements. These complaints may take some of the joy out of a film intended only to entertain, but they also reveal vital perspectives that have been hidden for too long from our white-male dominated discourse.