There is no other way for me to describe la la land other than a detached dreamlike state from the harsher realities of life. La la land showcases the story of two young aspirational characters, Mia an aspiring actress and Sebastian who has an undying need to bring jazz back to life during an ambiguous time period. Starting with the opening number “Another Day of sun” the audience begins to understand the tone for the rest of the movie, the opening scene is bright,joyful almost to an extreme and overall leaves you with an overwhelming feeling of hope. In a sense we, the audience, are being transported into the shoes of an aspiring young person who wants to make it in Hollywood just to get completely gutted towards the end. In the broadest sense this is a coming of age story, of two young people who have dreams bigger than life and simultaneously are trying to accomplish them together intertwined with a love story. Technically it’s a fictional romantic musical. But analytically, If you actually take time to watch the movie carefully you’ll see how it’s a love letter to the soul crushing industry that reigns over L.A. The colourful outfits, picturesque scenes and catchy musical numbers make the ordinary person grasp a positive understanding of the movie without necessarily wanting to look more into it. There are two major themes that remain consistent throughout the plot; ambition and delusion. In a way there are no in betweens, we see two characters getting so caught up with their dreams and passion that they seem to leave everything they should care for behind. Which makes me question, can you still consider this a passion? The definition of passion is in this case an extreme interest or wish for doing something. My question is how long does it take until that interest can be called and viewed as a crippling obsession. Obsession being something or someone that you think about all the time. I couldn’t help but replay this parallel in my mind. If we take as an example the lyrics of Someone In The Crowd; one of my personal favourite musical numbers from the movie, it perfectly captures the parallel that wouldn’t escape the moment I laid my eyes on the screen. 

“Do what you need to do

‘Til they discover you

And make you more than who

You’re seeing now”

Passion is the driving force for any young dreamer and if you’ve watched even half of the movie you know that being a dreamer is the essence of la la land. As the lyrics describe it, it’s more of just an ordinary dream,passion or hobby. It’s an image, it’s a whole package, with being in the industry you get to reinvent yourself and your life, you get to have an out of the ordinary job that just so happens to make you put your face out there for the world to either love or devour but at least you’re known. Therefore are you chasing your dream or are you chasing the security blanket that Hollywood is selling you? This sort of prize that the industry has been dangling in front of our salivating eyes for years on end is a trap these young dreamers fall into. L.A just so happens to be the homeland for the industry but just as much for the heartbreak that comes with it. La la land does an excellent job of always keeping you on your feet when telling the story of these young dreamers, you really grasp a sense of hope contradicted by continuous delusions and sacrifices. The movie started with the hopeful musical number Another Day of Sun, it’s ending with a reminiscent look back on how Mia and Sebastian’s life could’ve been if they gave up the chase and stayed together. A glimpse on “normal life” especially for Mia who became an award winning actress and Sebastian was able to have his own bar showcasing jazz music. I guess as a viewer I wasn’t left with disappointment in that their relationship didn’t work out because with that ending scene I was still left feeling hopeful. This lingering feeling is exactly what dreamers experience. Hope for the life they want in the industry and reminiscent hope for a simple life out of the machine. Once the highly stimulant chase ends what are you left with? Once your obsession becomes real what are you left to obsess over?