We're All Just a Bunch of Perverts with Short Attention Spans

I don’t mean to tread too much on familiar ground, but I felt a real need to discuss this issue following yesterday’s parade of clips from 1923 all the way 2006. What I found interesting wasn’t necessarily the way the various decades reflect upon its unique vision of the 1920s but rather how the unique visions of the 1920s reflected upon the various decades. Both of the issues I’ll be discussing were brought up in class, but I frankly don’t feel they were discussed enough (probably an inevitability considering that we had around 3-5 minutes to debrief after the clips were over).

Specifically, I’d like to talk about the increasingly short camera shots and increasingly provocative dancing featured by the women within the films. The progression is almost too perfect, starting first with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, the least offensive of the bunch. I’ll begin there, and instead of being overly wordy (as I’m so used to in these blogs), I’ll just focus on the aspects of the clips most important to this blog’s subject.

Experimental Sound Short (1923):

Two men standing by a piano and singing. The shot is steady throughout the entire scene.

The Jazz Singer (1927):

More movement and action within this scene, though the only one singing and dancing is a man. There are a few cuts throughout the scene, but no real camera movements at all.

Some Like It Hot (1959):

Marilyn Monroe, enough said. She’s sex personified, though her dancing is rather minimal. Her outfit in the second clip shown, however, is a bit more than simply revealing. Camera movement is still slight, though there are several different shots, used for both emphasizing various aspects of the scene and merely to switch things up for the viewer.

The Great Gatsby (1974):

The party scene includes no real singing, and the dancing isn’t exactly sexual in nature, though the jumping into a pool is rather promiscuous. The editing is much more contemporary, including various cuts and changes in scene to keep the audience’s interest piqued. The glittering hair covers brought up in class are first introduced here, in a small number. While not necessarily sexual in nature, they do emphasize the role of women a great deal more than any of the other women in the earlier clips.

The Cotton Club (1984):

The dancing here is much more sexual, though the quick cuts away from the dancing make it hard to condemn that. The second clip shows more traditional dancing from the men and sexual dancing from the woman. Quite an interesting choice. The cuts here are even faster than anything before.
Chicago (2002):

Very sexual, very quick cuts. Flashy and bright.

Idlewild (2006);

Basically a hip-hop video set in the 1920s. Super fast cuts, super sexual dancing.

As you can see, the progression appeals increasingly to the perverted, low attention-spanned masses that we find ourselves surrounded by day-in and day-out. And I don’t mean to exclude myself from that group merely because I’m criticizing it. I was much more interested in the clips from Chicago and Idlewild than the Experimental Sound Short. This fact is merely a byproduct of the fast-paced, sex-driven world we live in.

And this is why classes like the one I’m writing this blog for are important. Modern interpretations of the 1920s, while valiant, do very little to maintain the era itself. Without real academic study, it’s very possible our view of the 1920s will be the hypersexed and hyperfast world presented by Chicago and Idlewild.

And that’s a sad world to live in.