R
Rumor has it that the top executives of the karaoke industry gathered in a private meeting room last week, indulging in alcoholic beverages and singing sad songs. This was due to the threat of two popular names in entertainment who expressed their desire to shut down the entire industry. In an interview promoting the new film “All of Us Strangers,” Paul Mescal stated, “In my opinion, karaoke should be banned. I have never had a pleasant experience.” His co-star Andrew Scott shared the same sentiment, saying, “I am not a fan of karaoke. The never-ending feeling of anxiety is overwhelming.” This complaint about the never-ending nature of karaoke seems to hold true, particularly in the world of film and television. In recent years, our screens have been filled with characters singing along to tacky classics, holding cheap microphones and staring at slightly smaller screens.
In a surprisingly ironic turn of events, actor Mescal appears in a particularly poignant moment in the past few years in Charlotte Wells’ powerful production, “Aftersun.” During a karaoke night on a group vacation, Calum (played by Mescal) discovers that his daughter Sophie has entered them to perform. As the crowd cheers, Calum watches as Sophie takes the stage alone and delivers a memorable rendition of REM’s “Losing My Religion.”
Some moments in Saltburn are more uncomfortable than sad. In one scene, Oliver, played by Barry Keoghan, is pressured by his arrogant cousin Farleigh to sing “Rent” by the Pet Shop Boys while trying to fit in with a pretentious social group. As he reaches the chorus, “I love you, you pay my rent,” he realizes it was a setup to expose him as a moocher. Even Keoghan himself struggled with the awkwardness of the scene, admitting in an interview with AP Entertainment that it was the one he dreaded filming the most. This is telling, considering the other challenging aspects of Keoghan’s role.
Display the image in full screen mode.
Alan Ruck, who plays Connor in Succession, portrays the most empathetic (and pitiful) member of the Roy family and an unexpected karaoke enthusiast. In the second episode of the final season, Connor, who aspires to be Potus, convinces his siblings to join him in a singalong. He belts out Leonard Cohen’s Famous Blue Raincoat with a scratchy voice. His brother Roman jokes, “This is like being in Guantánamo.”
Each of the three scenes explores the powerful human emotion of humiliation. Connor, Oliver, and Sophie are all left feeling embarrassed and stunned as they pour their hearts out without finding any closure. Many of us have experienced this intense shame while packed into a small bar, singing along to a karaoke track. After all, the word karaoke translates to “empty orchestra” in Japanese – there is something lacking.
Additionally, there is a captivating power dynamic in play. It is peculiar how Logan enters the tacky karaoke bar to engage in serious discussions. Similarly, in Saltburn, Farleigh wields the microphone as a weapon when he realizes Oliver struggles to understand the upper class’s blend of high and low culture. In an interview with IndieWire, director Emerald Fennell described the human element of having a Caravaggio-esque setting in a beautiful room, yet lit by a low-quality karaoke machine.
However, not all karaoke scenes are somber and gloomy. There have been some recent instances where karaoke has brought joy and happiness. For instance, in Rye Lane, Yas and Dom, who pretend to have met at a “fire hip-hop karaoke night” in Peckham, end up going to a bar, singing Shoop together, and sharing their first kiss. Another example is Tina in The Bear, who impresses her culinary school friends by belting out Before the Next Teardrop Falls by Freddy Fender. Karaoke scenes have been a staple for some time now, with one of the most iconic ones being in Lost in Translation, where Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson exchange songs and meaningful glances. Many of these scenes are hilariously chaotic, such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s rendition of Pixies in 500 Days of Summer, Renée Zellweger’s performance of Badfinger in Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Cameron Diaz’s ear-piercing rendition of I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself in My Best Friend’s Wedding.
If, as film academic Barbara Klinger once had it, “karaoke cinema” refers to the films we watch repeatedly for comfort and nostalgia, what can these on-screen karaoke moments teach us? “These scenes are a great source of joy for all people everywhere who do karaoke,” Ruck tells me. “It’s like go ahead, stand up and be a fool. And we’ll love you for it.” Basically, it’s totally fine to make yourself look like an absolute tit – it’s what actors have to do all the time.
Source: theguardian.com
