” Failure is Important ! “
What may seem like the most generic and cliche lesson to be taught in a movie, La La Land preaches the importance of resilience and determination. Both characters are struggling artists, Mia being an aspiring actress and Sebastian holding the dream of opening his own jazz club.
At the beginning of the film, Sebastian is performing various odd jobs as a pianist, while Mia is working as a baristas and experiencing what many imagine the life of an actor to be going on auditions one after another with the same rejection every time. She constantly battles with debating if everything is worth it and it isn’t until she decides to leave and write her own scenes that she can become one of the big stars that mirrors the kind of people she serves as a struggling actress on the Warner Brothers lots.
They are both not well off their feet, but they are chasing their dreams. Sebastian is quoted saying, “You think life’s got me on the ropes… I like being on the ropes!” Mia is shown in multiple auditions, to each one she is denied. Sebastian is seen trying to infuse the spirit of classic jazz into every one of his venues, resulting in getting fired time and time again. Both of the two are trying to make it big and keep hold of their dreams.
In the middle of the film, both characters are tested by their “biggest” failure in their respective fields. Mia works diligently throughout the film to write her own one-woman show in attempts to make it big and get her name out there. Sebastian is just constantly trying to put jazz back into the world. Failure slaps Mia in the face when barely anyone, not even Sebastian, shows up to her show and she doesn’t have enough money to pay back the theater. Sebastian’s interpreted “failure” was when he became a part of the modern, electric, hip-hop jazz band and commits himself to something he doesn’t believe in.
These failures cause tension between the characters, causing them to break up. Mia returns home to her parents’ home and stops auditioning. She gives up on her dream and is stuck under the impression of not being “good enough”. Sebastian returns to his odd gigs.
Both have given up, until one day Mia gets a call from a casting director requesting her for an audition. Mia has the choice to try for her dream one more time, or give up. Sebastian encourages her to and she auditions hesitantly, and she ends up landing the role that launches her acting career. Sebastian moves on to open his own jazz club that is majorly successful.
La La Land portrays two characters that are beaten down time and time again, but eventually revel in success because they never gave up.
” Dreams can be achieved, even if it is not in the traditional sense. “
💃 LA LA LAND 🕺 