# Does anyone else resent movie music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 12, 2023, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968 "2023-09-12T08:01:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/41 "2023-09-13T17:32:02Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Jaws wouldn’t be the Monster of fear and impending doom without its simple musical score. I saw a clip from a recent interview with Steven Spielberg and John Williams, talking about _Jaws_. Spielberg noted that, with all of the technical issues they had with the mechanical shark, they weren’t able to use it nearly as much as they had originally planned, and that, due to those issues, he felt that Williams’ score, in the shark scenes, became the strongest expression of the shark character, and the menace that it represented. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/42 "2023-09-13T17:40:51Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > Having said that, I’m not much of a fan of the scoring that has been done in the last 10-20 years. But that’s because I think it is a dying art and that newer composers don’t measure up to their predecessors. Did you watch and enjoy [Moonrise Kingdom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5uXW5SmUhA)? Desplat’s score was deliberately done as a homage to Benjamin Britt (also used [extensively in the film](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ9vqWo2r7tSM5OSIoTIja9fqOYJ3IOzf)). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/43 "2023-09-13T17:45:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I saw a clip from a recent interview with Steven Spielberg and John Williams, talking about _Jaws_. Found it - it was an interview on _Late Night_. Here’s a link, cued up to the particular section. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YTKs0JRVlrQ/maxresdefault.jpg "How Music Becomes an Actor in the Films of John Williams & Steven Spielberg") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTKs0JRVlrQ&t=326/) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/44 "2023-09-13T17:48:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Here’s a link, cued up to the particular section. Bah, the link doesn’t go to the right part – skip ahead to 5:24 to see that section. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/45 "2023-09-13T18:29:27Z")
Quite often I do. Music can be used to establish a time/place/mood pretty well. But too often music is used as a crutch to make an audience feel a particular way. “Wow, ‘Bad to the Bone’ is playing so I guess this person is being a badass.” I prefer when the characters/dialogue/setting/plot convey a feeling instead of music. Movies like No Country for Old Men have some really great scenes with no music and I think it really highlights how good the movie is that it doesn’t need to rely on music to convey feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/46 "2023-09-13T18:36:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m probably prejudiced by having seen the film so many times with that classical score, but I have to admit that, having heard North’s score, I think Kubrick made the right decision. The classical music works so much better, especially _The Blue Danube_ for the space flight scenes, and most especially the opening from Strauss’ _Also Sprach Zarathustra_, a piece I’ll bet no one today would be familiar with otherwise. Not to mention the current classical pieces. The Requiem by Ligeti was perfect for the Monolith scenes, and Atmospheres was far better than some trippy music for the stargate scene. > [@Tibby](#): > > At times, a film’s score can contribute immeasurably to its emotional impact, leaving an indelible mark on the viewer. Movies like “The Exorcist,” “Star Wars,” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” immediately come to mind in this regard. I’ve only seen The Exorcist once, but Fredkin in his autobiographt mentions picking Tubular Bells from a stack of records and deciding to use it, to great effect. It was already the #1 album in England at the time, and it was not written as a soundtrack. Mike Oldfield only saw the movie years afterwards, and reportedly laughed his head off. I do have a track of him on a radio or TV program bemoaning the fact that kids were scared of him thanks to the movie. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/47 "2023-09-13T19:25:04Z")
> [@chela](#): > > That’s a hasty generalization as the audience will still crap their pants upon hearing dun dun dun dunnnn even if it’s a decoy. The dundun music was only used in the presence of the shark. If you listen during the false alarms when Brody is on the beach, or when Hooper finds the tooth (and is startled by the head), or when the boys dress up with the wooden fin, there is no dundun. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/48 "2023-09-13T19:44:33Z")
Thanks for digging that up. Spielberg said the shark couldn’t make its call time, as it was getting worked on in the shark shed. 🤣All he had was the music to convey the presence of the shark. I’ve got to find and download it that theme music. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/49 "2023-09-13T20:42:19Z")
> [@chela](#): > > That’s a hasty generalization as the audience will still crap their pants upon hearing dun dun dun dunnnn even if it’s a decoy. Without the dundundun, the opening of Airplane! would’t be funny at all! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/50 "2023-09-13T20:45:37Z")
Or, “1941.” ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/51 "2023-09-13T21:16:08Z")
And to further that, a clip of the scene were they are tagging barrels to the shark, first time through without music, then with. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fnq1s-babsl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fnq1s-babsl) ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/52 "2023-09-14T23:50:37Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Did you watch and enjoy [Moonrise Kingdom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5uXW5SmUhA)? Desplat’s score was deliberately done as a homage to Benjamin Britt (also used [extensively in the film](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ9vqWo2r7tSM5OSIoTIja9fqOYJ3IOzf)). I can’t say that I did. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968/53 "2023-09-15T00:17:59Z")
I had a roommate when I was an undergrad in the mid-70s who played records loudly on his stereo in our bedroom every night, all night long. He couldn’t sleep without music. I didn’t mind. We were usually high. Oldfield’s Tubular Bells was on his short playlist (along with The Alan Parsons Project albums, and couple other progressive bands). Tubular Bells is indelibly burned into my memory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-resent-movie-music/989968.md?page=2)