# The new generation of movie musicals **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295 "2015-06-11T22:02:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/1 "2015-06-11T22:02:31Z")
I am referring to the huge spate of dance musicals over the passed … how many? … years. There’s always a scrappy underdog hip hop dance team that simply _has_ to win the next big dance competition. One group might have to merge with another, so they not only have snark filled “dance offs” but they have to create a new dance style by merging the teams’ styles. They have shitty rehearsal space or none at all, but they do have what look like pretty pricey dance outfits by the time they’re in the final dance. There’s always a romance, there’s almost always a villain though not a violent one. It’s not a really new template, but it seems to have grown enormously in recent years, and has eclipsed the traditional Hollywood musical tradition, which basically shoehorns music into some routine slice-of-life story. I particularly like the demise of old tradition, because I just can’t stand movies where all the neighbors spontaneously burst into song and dance. They just never made any kind of sense to me. I haven’t seen many of them, but the ones I have seen have led me further into watching more. I guess that means I rather like them. And maybe I like them because they make more _sense_ to me. Nobody sings except the singers on the dance music. The music tracks are generally pretty good – I have no idea whether they have original scores or are just using already recorded club music. The plot and the music support each other. Anybody else have thoughts on this? ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/2 "2015-06-12T15:27:55Z")
Seen one, seen 'em all? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/3 "2015-06-12T15:30:58Z")
Other than the “Step Up” series, are there really that many? (They all look like complete crap and I would \*\*not \*\*call them musicals.) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/4 "2015-06-12T16:27:13Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Other than the “Step Up” series, are there really that many? > > (They all look like complete crap and I would \*\*not \*\*call them musicals.) I’m not sure how many, but there seems to be lots of them on cable. Maybe we should talk abour what _is_ a musical. What would you call them if not musicals? They are primarily music and dance with a plot stapled to the side. I prefer them to “traditional” musical is that the character don’t switch back and forth between singing and talking to each other at the drop of a hat. So they don’t even need convoluted lyrics to express what they would otherwise say in normal conversation. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/5 "2015-06-12T16:31:44Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Other than the “Step Up” series, are there really that many? > > (They all look like complete crap and I would \*\*not \*\*call them musicals.) There’s the “[Honey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_%282003_film%29)” series as well. And “Pitch Perfect” isn’t far off the path. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/6 "2015-06-12T16:34:54Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > Seen one, seen 'em all? Possibly. Though there are better and worse looking characters, and cooler and less cool dance numbers. They do seem to hire very talented athletic dancers, and I like watching hip hop a lot better than, say, ballet or … what would you call it … jazz dancing? I dunno, I know very little about dance. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/7 "2015-06-12T16:52:20Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > There’s the “[Honey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_%282003_film%29)” series as well. > > And “Pitch Perfect” isn’t far off the path. And _[Battle of the Year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkZL-3A4ac)_. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/8 "2015-06-13T00:31:22Z")
There are 3 _StreetDance_ movies. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/9 "2015-06-13T01:23:49Z")
In old musicals you have dialogues like "I haven’t asked you where you were going, and you haven’t asked me what I’m doing outside your house, " answered by, “in that case we are both suffering from a deplorable lack of curiosity.” Today, lines start with either “sh\_t” or “imma.” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/10 "2015-06-13T10:11:52Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Other than the “Step Up” series, are there really that many? > [@dracoi](#): > > There’s the “[Honey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_%282003_film%29)” series as well. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There are 3 _StreetDance_ movies. There was one that I saw a lot of trailers for- fancy arts school with an uptight very white pretty girl studying ballet and traditional dance and an ethnically ambiguous guy who was a street dancer and he was at the school too. Something something he teaches her how to let loose and be passionate something something she teaches him to work hard and dedicate himself something something they fall in wuv!!! \<3 \<3 \<3 Not sure if there were any sequels. Anyone remember the title of that one? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/11 "2015-06-13T10:21:10Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I would \*\*not \*\*call them musicals. I tend to use the word “Musicals” the same way I presume that you do (_Guys and Dolls_, _My Fair Lady_, _Cabaret_, _Into the Woods_). However … Depending on to what level the micro-categorizing goes, the dance drama is often grouped in with traditional musicals. I generally see them referred to as dance musicals. Back when there were brick and mortar video stores, the “Musicals” section was generally where you’d find _Saturday Night Fever_, _All That Jazz_, _Flashdance_, _Dirty Dancing_, _Breakin’_- these are the films that were the precursors to the films discussed in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/12 "2015-06-13T11:22:03Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > There was one that I saw a lot of trailers for- fancy arts school with an uptight very white pretty girl studying ballet and traditional dance and an ethnically ambiguous guy who was a street dancer and he was at the school too. Something something he teaches her how to let loose and be passionate something something she teaches him to work hard and dedicate himself something something they fall in wuv!!! \<3 \<3 \<3 > > Not sure if there were any sequels. > Anyone remember the title of that one? That’s pretty close to the first _Streetdance_ movie, which shoves together a ballet troupe with a street dance troupe. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/13 "2015-06-13T11:23:44Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I tend to use the word “Musicals” the same way I presume that you do (_Guys and Dolls_, _My Fair Lady_, _Cabaret_, _Into the Woods_). However … > > Depending on to what level the micro-categorizing goes, the dance drama is often grouped in with traditional musicals. I generally see them referred to as dance musicals. Back when there were brick and mortar video stores, the “Musicals” section was generally where you’d find _Saturday Night Fever_, _All That Jazz_, _Flashdance_, _Dirty Dancing_, _Breakin’_- these are the films that were the precursors to the films discussed in the OP. Which reminds me of _Footloose_ – old enough to have been rebooted into a second film. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-generation-of-movie-musicals/722295/14 "2015-06-13T15:14:17Z")
I find them utterly interchangeable and forgettable. Nothing, compared to traditional musicals.