Critically assess Richard Dyer’s claim that the musical generates a utopian sensibility by comparing a musical made in the 1950s to one made since the 1990s.

... Alicia Duffey Hollywood Cinema Critically assess Richard Dyer's claim that the musical generates a utopian sensibility by comparing a musical made in the 1950s to one made since the 1990s. This essay sets out to examine Richard Dyer's claim that the musical generates a utopian sensibility by comparing Howard Hawks' 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (1953) with Baz Luhmann's 'Moulin Rouge' (2001) This will firstly involve an assessment of Dyer's general argument concerning his view of the musical's ability to generate a utopian sensibility. The essay will then move on to compare the two films within the framework that Dyer details in his article 'Entertainment Utopia' In the article Dyer firstly places the musical within the specific remit of entertainment and this is important to his argument due to it's focus on the musical as a medium purposely formatted to be a provider of pleasure. He then goes on to argue that entertainment , and

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