So, Who Exactly is Living in La La Land? Part III: The Villain Still Wears Black in Hollywood

This week I am sharing Part III of "So, Who Exactly is Living in La La Land?", which is titled "The Villain Still Wears Black in Hollywood". This is immediately followed by the conclusion for this three-part chronicle based on the 2016 film, La La Land.

Part III: The Villain Still Wears Black in Hollywood

There is an African American actor introduced to the audience at this time.?Keith is portrayed by actor and singer John Legend.?If Seb is going to save jazz, it is somewhat implied that Keith is the character on a mission to exploit jazz.?The character of Keith is also a jazz musician; however, he is the sellout of the two.?The audience is to feel that Keith just doesn’t seem to get jazz.?It is an ironic role reversal of the races.?Seb is the purist, while Keith is the appropriator.?It may have not been the intention of the film to vilify the only African American character, perhaps it can be viewed as a faux pas at best.?The film clearly lacks racial and ethnic diversity, John Legend is a big name in the entertainment industry, and the character of Keith is intended to be an up-and-coming singer who is quickly gaining success.?However, it is less than ideal that the only Black character in La La Land is opposing the artistic beliefs of the film’s savior.?The Hollywood Reporter’s column focusing on Hollywood and politics published an article focusing on how La La Land misleads on race, romance, and jazz.?The author of the article states, “Jazz is a uniquely African American music form born in New Orleans and raised in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. Sure, I would have loved to see a film like La La Land years ago starring singer-dancer Gregory Hines, the master of improvisational tap dance whose tapping could sound like a jazz drummer.”[1] The author’s issue is not with Ryan Gosling playing the lead role, but more so the role that is given to John Legend, stating, “But I’m also disturbed to see the one major black character, Keith (John Legend), portrayed as the musical sellout who, as Sebastian see’s in, has corrupted jazz into a diluted pop album.”[2]?This is troublesome at best, and this issue will continue to be argued.

Keith is introduced as someone that Sebastian went to school with and had worked with in the past.?Keith offers Seb a job with his band, stating that they are looking for someone to play keys.?Seb quickly scoffs at his proposal, seems insulted, and quickly declines. After Mia inquires about the incident Seb later meets with Keith about the position.?Caramanica discusses the three characters and their relationships, stating;

“In ‘La La Land,’ the white protagonist (Ryan Gosling) charges himself with saving jazz, but his pursuit feels loveless, didactic, abusive. His enemies are ignorance, both from his paramour, Mia (Emma Stone), and the public; the cruel passage of time; and black musical pragmatists, in the form of Keith (John Legend), an old nemesis who plays an improbably popular funked-up, synth-heavy hybrid with his band, the Messengers.”[3]

Sebastian accepts the job without playing with the band, even without hearing their music.?Seb is playing an electronic keyboard, with playback, not a piano.?Keith knows that Sebastian is taken aback by the contemporary style of his band.?Gosling’s character is quiet, and the audience can tell that he has folded on his principles, simply for the promise of wealth from working for Legend’s character.?

At this time Legend’s character Keith gives a one-sided speech to a nodding Sebastian.?Keith lectures and asks, “how are you gonna save jazz if no one’s listening??Jazz is dying because of people like you. You’re playing to ninety-year-olds… Where are the kids, where are the young people?”?He goes on to ask, “How are you going to be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist?”?Gosling portrays Sebastian as broken-hearted and ashamed for taking the job.?Legend’s character is the one causing Gosling’s character to feel this shame.?Keith is the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempting Sebastian with the apple, which in this case is the sum of one thousand dollars a week, plus a cut of ticket revenue and merchandising.?In the article titled “Does ‘La La Land’ Get Jazz, or Exploit It?” by Jon Caramanica, the journalist shares his view on this topic, stating “There are plenty of modern-day innovators making music conscious of jazz history while looking forward for inspiration (see Kamasi Washington, Steve Lehman). But Mr. Chazelle can’t entertain that complexity – the Messengers are nothing but a straw band. In leaning so hard on Seb’s jazz classicism as a proxy for unvarnished artistic truth, ‘La La Land’ ends up having very little respect for jazz as a living art form. Looking backward, not forward, is prized – anyone who advocate change is mocked.”[4]?

The only Black character with a speaking role has now become the bad guy of the film.?He has become the character who simply does not respect Sebastian’s morals, devotion, and respect for the true art of jazz.?

Sebastian, who was able to possess a high moral compass for jazz due to his white privilege (despite the film’s decision to ignore such obvious implications), has turned his back on his values which had resulted in his noble life of a starving artist.?Leading to this point in the film Sebastian has passed on his idealistic definition of what true jazz is, onto Mia.?When Mia attends Keith’s band The Messenger’s concert to see Sebastian perform, she is first in awe.?The band is performing at a large venue, with what can be imagined as hundreds, possibly thousands, of fans in the crowd.?It is quickly obvious to her as well that Sebastian has sold out.?The stage is full of excessive background singers and unnecessary dancers and performers.?Once Sebastian’s solo performance begins Mia is shocked and appears almost disgusted by Sebastian’s treason on his true art.?There is shock on Emma Stone’s face, and her character is pushed aside as fans try to get closer to the stage where Seb is performing.?Mia flees from the concert, her mannerisms and reactions are that of someone who has discovered a lover’s deep dark secret.?

From this point on moving forward in the film, the decisions that Sebastian has made, based on Keith’s influence and temptations, directly affect Mia and Seb’s relationship in a negative way.?If the actors portraying the male character were to be reversed the interpretation of the dynamic would be viewed as a Black artist being preyed upon by a white appropriator of jazz.?Perhaps this is one of the reasons the studio decided to cast in the manner that they did.?However, while trying to avoid race, there still became a focus on race.?Good guys wear white, and bad guys wear black, and that is still how this story plays out, even if that depiction was unintentional.?Unfortunately, the only way to avoid this dynamic would be to have both characters portrayed by actors of the same race.?A reversal of history and reality is created by this casting and portrayal.?Amiri Baraka stated, “The Negro had created a music that offered such a profound reflection of America that it could attract white Americans to want to play it or listen to it for exactly that reason. The white jazz musician was even a new class of white American. Unlike the earlier blackface acts and the minstrels who sought to burlesque certain facets of Negro life… there were now growing ranks of white jazz musicians who wanted to play the music because they thought it emotionally and intellectually fulfilling”.[5]?This statement accurately applies to the character of Sebastian in this film.?

Keith continues to be the scapegoat for the demise of Sebastian and Mia’s relationship.?Again, form the Hollywood Reporter we receive feedback on this topic, “The white guy wants to preserve the black roots of jazz while the black guy is the sellout? This could be a deliberate twist, but if it is, it’s a distasteful one for African Americans. One legitimate complaint that marginalized people (women, people of color, Muslims, the LGBT community, etc.) have had about Hollywood in the past is that when they are portrayed, it was in a negative way… It’s not that a black man can’t be the sellout or the drug dealer; it’s just that they shouldn’t be if they’re the only prominent black character in the story. Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, that sends a bigoted message rippling through our society.”[6]?The final straw is when Sebastian forgets that the band has a photo shoot the same night as Mia’s one-woman-show. All of the decisions that Sebastian has made have been his.?He was not forced to take a job playing music that he did not respect.?He was not forced to go on the road and be absent from his relationship.?And he was not forced to work late and be absent for Mia’s directorial debut of her one-night-only show.?This event ultimately brings their relationship to an end.?

The film ends with a musical number that is a “what could have been” moment for the young couple.?In reality Mia has become a famous movie star who is married (not to Seb) with a child.?Sebastian has finally opened up his own jazz club, which he has named “Seb’s”, and is performing his art on his terms.?There are several main moments focused on that affected the success of their relationship within this musical re-enactment of their courtship and relationship. The first being a romanticized first encounter when they kiss upon meeting. The second, being the portrayal of Sebastian ignoring Keith at the club.?And finally, if Sebastian were present at Mia’s one-woman-show, there in the crowd giving a standing ovation.?Ultimately, if Sebastian were to have turned down Keith for the job playing in his band Sebastian and Mia would have turned out happily married with children. Hollywood would have had a happy ending for Mia and Sebastian if the only Black character with lines in the film had not lured Sebastian with the promise of fame and money by means of turning his back on pure jazz.?

Conclusion: We Are All Living in La La Land

La La Land is not a bad film.?There are enchanting musical numbers focused on original songs, scores, and delightful dance numbers.?The film is romantic, and it very easy to fall in love with the old Hollywood nostalgia that it produces effectively.?La La Land is a problematic film, absent of history and what some may view as an absence of accuracy. The question for many is why is the savior of jazz white??Would this film have been created if the savior of jazz was not white??Would this film have won seven Golden Globe Awards, and six Academy Awards, if Sebastian was not white, or if Mia was not white??Fans and critics are aware that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are not known for their singing and dancing in films or on stage.?Ebony journalist Monique Jones asks the question with the name of her article, “Where is the Black ‘La La Land’?” Jones states, “Belafonte, Dandridge, Bailey, Horne and others didn’t go through all the turmoil they went through in the industry for their legacies and contributions to be forgotten. Just as countless films pay homage to Astaire, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers and others of the golden age, let’s finally have a musical that pays homage to the Black musical history of Hollywood.”[7]??I am not saying however that there should be a “Black La La Land”.?La La Land was a great film, but why was it not “Black”??Can La La Land not exist with a Black lead??Can it not be produced without a name like Beyoncé, or Jennifer Hudson, who we already know as amazingly talented singers and performers??Emma Stone is not an exceptional dancer or singer.?Can it not be made with Tessa Thompson, or Aja Naomi King??Would it be too predictable for the lead to be played by John Legend? Perhaps, because everyone already knows that he is a beautiful singer.?And the leads are portraying normal people who happen to be singing and dancing.?In that case perhaps the director does turn to Michael B. Jordan, or Chadwick Boseman.?If either character, Sebastian or Mia, is cast with a Black or African American actor, does the film immediately become a “Black film”??For a film to be a blockbuster with a black lead must the film be written or produced by Tyler Perry? Is America ready for a “Black La La Land”??Yes.?Is Hollywood willing to make a “Black La La Land”??La La Land itself answers that question.

[1] Abdul-Jabbar, K. (2017). “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: How ‘La La Land’ Misleads on race, Romance and Jazz”. Kareem on Hollywood & Politics. Hollywood Reporter.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Caramanica, Jon (January 25, 2017). “Does ‘La La Land’ Get Jazz, or Exploit It?” The New York Times. Music. Critic’s Notebook.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Baraka, A. (1963). Blues People: The Negro Experience in White America and the Music that Developed from it. New York. Morrow Quill Paperbacks.

[6] Abdul-Jabbar, K. (2017). “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: How ‘La La Land’ Misleads on race, Romance and Jazz”. Kareem on Hollywood & Politics. Hollywood Reporter.

[7] Jones, Monique. (February 27, 2017). “Where is the Black ‘La La Land’?”. EBONY Magazine.