Dreamgirls: Difference between revisions

[[File:dreamgirls460.jpg|frame|From left: Lorrell, Deena and Effie.]]

 

 

 

 

Mainly inspired by the story of The Supremes, ''Dreamgirls'' follows the lives of the Dreams, composed of full-figured and sassy lead singer Effie White, driven Deena Jones, and mousy Lorrell Robinson. With the help of Effie's songwriting brother C.C., the girls dream of leaving the slums of Detroit. They are plucked from obscurity by Curtis Taylor Jr., who becomes their manager, and arranges to have them sing backup for superstar Jimmy "Thunder" Early. While the Thunderman begins a long-term affair with Lorrell while married, Curtis falls in love with Effie. But when he decides to give the group their own act, he shifts his attention to the more conventionally beautiful Deena, pushing her to the top, and leaving Effie quite out in the cold. Years later, Curtis' ambitions for Deena clash with Effie's attempts to start on her own. More Drama Ensues.

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** Not to mention adding three new songs. At least one stage production goes so far as to modify one of the new songs, making "Listen" less about Deena changing, and more about her apologizing to Effie.

* [[Ambition Is Evil]]: Curtis, Curtis, Curtis.

* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: A whole lot of drama could have ended before intermission had Effie told Curtis that {{spoiler|she was pregnant with his child}}.

** In the film version, {{spoiler|she tries, but is constantly interrupted}}.

* [[Civil Rights Movement]]: Not central to the story, but racism and the civil rights struggle are brought up from time to time.

* [[Composite Character]]: Several; to name one, Effie is based on Florence Ballard with elements of Aretha Franklin and Etta James.

* [[Cut Song]]: "Ain't No Party", where Lorrell voices her frustrations at Jimmy for not marrying her. A shame it was cut in the movie, since it gives her a bit of an edge.

* [[Everything's Better with Sparkles]]: Jimmy loves flashy clothes (he claims he thought of it first), there's four cannons of the stuff in the finale, and they're all over the closing credits.

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: While Curtis' more questionable actions are for the good of the group in the first act, by the second he becomes a full-fledged villain since the money and power had gone to his head.

* [[Fleeting Demographic Rule]]: Many Beyonce fans were confused when the film turned out to be about Jennifer Hudson though the fact the original promos only showed [[Covers Always Lie|Beyonce, Eddy Murphy, and Jamie Foxx]], you can understand some of their confusion.

** In-universe example: When Michelle replaces Effie, everyone acts like Michelle had been in the group the whole time, even though Effie was with them when they started achieving international fame.

** [[Hope Spot]]: It seems like Jimmy's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|CMOA]] until the pants come off...

* [[The Ingenue]]: Lorrell and Deena in the first act.

* [[Inspired By]]: See the opening paragraph.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Curtis to Deena (paraphrased): "You're popular because your voice has no personality except what I put in it." It's kinda weird when the person you're telling that to is ''Beyonce freaking Knowles''.

** Curtis terminating Jimmy's comeback single for not conforming to the image he wanted to present, despite not having any particular plans to revive Jimmy's career himself. Especially heinous since Curtis owes Jimmy ''his'' career.

* [[Lighter and Softer]]: Arguably the driving force of the plot. The Dreamettes are refocused into The Dreams (and later Deena Jones and the Dreams) moving from an R&B to a Pop sound. Jimmy Early gets a similar treatment.

** As mentioned in [[The Moral Substitute]], "Cadillac Car" covered as pop song.

* [[The Moral Substitute]]: The rock'n'roll tune "Cadillac Car" gets a defanged reprise in the very next scene!

* [[Motor City]]: The story of the film version begins and ends in Detroit.

* [[Oscar Bait]]

* [[Rearrange the Song]]: Effie's attempted comeback song, "One Night Only", is sabotaged, in more ways than one, by a disco version produced by Curtis and sung by the Dreams.

* [[Seven Deadly Sins]]:

{{quote|[[Greed]]: Curtis

* [[Shout-Out]]: In the movie, Deena is briefly dressed as Carmen from ''Carmen Jones''; one of Beyonce Knowles' first acting roles was Carmen in the MTV "Hip-Hopra".

** The first teaser for the film ends with the Dreamgirls sticking out one leg, just like on the theater playbill.

* [[Shrinking Violet]]: Lorrell, until she becomes sick of Jimmy's crap.

* [[The Sixties]]

* [[Spotlight-Stealing Title]]: Curtis' fixation on Deena is made most obvious when he re-titles the group from "The Dreams" to "Deena Jones and The Dreams".

[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]

[[Category:Dreamgirls]]