Some of my thoughts on the movie Sing and lessons I've come to appreciate...*Warning: spoilers!
(Sorry if it sounds rambly-ish, Iām SUPER impressionable so things I get excited about affect me profoundly!)
After having waited for half a year to see Sing since the trailers started showing in the summer of 2016, the week finally came for opening night on Wednesday, Dec. 21 2016. I was already enchanted by the happy, optimistic, borderline-delusional koala Buster Moon at that point and greatly anticipated the amazing soundtrack, getting to know the adorable characters and their stories, and sitting in awe for 2 hours of incredible, beautiful animation.
After seeing the movie I felt mixed inside. The lessons we get from movies can have a powerful affect on us, so itās really important to me that a movie leaves us with a generally wholesome feeling. I need positivity, not bad tastes in my mouth. So for me, especially when it comes to animation, that means the main characters are decent role models who do or learn to do the right thing and in doing so it turns out well. The way the characters and story developed in Sing took me by surprise, however, but after digesting it for a few days I found that the wholesome lessons are there, they just take a different approach from other animated films!
For example Iām sure I wasnāt the only one who was a little disappointed that the positive main character of the movie was a bit of a scoundrel, like when he basically stole electricity and water and lied. On the other hand, Buster wasnāt evil, he was just passionate about what he loved and felt desperate. No one is perfect, and Buster is definitely unique to say the least. As happy and cute as he is the selfish decisions he made ended up destroying his theatre. So a positive lesson here, I guess you could say, is that dishonesty and selfishness reap bad results, even destroying what you love. I felt Buster had learned this at least to a degree (and it sticks to me because this is so true!)
Another wonderful lesson we learn is that overcoming fear is a wonderful thing and it can be exciting to pursue your dreams. Each character seemed to have touched on this, and these are lessons I also cherish. For exampleā¦
I liked Rositaās personality the most. She is a hard-working, caring, inventive, loyal wife, had realistic flaws and best of all learned to achieve her dreams by being willing to work out of her comfort zone. Just imagine how things would have turned out for her if, when paired with Gunter, she said, āI am not working with this guy!ā Sure she didnāt like it at first but she didnāt sulk or refuse to go on; rather, she was flexible and tried to make it work. What a great show they did together in the end!
(Speaking of Gunter, he taught me an important lesson: Be happy and positive, have confidence in yourself and in your body, but be careful because thereās a fine line between being positive and being annoying! lol)
Ashās story of living with her boyfriend and how he treated her almost shocked me. Very different for a āchildrenās movieā! (I know Sing was to entertain adults just as much as young ones, but goodness!!) How realistically depressing her situation was: a young rebel who probably wanted out of the house as soon as she turned 18, moved in with her emotionally abusive boyfriend, having an amazing talent but dealing with all the crap in her personal life, learning to āset it all freeā and pursue her dreams. Iām glad she had the courage to break up with her loser boyfriend and write an original song to perform on stage instead of getting overwhelmed by it all and giving up. Girl power!
Johnny the gorilla, I knew from the start, was going to be a heart-throb for girls who are into the sensitive badboy with the voice of an angel. Thereās so much to say about his story and I know others who are big fans of his have done an amazing job of going into his life and family in depth, so Iām not going to say much. But Iāll just say that my only personal pet peeve about Johnny is that he seems to have had a passive attitude towards a life of crime down to the end. I know itās how he grew up and heās still young/has a lot of growing to do as a character, and I love Johnny, but I would have preferred by the end of the movie that he acknowledge that stealing is wrong/etc. At least he decides to pursue something like singing instead of continuing in a gang. However, Iām not going to complain too much because the fact that all his previous gang members are in jail show that crime really doesnāt pay!
Meena is someone I think a lot of people, especially young girls, can identify with. Social anxiety, shyness, having 100% support from family and friends but having a hard time coming out of her shell. Her story and lesson is a personal one for me in that she overcomes her fear of failure and starts doing what she loves! I like how she had faith in Busterās advice to just 'start doing what you love, then you wonāt be afraid anymore because youāll actually be doing itā! A wonderful lesson. And by the way, Busterās kindness and support towards her shows that heās not just an insensitive Producer who doesnāt take personal interest in others. Buster can be aware of and deal gently with even the most fragile (even if theyāre an elephant lol)
Mike the mouse is just so ridiculously self-centered/snarky/arrogant that it makes me laugh. Heās as cocky as he is talented. Biggest ego in the tiniest body, heās Frank Sinatra as a mouse in the Sing universe. I love his voice, his taste in music, his zoot suits, but Iāve never been a fan of mean characters. At the same time, I love that heās voiced by Seth MacFarlane, which makes it hilarious.
In the end they were all humbled and learned how to have fun with hard work and just doing what they love. Dreams do come true!
Yes, Sing doesnāt cover some of the heavier issues like the ones in Zootopia (such as prejudice), and maybe the plot wasnāt incredibly original, but in my opinion, this movie simply did things differently, not badly. Iām actually really impressed with how it all turned out ā Itās like they knew it could have been a terrible movie with an unoriginal plot and animals singing annoying pop songs but they played their cards right and actually succeeded in making us love it! They did such a great job on this movie!!
With that said, I found Sing to be fun and filled with great music, beautiful animation and adorable characters. I think Iād prefer more traditional storylines for animated movies like the ones Pixar/Disney makes, but the characters, especially the relentlessly optimistic and dreamy attitude of Buster Moon, resonates with me. Iām totally smitten!
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