Music and the Fictive Dream "In the Heights"
The movie "In the Heights"(2021) is a musical and romance movie about the Dominican Republic community in the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan, New York. The movie is an adaptation of the stage musical also called "In the Heights"(2005) written by Quiara Alegria Hudes and with the music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. In the movie, Usnavi is shown as being tired of the same schedule every day, so he seeks out his dream. When he was a child, his dad sold the family business, and his dream has always been to buy that business back and run it. This means that when Usnavi's attorney friend tells him that his father's property is for sale, Usnavi decides that he will find the money to buy the business back and move to his homeland. By the end of the movie, Usnavi realizes that maybe going back to the Dominican isn't actually what he wants to do. Since it's a musical, music plays a huge role in the movie. Most important turning points or events are associated with a song and a dance, so there are a lot of good ones to choose from. The one that I will be focusing on is called "96,000".
This song takes place at the neighborhood pool on a hot day, with the whole neighborhood there of course, and when someone brings news that the lottery jackpot was announced at $96,000. Once everyone learns the news, they break out into song and dance about what each of them would do with $96,000. This song shows the intentions and ambitions of each character in a fun rap number. At the end of the song, it is revealed that no one at the pool that day had the winning number, but later in the movie, Usnavi finds the winning ticket in a drawer that his adoptive grandmother had bought for him. I think that this song goes to show that everyone has goals and aspirations that are unfulfilled and that everyone can dream. It's not quite part of the song, but the number of the winning lottery ticket has meaning to the director of the movie. They are the most important dates of his family, such as birthdays and anniversaries. I also think that the main goal of the song for the movie is to set up the goal of the movie and give some context to everyone's feelings. Out of all of the music in the movie, this is my favorite song. The genre is hip-hop, just like almost all of Lin-Manuel Miranda's music, and it's a very catchy and hoppy tune. It is a pretty long song, and it goes through several changes in "genre". Initially, it's a basic hip-hop song, but then morphs into a smooth R&B vibe, and ends with more of a pop-inspired R&B vibe. I think that the hip-hop and R&B nature of this song adds to the more down-to-earth meaning behind the song.
Sources:
Fongers, Kayleigh. “In the Heights: The Meaning behind the Winning Lottery Numbers.” ScreenRant, 19 June 2021, screenrant.com/in-heights-winning-lottery-numbers-meaning-explained/.
Burck, Dave. “In the Heights’ 96,000: Three Genres in One.” CigarJukebox, 2 July 2021, cigarjukebox.com/2021/07/02/in-the-heights-96000-three-genres-in-one/.
- I have seen many videos and memes of this film and I actually never seen it. I think you did a great job with explaining the message you get from the film that connects to the song. I do think that there is a central message to the song that does connect to the film very well. I think you did a great job with your post, I do wish there was more sections to explain the back ground of the song and then background information about the film but overall great job!
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