- Published: November 15, 2021
- Updated: November 15, 2021
- University / College: The Ohio State University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 44
The movie Bubblegum Babylon reveals the fact that the feel-good, appealing bubblegum pop is a cold business where the stars finally break up due their failure. It goes inside the music industry to explore how the billion-dollar business, which is built on catchy-looks, becomes the best marketing and merchandizing business to buy. The movie explains the profiling of producers, songwriters, impresarios behind the screen of the music, which sells the same band repetitively. It narrates how people with greed make use of the talent of the innocent ones to make money. The movie is a wakeup call for those who live in the dream of an aspiring career in the pop culture as it alerts the events happening behind the scenes.
The director of the movie ‘ Bubblegum Babylon’ claims to portray that not even a single teen act from the 1980s was able to transit into adult stardom. The scope of the movie is impressive and involves interviews from Strangeloves to the Backstreet Boys and Hanson. The movie is a two-hour documentary, in which the director exposes that the teen pop is disposable as it relies on the looks and sexual image of the artists rather than talent. However, ‘ Bubblegum Babylon’ fails to explain and acknowledge some of the best pop albums of the past 40 years. The director fails to dig into the unjust manipulations and contracts of the pop genre’s record companies, especially, Svengalis. The movie gives an account of the bitterest former teen idols and the most honest producers.
The movie ‘ Bubblegum Babylon’ makes use of an aspirant star Katie Cassidy as its thread, discovering her interest for pop stardom. The director showcases the whereabouts of the bubblegum music, the influence and effect of sudden stardom on the performers, the function of merchandising, increasing sexuality in teen acts, especially girls and the destiny of the stars. Katie Cassidy, a 15 year-old teen girl, who is the daughter of David Cassidy, is a wannabe pop star. The movie shows her producer, her manager and her mother planning for her career before the release of a single song. The director reveals that the former teen-idol father opposes Katie for her interest in achieving stardom in the pop industry. The movie showcases the trio of advisers discussing with Katie about handling the situation with her father.
Katie decides to tell the truth to her father. However, the producer Joel Diamond questions Katie as to how much truth is she going to tell. It’s an unpleasant and insightful instant when Katie tries on a bustier as her mother, Sherri Benedon. Katie’s mother attempts to break down the fine line between underage entertainers like her daughter and the marketing of sex.
The movie ‘ Bubblegum Babylon’ indicates the recent increase of sex in teen pop culture, especially with Christina Aguilera, the Spice Girls and Britney Spears. Such artists raise a distinct defense that they are mere artists conveying their feelings. The film shows the acts of Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers who grew up with the acts ranging from the Monkees to the New Kids on the Block. The movie Bubblegum Babylon wants the audience to feel sorry for the teens, whose exploitation by their corporate pop labels is one of the ancient stories in the business of music.
One of the most interesting parts of the movie is the interview with Bob when the announcer asks him about the break-up of the Partridge Family. Bob replies to the announcer that the family ran the business and families break up when businesses break up and hence, the Partridge Family broke up. Though the Partridge Family is a tight-knit family, the business was harsh. He expressed the doubt about the 36 million dollars which the family earned in six years. He says that the last years in Arizona were similar to a stay in a psychic hospital. Bob expressed his displeasure about the inability to reconcile his image. He also explains the way in which he tried suicide on various occasions. He says that 89 percent of the people engaged in the show business must opt out of the business at one or the other point in their life. Thus, the movie is an inspiration to know what exactly happens in the business.