coffee + pages #6
An argument as to why you should be watching the Mamma Mia movies during the pandemic.
Did my tagline catch your attention? 😉 Perfect.
There’s something to be said for the Mamma Mia movies. They’re an adaptation of the Mamma Mia jukebox musical that came out in 1999 and has had a continuous presence, whether on Broadway or in traveling tours.
The first film was released in 2008 while the second came out in 2018.
Now I’m not here to say that the Mamma Mia movies are perfect or that they’re some kind of artistic monolith. There are plenty of think pieces that delve into the films in a more analytical sense and with a reviewer’s mindset (the New York Times said the first film “may be mindless but it’s a lot of fun too” in 2008).
That’s not what I’m here for today.
Today, we’re going to take a short look at why you should be giving the Mamma Mia movies a watch during this pandemic!
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The first and most important reason you should consider watching the films is because they’re honestly just so much fun. From the gorgeous background of Greece (the first movie was filmed on the island of Skopelos) to the music numbers that bring lots of energy, there’s unadulterated fun in every part of both movies.
One of my favorite music numbers is from the second movie where Donna and Harry, two of the main characters, are in a cafe and break out into ABBA’s Waterloo. The number features Napoleonic inspiration and cafe customers that all take part!
Mamma Mia really embraces the fact that it’s here for a good time. You can see this so clearly in just about every aspect of both movies!
There’s generally a care-free sense throughout both movies and that’s definitely something just about everyone could use right now.
Friends Are Fucking Fantastic
While the pandemic has been going on, we’ve all had less and less IRL contact with friends. We can all agree across the board that this really sucks.
One of the coolest things about the Mamma Mia movies is the fact that they’re a massive celebration of friendship and even more specifically, friendships between women.
Both movies center around Sophie and Donna and their friends. This central focus on friendships between women and the importance of their friendships to each other is something that I really love seeing in the movies, alongside all of the dancing and singing.
As just about anyone who has close friendships, friends can be and often are some of the most important people in our lives! So to see friendships that are at the forefront of Mamma Mia is something that I’ve always really appreciated. Mamma Mia overall is a very happy movie that doesn’t fall into the tropes of putting friends against each other for the sake of drama.
Both movies really go all in and have such a good time celebrating how fantastic friends really can be.
Embrace the Absurdity
It’s super safe to say that Mamma Mia really embraces the absurdism in each movie. From the flipper scene where the guys are all dancing down the dock to the two renditions of ABBA’s songs Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen that show up in both movies, there’s so much about the movies that is absurd.
And absurd is totally meant here in the best possible way. One of the best things about musicals (not just movie musicals) is that they really do bring things to the next level, in production design, in delivery of songs, in dancing, and in storytelling.
Take Mamma Mia exactly as it is. A fantastical musical that delivers on a really joyful experience and story.