So as I was reading through the literary pieces from Northrop Frye and Stanley Cavell, I couldn’t help but take a focus on the idea of a Green World, which Frye wrote of in reference to William Shakespeare and his “red and white world of history”. This was when I thought back to 2016’s La La Land. In the final act of the movie after the couple, Mia and Sebastian, have separated in order to pursue their life dreams (Mia with an acting career, Sebastian with opening a Jazz club), we follow a time skip where both have achieved their life goals, albeit without one another. Mia attends a show with her husband at Sebastian’s club, and for a brief moment the two ex lovers lock eyes. Sebastian begins to play the set and we as an audience are transported to a fictional What If scenario, ‘What if Mia and Sebastian remained’. We see them fall in love at first sight, we see Mia succeed as an actress. Sebastian becomes a successful Jazz Musician. We even go as far as to see them take their talents internationally before settling down with a family of their own (might I add, this sequence with the happy family is viewed by both, in a dream world but through the lens of a projector screen, a shared vision, a shared dream). However, as beautiful as this dream is, it all comes to an end and we’re brought back to reality for the bittersweet ending of the movie.
While this isn’t necessarily a comedic movie, the Green World technique is implemented very well and is very impactful. But what exactly is this “Green World”? Well it’s a fictitious land where the rules of the narrative don’t apply, as Frye writes, “In the comedies, the green world suggests an original golden age which the normal world has usurped and which makes us wonder if it is not the normal world that is the real Saturnalia”. The rules of life don’t apply in the couple’s dream, unlike reality where they’re forced to face the music with the constant trials of the talent industry, as well as lacking any room to provide love and affection for one another alongside their pursuits. This dream is the comic relief of the conclusion in a way, relief to the characters as well as the audience who are reeling from the revelation that Mia and Sebastian are no longer an item. This also subverts expectations because usually the couples in romantic comedies learn and grow as characters in order to be perfect for one another. Here we see the development but the resolution isn’t present.