Semiotics Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!: The Musical
Syntagmatic Relationships:
- Sophie’s Dads- In the musical Donna knows who Sophie’s father is the whole time. She chooses to keep his identity a secret from everyone until they are getting married. Sophie then finds out that Sam is her father. Donna’s reasoning is that she wanted Sam to want to marry her regardless of if he was the father.
- There are more songs in the musical that show Donna’s struggle with her past actions and her desire to be accepted because of these choices, these songs include; Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, One of Us, and The Winner Takes It All.
Articulation:
- Outfits- Donna and the Dynamo’s wear the same over the top 80s clothing but it is mostly white. It isn’t until the end when the Dynamo’s all are happy and content with their lives again that they wear more colors.
Mamma Mia! The Movie
Syntagmatic Relationships:
- Sophie’s Dads- Donna has no idea who Sophie’s father is and that’s why it is never revealed.
- Donna has a monologue where she struggles with her past decisions and musical numbers as well: Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, and The Winner Takes It All.
Articulation:
- Outfits- Donna and the Dynamo’s clothes are very 80s. They wear multiple colors with lots of fringe and layers. They are stuck in the old fads of their glory days of their girl power band.
Conclusion-
Overall, Donna kept power in her relationships in the musical by keeping information to herself. This comes at a time in America where it is still inappropriate to have children out of wedlock and it is amplified by her not knowing who the father is. Feminist movement is around at this time but women are still not treated equally. Mamma Mia! Is a mostly female cast who struggle with female related issues. This is one of very few musicals where the two main focuses are two women. When is is remade into a movie during a bigger revolution for women. The feminist revolution continued to progress which made the remake movie a huge hit. People loved seeing strong females on the screen sing ABBA’s greatest hits.
I think a few more things that you should focus on is the ideology, genre, and the social history of the musical and the movie. I think with some more information will help you build a better argument, and prove what you are trying to show the class. I think with more information will add to the Syntagmatic relationship and anchorage, and then Paradigmatic and articulation.
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