"DON'T RAIN ON MY PARADE" - "Funny Girl"'

You might think that I included this scene from Funny Girll because I like it so much. Wrong. I detest it. I hated the movie, and I wasn't crazy about the Broadway production even though I was fortunate enough to see the original with Barbra Streisand before she sold out to popularity. Actually the reason I am including this is to point out that songs often become popular despite some really stupid lyrics. I'm surprised that these lyrics were written by Bob Merrill, whom I greatly admire because, for the most part, they're really dumb. They begin with "Don't tell me not to move just sit and putter. Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter." Is that dumb or what? What person said to her, "Don't move. Just sit and putter." Nobody. It's absurd. How is life candy and the sun a ball of butter? Frankly those are kind of sickening metaphors. I have several friends who really love this scene from Funny Girl. If they're reading this, they can enjoy it again. I personally find it annoying as hell.

Note: This segment is also an excellent example of a post I wrote a while back complaining about the "empty suitcase" one finds in most films. Even the best directors fail to make luggage look sufficiently heavy. In this sequence Streisand would not have been able to navigate all those moves if those already-heavy leather bags had anything in them. My feeling is if the scene lacks reality it loses a lot of its power. Empty suitcases certainly qualify as lacking reality.