Spinal Tap

A detailed Summary of Spinal Tap

While attempting to be nothing more than a comical spoof of the music industry, "Spinal Tap" was instead rocketed to cult icon status. The characters in the movie are so fully thought out that almost all rock and roll bands that became popular prior to and half a decade later than the release of the movie fit the stereotypes presented by this fictitious band that ended up being more real than any other legitimate bands of the time.

The days of disco had long faded by the 1984 release of this film, and the punk scene was still for the most part underground. With the hair band scene just beginning to come to light, and rap music being confined to the street, this movie would sarcastically lay the groundwork for the sellout crowd arena rock groups of the eighties. Or as they are commonly referred to now, the hair bands. Now Spinal Tap as portrayed in the movie was in fact a metal band, but metal at that time would be called rock and roll just a few years down the road. If you look at the bands such as Poison, Twisted Sister, Ratt, Def Leopard etc... you will notice that they are in fact Spinal Tap without the punch line. On a side note the wearing women's clothes and makeup were a strange occurrence thrown i

Which brings me to the next stereotypical band member, the quiet yet talented right hand man of the lead singer. This part is played by Nigel Tufnel who is in the band to make music first and money later. This character represents the member of the band who's talent clearly outshines the others and is most likely to leave the band for artistic reasons. In Spinal Tap this member plays lead guitar and does some backup vocals. He is far and away the most clue less member of the band and is the alternative to the fans who don't care much for the singer. Sorry to use so many Guns and Roses references but they seem to be the most identifiable band consistent with the Spinal Tap stereotype. In which case Slash from Guns and Roses would represent Nigel. Nigel himself is full of the rock and roll ideal, so much as to where he boasts that they are the loudest band out because he has a special amp that has a volume control that goes to eleven instead of the usual ten.

The thing is, when you interpret something you cannot always take it at face value. For example every movie whether it be an academy award winner or part of the strait to video group, relays the ideas of the makers of the movie, and no matter how abstract the plot may be it still pertains to the popular culture at the time. Now not all movies can be equally insightful but for the most part they all contain some hints of the atmosphere they were shot in. Certain movies such as "Ferris Buellers Day Off" seem to be more of a snapshot ofdaily life back then, while others are revolutionary in the sense that they portray elements of society that are still years away, such as "War Games" which hinted at the importance of computers in the future. While both types of movies are common, some are lu

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Approximate Word count = 1183
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies