Oklahoma (1979) 
tap dancing cowboys
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For some reason, I thought this movie was about the Oklahoma land grab. It turns out that it is just a wierd love story. The main thing that struck me about this movie was that almost nothing happens. In the first scene, they establish the flirtation between the two main characters and that there is a sketchy guy who likes the girl. We also learn that there is some sort of hoe down that night and the girl is going with the sketchy guy. By intermission, they still have not left for the party!
What happened then? Not a whole lot. They establish some other characters and a subplot involving a peddlar with some sort of foreign accent. The first act ends with a really bizarre, long ballet set. The dancers act out some sort of drug induced vision that the girl has after sniffing some egyptian salt she got from the peddlar. When I say long, I mean long, it was probably 7 minutes of dancing but felt like 15. How did they fit this into a Western?
The second act is a little more satisfying story wise as the protagonists get together after some drama and stay together after a fiery climax. But there was really no story created tension in the whole thing. And the songs just weren’t that good. I mean the titular track is fun and all, but no where close to anything from West Side Story, The Music Man or Guys and Dolls. And the rest are even more pedestrian.
I don’t know how this bodes for the Sonics, but I think there is an interesting comparison to be made with the movies about Seattle and Oklahoma. For Seattle I would choose Singles, because not only about Seattle, but has a big music component. Singles, while not a great film tried to capture a certain moment in time and is certainly more watchable than Oklahoma. I would also say that the quality of the music is way better. But Oklahoma! has one very well known song and a reputation as a great musical and the world acknowledges it as the superior movie. Oklahoma City has acquired a reputation as an NBA city because they sold out one season of basketball. I can only hope that Seattle’s luck is better with the basketball than cinema.
