[+] Stilwell, Robynn. "Vinyl Communion: The Record as Ritual Object in Girls' Rites-of-Passage Films." In Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film, ed. Phil Powrie and Robynn Stilwell, 152-66. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.
A recurrent theme in coming-of-age films starring female protagonists is that of feminine interaction with records. The record collector has usually been associated with a masculine stereotype, but in films depicting feminine interactions with records, the inscribed voice of the record expresses the girl's character. A scene depicting a transformational rite in Heavenly Creatures features music that slips between diegetic use of Mario Lanza's Donkey Serenade, the girls' own singing of the song, and a non-diegetic newly composed orchestral version. In The Virgin Suicides, songs from records, while non-diegetic, organize the relationship of a young couple. The record and its music function as a ritual object in the narrative as the girl experiences a coming-of-age transformation.
Works: Terry Zwigoff (director): Sound track to Ghost World (152-53, 158-59); Mark Herman (director): Sound track to Little Voice (159-60); Peter Jackson (director): Sound track to Heavenly Creatures (160-63); Sofia Coppola (director): Sound track to The Virgin Suicides (163-66).
Sources: Skip James: Devil Got My Woman (152); Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodszky (songwriters), Mario Lanza (performer): Be My Love (161); Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart (composers), Robert Wright and George "Chet" Forrest (lyrics), Mario Lanza (performer): Donkey Serenade (161-62); Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson (songwriters), Heart (performers): Magic Man (164-65), Crazy On You (165).
Index Classifications: 1900s, 2000s, Film
Contributed by: Karen Anton Stafford
