Chicago Playbook for Chicago 9

The term “narcissism” wasn’t coined until 1822 when Samuel Taylor Coleridge confessed to the condition in a letter. Havelock Ellis invoked it to describe “the ‘perversion’ of autoeroticism,” and Freud borrowed it from P. Nacke, a turn of the century commentator on Ellis. “The adoption of narcissism as a pejorative psychoanalytic term is now part of popular speech” (Riel, 2000a, CD-Rom), referring to people afflicted with a “grandiose self” that longs for adulation. While those with a “grandiose self” may feel connected with other objects (i.e. people)—these other objects are viewed only as extensions of oneself, and are not seen in their own right. “This can be manifested through various forms of vanity, pride, ambition, self-glorification and perfectionism” (Ronfeldt, 1994, p. 21). Doty (2000, CD-Rom), in speaking about narcissism remarks:

I like Thomas Moore's suggestion that the narcissist has to learn how to recognize the components of himself that are transcendental, elements of the soul that are gifts of the gods and not "earned," in order to escape the purely introverted focus upon the unique self (1992:63) . . . . Narcissism in such a context means claiming all the praise for one's own creativity rather than respecting the genuinely creative elements that happen upon one, come to one out of the blue as something other than one's own production. Bringing the self up from that unconscious state of being stuck on one's own predilections and tastes enables one to recognize the common experiences shared with others, and so opens the way to sharing, fully-interpersonal relationships.

And here we see, how narcissism leads to inflation and identification with unconscious contents that will ultimately lead to the appearance of Nemesis to balance out the psyche. ∆RC[ch15]

A little mythic aside on scarves, which shows the appropriateness of their use in this number:

“When humanity—feeling that the orders imposed upon it by nature, society, and fate are a form of bondage—breaks the natural or fatalistic bond, it is Nemesis and the Erinyes who furiously avenge the gods and restore order.” Erinyes or Furies . . . punish violations against filial duty, claims of kinship and rites of hospitality. In some instances their revenge is imagistically depicted as a form of thread-like bondage.” (Nigro, 2000, p. 12-13)

Roxie is Velma’s nemesis, for Velma is arrogant and hubristic for most of the movie, and this hubris invokes nemesis. Velma then appears to be Roxie’s nemesis, during the trial, but Mama and Billy have seen to it that Velma’s apparent nemesis results in her own and Roxie’s freedom.

In speaking about tragedy, Nigro (2000) points out that if the hero gets too inflated, the web of relationship can become a snare or trap, and the repercussions of this hubris will be in directly opposite to the hero’s intentions:

If the expression of a proud self is taken too far, so that it becomes the flaw of an excessive defiance and a renunciation of the other, one resulting from excessive pride (hubris), error in judgment (hamartia), and obsession with but one strand of the world’s complex web, the hero triggers his own nemesis. (p. 165),

Let the Rivalry Begin

Whereas “When You’re Good To Mama” ends with the prison door slamming shut and Roxie isolated in her cell, “Cell Block Tango” begins with the door to Roxie’s cell opening in her mind, and ends with the whooshing sound of steam escaping, as the scene changes to the prison laundry, where we see Roxie, among the other inmates inquiring about Velma’s underwear.

This number transitions us from the Saturnian second to the Plutonic third matrix (BPM II to BPM III), from deathlike isolation, a feeling of total victimhood and exile from which there is no exit to a more active, aggressive, engaged and intense life and death struggle: first as we see in “Cell Block Tango” between the murderesses and their victims, and later, as we will soon see, the real life struggle between Roxie and Velma.

We then see Roxie delivering towels to the Matron’s bathroom where she has the luck to overhear Velma and Mama discussing Velma’s future. As Roxie eavesdrops through a crack in the door, by using the small medicine chest mirror, she gets a glimpse of possibility and a glimmer of hope. Roxie learns from Mama and Velma that sensational activities can translate into stardom, and she “gradually realizes how much she could get out of this, although she doesn’t come in thinking that she could” (Marshall 2003b, DVD). Mama has arranged a tour for Velma after her trial, where Velma will earn many times the money she made previously. Roxie also learns that Mama’s advice and help can be costly—for instance, fifty bucks for a phonecall!

Roxie has also wangled her way into bringing Velma’s laundry to her, in order to ask Velma for advice. As she delivers Velma’s “personals” to Velma, Roxie admits she is scared. Roxie is a big fan and shows her admiration and veneration for Velma, even confiding her dream of being on stage to Velma, and then sincerely asking Velma for advice. Velma is condescending and nasty to Roxie when she sarcastically inquires of Roxie: “what’s your talent, washing and drying?” and then Velma arrogantly advises Roxie “keep your paws off my underwear.” Thus, Velma snubs Roxie for a second time, the first time being when Roxie first arrived in jail and saw Velma on the way to her cell. This act of hubris sets the stage for the tables to be turned later in the movie. Roxie quickly and successfully imitates or models Velma; arrogance, “I can do it alone” attitude, and all. Velma will get a taste of her own medicine later. As we saw in the “Cosmic Game” chapter, the dynamics of the psyche work by an interplay of opposites, and that is exactly what is occurring here.

Mama, seeing this interaction, also sees an opening; she senses an opportunity for further profit by helping Roxie. Compensating for Velma’s rudeness, Mama takes Roxie under her wing, offering to help Roxie. From Mama, Roxie learns that telling the truth will not work: “The truth, that’s a one way ticket to the death house… in this town, murder’s a form of entertainment.” Mama advises Roxie that what she really needs is the right representation and Mama suggests Billy Flynn, Velma’s lawyer. Mama tells Roxie that Billy has never lost a case for a female client, and she assures Roxie, that with “a cute little puss like yours, let’s just say that justice ain’t so blind in Chicago.” Roxie asks how she can get Billy to represent her, and Mama tells Roxie that it will cost $100 for the phone call. As Roxie begins to balk, Mama goes on to tell her more about Billy, and the wall behind Mama begins to dissolve.

In this transition, they used a scrim, which is reminiscent of the prison uniform that we saw through along with the steam at the beginning of “Cell Block Tango.” Again, we see women prisoners behind bars again, as in “Cell Block Tango,” dressed in prison garb. They begin to disrobe as they sing, “we want Billy,” revealing red and pink, skimpy, sequined, lingere-esqe costumes. The dissolving wall reflects Roxie’s realization that there may be a way out, after all. If Roxie can get Billy’s help, there might indeed be light at the end of the tunnel, situating us squarely in the shadowy world of the third matrix (BPM III). ∆RC[ch16]

All I Care About

Billy then begins to sing his number, “All I Care About Is Love.” In this number, the ludic function of the psyche, the metaphoric, mythopoetic nature of the unconscious is writ large. Roxie’s reverie reveals images that lie and tell the truth at the same time. In Roxie’s imagination, she conjures up a Ziegfield Follies number featuring the female prisoners singing and dancing around Billy. While Billy is singing and dancing in Roxie’s imagination, he seems to be Mr. Wonderful, although we then begin to see intercuts of Billy in real life, showing that he is not wonderful at all, but is really just a self-serving shyster. All Billy cares about is not love, but money and himself. Reality and Roxie’s imagination seem to be diametrically opposed, but upon closer examination, if we look at the visual metaphors, we can see that the truth is there in them, and through various cuts the metaphors accurately mirror reality.

Billy sings about not caring for “Packard cars” and the next thing we see is Billy being driven in a presumably Packard car, which sports a winged female hood ornament, the scene then cuts back to the production number with a beautiful woman in the same pose and position as the hood ornament, while the other women are positioned in the shape of a car from which the singing Billy emerges. The metaphoric message is indeed clear: female prisoners, because these are the dancers, are a vehicle for Billy. The scene then switches to Billy’s arrival at the prison and Roxie approaches him to represent her, proposing that since she does not have $5,000, that maybe they can work something else out because Roxie “can be a really good sport,” and Billy makes it clear that she means just one thing to him—money.

We next see Billy singing “give me long raven hair flowing down, out to there, let me see her standing free, take your money, that’s enough for me.” Billy is holding onto a red feather boa, rolling over a whole bunch of women, as he goes from one place to another. Again Billy is using women as a vehicle and he rolls over them in assembly line fashion, without regard to their individuality in order to get where he wants to go. At the end of the song, as Billy almost exposes himself in a mock striptease, we see silver dollar-sized, money-like, silver Mylar confetti raining down on Billy as he sings the long drawn out final line, “All I care about…… is love.” Although Billy is surrounded by women, who presumably are showering him with attention, there is a thick downpour of silver confetti as well, hinting that the attention will translate to money too. During the cuts, we get a very clear picture that Billy is a liar, sounds a bit similar to lawyer, don’t you think? Billy, as we will see, is a Trickster, and like Hermes, is known to lie on occasion. Remember, Romanyshyn (2001) reminds us that metaphors are lies that tell the truth. Director Marshall and screenwriter Condon remark “All I Care About” was the most burlesque number in the movie (Marshall, 2003b, DVD). Burlesque refers not only to a variety show, but also to parodies, lampoons, satires, takeoffs, spoofs, and distortions, thus burlesque was definitely an apt choice of style for this particular song. Also, "All I Care About" is one of the reddest numbers in the picture—the women’s costumes are red, their feather fans are red, their scarves and boas are red, and the curtains are red, especially implicating this tricky trial lawyer, and we will soon see why. ∆RC[ch17]

Sweetest Little Jazz Killer

Proving he can turn on a dime, within the space of a couple of sentences Billy goes from telling Roxie’s husband Amos that Amos is a hero in Billy’s eyes to calling him a dirty liar for not producing all of the money, and then yet another 180 degrees to saying that Amos’s loyalty is touching and that Billy will take the $2,000 Amos has raised so far. Billy is not concerned at all about the truth, but only about the money; he reminds Amos, “I didn’t ask you about whether she was guilty… all I asked you was if you had the $5,000.” Billy then figures out his angle—how he will spin the story—“the sweetest little jazz killer in Chicago,” and plots his strategy to hold an auction to get more money.

Billy then meets with Roxie and creates an imaginary life for her in order to make the public care about her, as Billy tells Roxie: “nobody will care a lick about your defense, unless they care about you” and the “one thing they can’t resist is a reformed sinner— you have sinned and you are sorry.” He wildly improvises on her real roots and creates a total fiction. Billy is incredibly skilled at image construction. He waxes entomological, metaphorically calling her a “moth drawn to a flame” and a “butterfly caught on the wheel.” Later, Roxie rehearses her new life, being coached by both Billy and Mama on her constructed identity, until she gets her part down. Actual reform is unnecessary, as long as she plays her part to perfection. Roxie thus gets a makeover—Billy makes over her life story, while Roxie does the physical part, bleaching her roots and cutting her hair in the latest fashion. ∆RC[ch18]

Velma, in a meeting with Billy, tries out “bits” for her trial, her ideas for what she will do when she is on the stand, but Billy’s attention is drawn to Roxie, his new focus. Later, Roxie will steal all of these ideas. Billy brushes Velma off distractedly saying “tomorrow, you’re at the top of my list” of course not meaning it at all. Roxie is now on top, and Velma is the one who is one down. Their positions in the scene mirror this, too. Later, Velma stops by Roxie’s cell and ambiguously advises Roxie for her upcoming press conference: “you’re the one they pay to see” reminding her “that Billy Flynn’s number one client is Billy Flynn.” Again, there is a back and forth dynamic of the two women mirroring the back and forth dynamics of the psyche.

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