The rock opera film. A genre not quite that of a musical, nor of a jukebox piece. It’s a genre of charged emotion and societal reflection. It’s raw, gritty and real

With all that’s been happening in our nation as of late, wouldn’t this be the perfect time to have this form of expression make a comeback?

Many of you reading this may not have had experience with these types of films, especially if you’re under the age of 35, as they were most popular in the late 70s and early 80s. Recently, the only examples that come to mind are American Idiot (which has yet to be released as a film) and Repo! the Genetic Opera (2008).

For those of you who have not seen a rock opera before, you may be asking yourself what makes them so unique. It’s so hard for me to put into words, but I’m going to try my best.

The album is produced first, and all of the songs tell the story. The visuals are only created after the fact. Due to this, there is no dialogue in the films.

This is what distinguishes this genre from that of the rock musical - the likes of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). The music tells the story of the characters, rather than the characters themselves.

Typically, the stories revolve around controversial current events - drugs, sex, war, abuse, politics, public perception. They pack a punch and make the viewer look deeper into these issues by going on a journey with the characters, who typically end up worse for the wear.

(This description comes from my experience with Tommy (1975), Quadrophenia (1979), Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982) and the Broadway adaptation of American Idiot (2009). Repo! the Genetic Opera, although classified as a rock opera, is an outlier in many regards here.)

As author Rabindranath Tagore said, “Music is the purest form of art.” The songs in these films are full of emotional expression that is hard to find anywhere else.

Rock operas are the perfect way to express feelings - usually contempt, although that may be an offshoot of the rock genre itself - for current events.

Regardless of where you stand on America’s issues, you cannot deny that no one is truly happy with our nation at the moment.

Tension is high and feelings are strong. This unrest is the perfect atmosphere for an effective rock opera to be made. If there was ever a time for a resurgence of these films, this is it.

Let now be the time for a statement to be made and voices to be heard.