Funny Girl
Originally published on social media on May 4th, 2022
Over the last few days, I have been taking a look at the movies Grandma Oma loved, and I noticed a couple of trends. She loved romance and strong leading ladies. The majority of the movies I will discuss will probably feature one of those categories or both! Special shoutout to my mom for talking to me about films grandma loved two nights in a row!
What better place to start than with Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl! Three generations of women in my family love Babs, and it all started with this film (Barbra’s first film). Grandma was 19 when this film came out and I cannot imagine a better age to see this for the first time. This was one of her favorites!
This film is all about embracing what makes us quirky, funny, and beautiful, and not letting anyone rain on your parade. Babs follows her dreams and falls in love with the SERIOUSLY ATTRACTIVE Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif. I feel ashamed in admitting I didn’t think Omar Sharif was attractive when I first saw this. Luckily I now see what grandma saw: how charming and handsome he was.
There are great elements of this film like the costume design, lighting, and set design, but those things aren’t what make it a classic in my family. The acting is definitely an important element to what makes this film sensational with Babs and Omar Sharif being such talented performers, adding so much to the script. Another element I love about this film is the soundtrack! There’s not a song that I don’t like from this film, and I think Grandma felt the same! “Don’t Rain on My Parade” is a classic, but “Sadie, Sadie” and “You are Woman, I am Man” are both fantastic. We made a CD of songs that reminded us of Grandma a while back, and “Sadie, Sadie” is on there. I don’t know if I have listened to the song (and CD) too many times, or if I actually have a memory of this, but I can almost hear Grandma sing it sometimes. Either way, I’ll take it and enjoy the happy way of remembering grandma!
Funny Girl is hilarious, empowering, and a true work of art that has inspired many women, especially my family. With that, this film gets