
Originally Posted by
trices
There are many similarities and contrast in the movies Sparkle and Dreamgirls. While a great bit of the movies share the same world, the plots and endings are very different. This will prove to be obvious during this simple comparisons and contracts contrast essay. From the beginning to the end, both movies show things can be similar but very different. One has to notice and distinguish between the parallel and distinctive storylines that are taking place during the movies.
Both movies are dated in the 1960’s. This is the era of Motown where when girl groups were up and coming but a dime a dozen. The movies are were inspired by the famous “Supremes.” There are The singing, girl groups have three members in each group, which involve a lead and two back up singers. The groups start entering local talents talent shows in hopes of being notices noticed by music producers. The ladies in the movie try to sing their way to stardom. The desire to make it big in the music industry motives both groups. With great singing being a part of the storylines, the ladies sing their way up into to popularity, eventually booking shows. With everything going so well something bad was bound to happen. Both groups lose a member and have to go through an adjustment period. The groups don’t make it to the top together but one member fulfills the dream at least.
The ladies in Dreamgirls are friends that who joined together to participate in local talent shows. In Sparkle, the singing group of three are sisters. This difference changes the relationship dynamics of the group (
What does this mean? Which group?). In Sparkle the sisters are torn apart when the oldest sister enters into a relationship with an abusive drug dealer. The oldest sister becomes a battered girl friend who overdoses on drugs. Their womanizing manager, who turns the girls against each other, damages the relationship in Dreamgirls. He degrades the member he dates and causes her to leave the group, not disclosing she is pregnant with his child. Struggling as a single parent she reinvents herself as a solo artist but is again double-crossed (How was she "double-crossed? It takes two to tango.) when the manager steals her song. Unknown to the group, the Dreamgirls remake a song that their long lost friend has had already recorded. In Sparkle, the youngest sister is left with her mother after the middle sister leaves after the funeral of the eldest sister (In Sparkle, the youngest daughter had to care for her mother after the middle sister left). While tending to her mother she is reunited with the music writer of the group. At the end of the Dreamgirls, the truth comes out about the stolen music. The group takes its final bow and the original members are reconciled. reconciliation is done between the original members. The final curtain in Sparkles ends with just the youngest sister reaching the dream of stardom. (Curtains don't end, they are lowered or dropped.)
Dreamgirls and Sparkle share the common desire for success and overcoming challenges. The challenges produce different ending, which, in contrast, shows the different roads people can take toward a common goal can take.