Bob S.
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 1767
Location: So. Cal
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:51 am Post subject: Re: riding the coat tails |
 |
|
| missdaredevil wrote: |
Chicago was just *riding the coat tails* of Moulin Rouge.
Could anyone explain that part? |
Many years ago, a man of high wealth and fashion would wear long coats that nearly touched the ground and sometimes did actually drag on the ground. They were commonly split at the bottom to form what looked like 2 flat tails. You can still see this fashion style today in some styles of tuxedos.
"To ride the coattails" brought a visual image of one person sitting on the long coattails of another person and being dragged along to where ever they went. The idea implied that the person sitting and being dragged was putting in little or no effort but was being pulled into high society and positions of importance by the efforts of the more wealthy and powerful person who wore the coat.
So, Moulin Rouge was a musical made with great effort and great risk since people today usually don't go to the cinema to see musicals anymore. Since it did so well, it made the audience ready for more musicals to be made into movies such as Chicago. On its own effort, Chicago would not have done as well since it was not as good. At least, that is what the writer is suggesting. |
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
