Mamma Mia (the film) was the topic of discussion at bookclub last night. I took my Abba Gold compilation for everyone to enjoy and Anne M provided the cd player. So we had our own little soundtrack which Jinx and I joined in with every so often (hopefully this wasn’t too annoying?!).

Anyway, wonderful host Ann H took charge and set us up with some points of discussion and interest. Our conversation was wide ranging…from why audiences found Pierce Brosnan’s singing so hilarious…to whether, like Meryl Streep, any of us could do the splits. (Answer, sadly…no!)

We all agreed that Streep was the real star here. She really looked like she was having a whale of a time singing and dancing, but for me the real highlight was the drama and emotion she managed to convey through the scene on the hilltop of The Winner Takes it All. Personally, I was astonished at the depth she conveyed here – and this song went from being one of my least favourite ABBAs, to one I am now desperate to find the sheet music of – and play myself.

The consensus seemed to be that the women were much stronger than the men – basically because the script gave them more to work with. Julie Walters hammed it up beautifully, and Christine Baranski brought a tattered elegance to her character. And as for poor maligned Pierce and his questionable singing ability, Jinx, Jan and I couldn’t understand why the various audiences we saw the film with, found this so hilarious (Anne M!!). Sure, he’s no Placido Domingo…but for me, this is actually what is so attractive about Mamma Mia….it’s so firmly located in the everyday. No one appears so fantastic in their singing and dancing ability…it wears its ABBA fandom front and centre. So as the audience we can identify clearly with the poor singing of Pierce (and, I must say, the awkward dancing of Colin Firth) because that’s how we might look up there. And I think the thing about ABBA, and much pop music is that it’s simplicity on first listening is deceptive. Many of the songs ask for quite a big vocal range and singing ability, without which they just don’t work – which makes the achievement of any of these actors (none of whom are known for their singing) more commendable.

The jukebox musicals like Mamma Mia are a celebration of the integration of pop music in our daily lives (for isn’t this what popular music is for?). I’m sure there’s a whole research project here about fan cultures and practices (as well as the canny commercial imperative of the producers of this and other shows like We Will Rock You in tapping into our nostalgic desires to recapture moments from our youth). For music can return us to a time and a place with astonishing clarity and force. As I hunted through my cd collection and found my ABBA compilation I can still remember going into KMart in Toowoomba and buying it with some friends from uni. (This was in the days when cds were new!)

The other talking point that the film inspired was the place of happiness and fun in our lives. Where does it go as we get older? How can we recapture the sense of joy that pervaded the film? Because, as most of us realised while we were watching, the responsibilities and routines of our lives frequently obscure our enjoyment of the little and big things. And as Ann H wisely pointed out, it’s our consumer culture’s driving quest for happiness that actually prevents us from ever reaching a point where we are content. So the more we explicitly search for things or events to make us happy, the less likely we are to recognise or find joy in life. Nothing is ever enough.
For me, this makes the challenge to find joy in the little moments of life that can so easily pass us by while we are not looking….