‘La La Land’ Day Is Now An Official Holiday

Look, I loved La La Land as much as the next starry-eyed dreamer with a distinct thing for musicals. But the news from the Los Angeles Times that La La Land Day is now an official holiday seems like a little... much. On Wednesday, April 12, Los Angeles' mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced that, from now on, April 25 will be an official city holiday in honor of the Oscar-winning film. Um... thanks? It's not as if director Damien Chazelle's musical didn't get enough recognition (does 14 Oscar nominations and five Oscar wins ring a bell for anyone?), so I can't help but wonder if the movie is really deserving of this much more.

La La Land's special day, which happens to be the same day as the DVD and Blu-ray release, will kick off at 8:30 a.m. with a dedication ceremony on the steps of L.A. City Hall. There will be a jazz band (of course), BANDALOOP aerial dancers performing a medley of numbers from the musical, and an official dedication by Mayor Garcetti. Important members of the production team will be in attendance, including Chazelle, composer Justin Hurwitz, production designers David and Sandy Wasco, choreographer Mandy Moore (no, not that one), and jewelry designer Kyle Chan.

While the whole thing is honestly kind of unusual, it's nice that these talented artists will be getting recognition for their efforts — because isn't that what La La Land is all about?

The Times points out that Los Angeles did provide the backdrop for the film starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, so the recognition does make sense in that respect. At the same time, there's a vast quantity of movies that are love letters to L.A. in their own unique ways and rock a very similar backdrop — Who Framed Roger Rabbit, L.A. Story, and Mulholland Drive to name a small few — and you don't see them getting city holidays.

Again, I'm not knocking the movie that made us all fall in love (or re-fall in love) with the City of Stars. But I think we can all agree that we've heard an awful lot about the movie, especially after the Academy Awards Envelopegate blunder during which Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly announced La La Land as Best Picture though the actual winner was Barry Jenkins' Moonlight. Does La La Land really need an entire day of the year on top of all that?

Whether the people of Los Angeles, or the rest of the world, like it or not, April 25 will be La La Land Day in La La Land. I guess we should all have viewing parties in honor of this hallowed day. Or maybe not. At the very least, give the soundtrack a list; it really is delightful.