(From an imaginary doctoral thesis I will never write. Not 100% serious but watching the movie again recently did make me think)

Under the Cherry Moon is Prince's "Citizen Kane". While critics may not have been as kind to Prince's second film as they were to Welles' classic, UTCM served the same purpose is detailing the life of a celebrity who longed for simple things. Kane longed for Rosebud, his childhood sled, Christopher longed for fun. Kane was a representation of media mogul William Randolph Hearst who Welles psychoanalyzed in the film, Christopher was one of Prince's alter egos. Christopher was an artist and musician trying to hit the big time, just like a young Prince Rogers Nelson was before "Purple Rain" became a beast. Mrs. Wellington was 'Purple Rain", a source of money and noteriety but she didn't truly make Christopher(Prince) happy. Christopher, as he says many times in the film, is not someone looking to making a living, he is someone who does things for fun. Mary comes into his life and though at first she looks like all the other debutantes he has been hustling, he finds that what he enjoys the most about her is not money but how good she makes him feel, the fun he has with her. Mary represents artistic freedom, something Christopher (Prince) longs for. Alas, Mary's father (who seems to represent Warner Brothers) is not having that, he will not let Christopher have his daughter (artistic freedom) and tries to buy him with money which Christopher refuses. Christopher ends up giving his life for the pursuit of fun, his last words being "We had fun, didn't we?" Christopher could have had it all, just as Prince could have been the biggest commercial artist in the the world. But that wasn't what he wanted; he wanted freedom and the ability to find fun in what he did.

How does this not have 500 replies?

GottaLetitgo said:

I have been asked by imaginary instructor to explore who Tricky represents. Also those bats in that scene where Christopher and Tricky ran out of the restaurant...totally paparazzi.

I always thought that particular scene with the bats was "abrupt" and disconnected from the movie. I like the paparazzi symbolism theory, even if it doesn't supply a connection to the plot line. Maybe I just need to watch it again.

[Edited 6/23/16 21:50pm]

"If you wanna keep posting here... stay off the drugs."

In the span of a month I have drawn a comparison between UTCM and both Citizen Kane and Titanic in two separate threads. In some weird way, isn't that kind of impressive?

[Edited 6/24/16 7:52am]

[Edited 6/24/16 8:52am]

Wow.

As someone who recently saw this movie for the first time, you've definitely given me some thoughts to ponder. Well, it's possible that this was part of his creative genius.

I actually thought the movie was HILARIOUS and don't see why it got such disappointing reviews.

NouveauDance said:

I was told before I watched the movie this particular time that the brownies were just regular brownies.

GottaLetitgo said:

In the span of a month I have drawn a comparison between UTCM and both Citizen Kane and Titanic in two separate threads. In some weird way, isn't that kind of impressive?

[Edited 6/24/16 7:52am]

[Edited 6/24/16 8:52am]

Titanic? Do explain. The film came eleven years after UTCM, are you saying it was inspired in some way by Prince's movie?