Description
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004, dir. Adama McKay) features a well-known restaurant scene in which Will Ferrell, in the role of news anchor Ron Burgundy, is talked into performing some ‘yazz’ on his flute. Although suggesting that he is ‘not prepared at all’, he magically pulls out a flute from his sleeve, walks over to the stage and starts performing. Ferrell next shows off some of the most virtuoso flute techniques while seen on various spots in the restaurant, most notably playing in the man’s restrooms and using his flute as flamethrower. As if the type of flute performativity has not already made it obvious, the quote of Jethro Tull’s ‘Aqualung’ emphizes the inspirational reference: Ian Anderson, the band’s lead singer and flutist the British rockband from the 1970s.The scene is loaded with an over-the-top machismo, one of the reasons why rapper and flutist Lizzo challenged Ferrell via Instagram to a flute-off (2019). While his Twitter-reaction is a rather unimpressive, brief performance, Lizzo responded with an over-the-top feminized, shot-by-shot re-enactment of the Ron Burgundy restaurant scene, including restroom scene (now the lady’s) and flamethrower. In this virtuozo rendition of her single ‘Juice’, it s not jazz that is played but Lizzo’s own funky music. This paper aims at bringing together the various performative audio-visual realms by analyzing the scenes from a musical parody perspective, as well as through an ‘intersectional’ lens (Kimberlé Crenshaw).
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| Period | 27 May 2023 |
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| Held at | New York University, United States |
| Degree of Recognition | International |