Almost Famous Movie Analysis

The human experience seems to revolve around love; everyone in their life experiences love, whether it's falling in love, heartbreaks, or falling out of love. Experiences with love help people become who they are meant to be. This is shown throughout the film Almost Famous, where Will meets Penny and falls in love; however she is obsessed with the band. In Almost Famous directed by Cameron Crowe, as well as in examples from my own personal experience, it can be seen that love can either help you or hurt you. This is illustrated through the character Penny. As a result of both relationships Penny experiences, Penny is able to become who she is meant to be.

Penny Lane is first introduced trying to get backstage of a Black Sabbath concert, where she is met by Will, a young journalist on an assignment to review Black Sabbath. Penny Lane insists she and her friends are band aids, a term she invented to describe female fans that are there more for the music than for the rock stars themselves. To the untrained eye, Penny might seem like a groupie, however Penny explains “Groupies sleep with rock stars because they want to be near someone famous”. “We are here because of the music; we inspire the music. We are Band Aids.” Penny plays the role of artistic muse for Lead guitarist, Russell Hammond where she tries to inspire the band. Penny Lane is magnificent and William is totally mesmerized by the Mysterious Band Aid, Penny. William’s love for Penny strengthens in many ways. Penny is an embodiment of the music they all love. She is the very essence of rock and roll. William tells Penny he still has to go home and she softly tells him “You are home”.

William Miller is our central character and protagonist, one of the main characters throughout Almost Famous. William's long lasting love for Penny began when they met outside a concert. Penny immediately took a liking to Will and invited him inside. Stillwater merely sees her as another groupie, a term Penny despises because she says "real groupies sleep with rock stars just to be near someone famous”, however Will sees so much more in Penny and actually understands her. Penny explains to Will that “If you never take it seriously, you never get hurt. If you never get hurt, you’ll always have fun.” This quote demonstrates Penny trying to convince herself not to fall in love to protect herself from heartbreak but this is all said until she meets Russell. Of course things get complicated when Penny finds herself falling for Russel, which is questionable as her long-term philosophy of life is to never take love seriously.

Meeting Russell changes Pennys perspective on how love really is. Russell is first introduced to Penny backstage by Will, there is an immediate click between the two. After the show Will is invited by Russel to meet them at the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, and tells William that they'd like Penny Lane to come along. It is in Los Angeles where Russell and Penny form a bond. Will, Penny, and the rest of the Band-Aids join Still Water on the road as their tour is just beginning. Throughout the tour Penny becomes infatuated with Russell. Penny believes that Russell and her have a relationship like no other. At one of the stops, William is privy to a poker game, in which Dick and Russell wager Penny and the Band-Aids for $50 and a case of Heinekin. This appears devastating to Penny at first, however she uses her humor, asking “What kind of beer?”. Once Penny sees that Russell no longer “loves” her, she is able to leave the road life and realize who she is meant to be. Therefore, love both hurts us and helps us.

Although it may sound contradictory, humans need to experience how love both hurts us and helps us. We can see this idea developed in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous through the character of Penny Lane. Throughout the film, Penny falls in love with Russell who does not love her back. Finding out Russell had a wife throughout the whole trip caused devastation in Penny. William's love for Penny truly saves her life, helping her find within herself the strength she needs to rediscover her true identity and leave the world of rock and roll. Penny needed both the hurt of love and the help of love to lead her to her dreams. Penny fulfills her long standing fantasy to go to Morocco so we know that love has saved her. The world's perspective on love is about positive experiences, while observations throughout the film help us understand how faulty love can be.