Aahana Swrup
The Netflix holiday rom-com ‘The Merry Gentlemen’ centers all around a bar/art performance venue, barely hingeing on life support that finds a new identity under a passionate artist’s attention. The Rhythm Room, owned by the Davis family, used to be a crown jewel of Sycamore Creek’s small town. Nonetheless, it dwindles out of prominence with time. That is until the youngest Davis daughter, Ashley Davis, a dancer on Broadway, returns home for the holidays after getting fired from her job.
As Ashley takes in the state of her family business and decides to mix things up with an all-male dance revue, The Rhythm Room finds a brand new life. Furthermore, the bar becomes the backdrop to a budding romance between the professional dancer and her volunteer collaborator, Luke, the local carpenter. As such, the venue holds notable significance to the story as it becomes the nucleus that holds different narrative elements together.
The Rhythm Room: A Fictional Venue That Defines Ashley’s Narrative
‘The Merry Gentlemen’ charts a fun-filled narrative revolving around the endeavor of unlocking one’s true passion despite life’s uncertainties. As such, the holiday-themed romantic comedy equips a fictitiously crafted narrative that checks off numerous boxes within the genre, from the cliche self-discovery journey of a city girl in a small town to the endearing will-they-won’t-they central romance. However, one crucial element within the narrative distinguishes the film from its contemporaries: The Rhythm Room.
The Rhythm Room is the venue Ashley’s parents own in the film, which has been a town staple since its opening. However, as she returns home after years, Ashley discovers that the place is standing on its last legs. As a result, she decides to implement a new approach and restore the venue to a new glory. Since the place had always been known for its art performances—and the recent shortage of the same had led to The Rhythm Room’s downfall—Ashley decides to produce an all-male dance revue at the place to attract a new crowd. While the establishment remains entirely fictitious and holds no roots in reality outside of the film, The Rhythm Room manages to hold onto a sense of realism.
The venue is an ideal small-town dive that encourages artist exposure. However, with the rise in social media, the venue becomes less significant in the town’s cultural identity. The concept of modern technology putting small businesses out of work effortlessly grounds the venue’s identity in reality. Therefore, while the establishment exists solely to serve Ashley’s narrative, it also manages to infuse the film with a genre staple that is modernized for contemporary times. Nonetheless, while other male-employed dance entertainment establishments exist in real life, there aren’t any venues identical to The Rhythm Room. Ultimately, it remains a fictional element within the fictional story.
Read More: The Merry Gentlemen: Is The Netflix Movie Based on a True Story?
