Line #24 Film/TheRose


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_rose_1451.jpg]]
2
3	->''"She gave... And gave... And gave. Until she had nothing left to give."''
4	-->-- '''Tagline'''
5
6	A 1979 film directed by Creator/MarkRydell and starring Creator/BetteMidler in her first film appearance as a vulnerable, self-destructive rock singer looking for love. The supporting cast includes Creator/AlanBates, Creator/FredericForrest, and Creator/HarryDeanStanton.
7
8	----
9	!!Tropes:
10	* AbusiveParents: Rose's parents. One of whom is played by Doris Roberts (Mrs. Foster/Rose's mother).
11	* TheAlcoholic: Rose is always seen drinking from a bottle.
12	* AnachronismStew: In the club where Rose joins the drag version of herself on stage, they sing "The Fire Down Below" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The song was released in 1976, but the movie is set in 1969.
13	* ArtisticLicensePharmacology: The Rose shoots up heroin in a phone booth, even though she has no water - a necessity for intravenous usage of a powdered narcotic.
14	* AwardBaitSong: The title tune, sung by Midler, is actually an aversion; because composer Amanda [=McBroom=] hadn't written the song specifically for the movie, it was ineligible for Academy Award consideration. (It did win Midler a MediaNotes/GrammyAward, however, and became a massive hit.)
15	* AwkwardSilenceEntrance: The diner is full of laughter from the patrons but immediately goes quiet when Rose enters. She is shunned because she's a hippie.
16	* BisexualLoveTriangle: A brief one between [[spoiler: Houston, Rose and Sarah]].
17	* BlatantLies: "This is my old friend Sarah".
18	* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Several between Rose and Houston throughout the film.
19	* BrokenBird: Rose. In spite of her success, her personal life is lonely and exhausting.
20	* BrokenPedestal: Rose meets with country music star Billy Ray, whom she idolizes and whose songs she often covers in live shows. Billy Ray cruelly demands that she never perform his music again, and he rudely dismisses her.
21	* BrokenTears: Rose has these, whether she's giving an emotional performance on stage, arguing with her manager or her boyfriend and other personal struggles.
22	* ThinkOfTheCensors: Just before going on stage Rose is told, several times, not to say, "Motherfucker." due to important critics watching. Of course, the first words out of her mouth once she gets on stage are, "Hi you motherfuckers!"
23	* DestructiveRomance: Due to several factors (drugs, promiscuity, fame, ect.), the relationship between Rose and Houston eventually turns violent through the course of the movie.
24	* DiedStandingUp: [[spoiler:Rose actually dies ''on her feet.'' It takes a few seconds for her body to collapse.]]
25	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Rose loses her boyfriend, indulges in a fatal combination of heroin, alcohol and barbiturates, and dies onstage during what was supposed to be her comeback concert.]]
26	* DownerBeginning: The film opens with Rose's spoken dialogue and her parents looking over their daughter's estate [[spoiler: following her overdose]]. Also HowWeGotHere.
27	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Heartbroken from her breakup with Houston, Rose decides to indulge in a fatal combination of heroin, alcohol and barbiturates]] before her last concert.
28	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Rose's first scene is of her stumbling out of a plane dropping a bottle of booze.
29	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Remember the tear-stricken out-of-breath opening monologue by Rose in the beginning? Oh God. Once you seen the whole movie [[spoiler: (up to the film's tragic ending)]], the film's opening will make a lot of sense and [[{{Tearjerker}} a lot of tears]].
30	* InLoveWithLove: Rose tells the crowd how much she loves to be in love.
31	* IJustWantToBeLoved: Rose is an insecure alcoholic and former drug user who seems to crave approval in her life.
32	* InterruptedIntimacy:
33	** After her concert, Rose and Houston start celebrating. Kissing as they walk together backstage. It's implied that if her old friend Sarah hadn't been there, they would've gone further.
34	** Later, Houston walks in on Rose and Sarah making out in the bathroom.
35	* LadyKillerInLove: Rudge assumes that Huston is just another hanger-on, but Rose feels she has finally met her true love.
36	* LipstickLesbian: Rose's "old friend" Sarah and Rose herself, though actually a lipstick bisexual.
37	* LoveTriangle: Several examples, but the main one is Rose's choice between Houston and her desire for fame.
38	* MoralityPet: Houston is this to Rose. [[spoiler: Once he leaves, it all goes straight to hell]].
39	* NeverAcceptedInHisHometown : Rose wants desperately to return to her hometown a success. It doesn't go well for her.
40	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Rose is basically a thinly-veiled version of Music/JanisJoplin. The project began life as a Joplin {{Biopic}} called ''Pearl''.
41	* OscarBait: As Rose, Bette Midler sings, she gets strung out, and [[spoiler:she dies]]. Midler was nominated for Best Actress but lost to Creator/SallyField (''Film/NormaRae'').
42	* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Rose falls to her knees and screams this crying when [[spoiler: Houston has had enough and leaves her]].
43	* PublicBathhouseScene: After an argument, Rose goes looking for Houston inside a men's public bathhouse. PlayedForLaughs.
44	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: Lots of all three. During the first on-screen concert, it's even a "crowd chant".
45	* TheSixties: The film is set in 1969...
46	** PresentDayPast: ...although it looks more like TheSeventies, considering the year the film was released (1979).
47	* StayInTheKitchen: Rose lampshades this trope talking about how women are kept in the house by their man rattling pots and pans.
48	* ResignationsNotAccepted: Rose repeats her intention to take a one-year break from performing, leading Rudge to tell her she will be in breach of contract.
49	* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: Houston after being hit by Rose during their last fight together.
50	* SlutShaming: Inverted when Rose tells Houston the football story, then played straight in the western bar.
51	* SkewedPriorities: [[spoiler: Despite her manager's attempts to take her to a hospital and get treatment for her overdose, Rose decides she'd rather give a comeback concert instead. It turned out to be her last.]]
52	* StageMom: Her manager Rudge is aware of her fragile state, but does nothing to intervene. He just keeps milking her career by booking her into show after show.
53	* TheLastDance: Rather than seek help for her [[spoiler: heroin and barbiturate overdose]], Rose decides to just go on stage and give her comeback concert for all her fans.
54	* TheLastStraw: After being slapped by Rose one too many times during arguments, Houston decided he's had enough and hitches a ride out of town away from her.
55	* TheTragicRose: Rose herself, of course, to the fullest use of the trope. The film's titled after her stage name, and after a series of heartbreaks and other misfortunes, [[spoiler: she collapses and dies of an overdose on stage in the first few minutes of her homecoming concert]].
56	* UnusualEuphemism: Rose calls heroin "cookies and milk" when her manager gives her a dose to push through her hunger and physical exhaustion.
57	* UnresolvedSexualTension: Between Rose and Sarah.
58	* WhatTheHellHero: Houston to Rose, after her behavior in the western bar.
59	* YankTheDogsChain: Believing her concert is cancelled, Rose decides to run away and start a new life with Huston. Unbeknownst to Rose, this is only a ploy by her manager to ensure that she performs the show.
60	* YourMakeupIsRunning: Rose's makeup runs from crying.

Context Film / TheRose