Juxtaposition between complexity and simplicity
Nothing is good unless it is compared to something that is bad; nothing is positive unless it is compared to something negative. In Bob Fosse’s film All That Jazz, there is much excessiveness in the character of Joe Gideon. The extravagant scenes wouldn’t be extraordinary if there weren’t simple scenes to contrast them against. Fosse created these disparities between scenes as a way of emphasizing importance in the simple scenes. Through this difference in excessiveness, Fosse is saying that Father-daughter love is worth more than shallow lust and facing death with honesty is worth more than fabricating it as some grandeur musical. The excessiveness in Joe Gideon’s life is important for giving meaning to the non-excessive parts.