Response to Presentation: Coming of Age

After watching the presentations on Tuesday I was very impressed and intrigued by my classmates area of study. The one by Indeedraslivingroom was one of my favorites. Examining female coming of age films (heathers, clueless, mean girls) is so inspired. She made the excellent point that expectations for girls have changed so little of the past 25 years. All of the coming of age films involve girls trying to be or being part of the in crowd. Apparently girls strive to be nothing else in adolescence except be one of the popular girls . Deedra addressed the issue of the male gaze and how part of success in these films is harnessing the male gaze to gain power. The movies are all about the “girl games” nothing about emotional growth or challenging oneself mentally. There are so many more coming of age movies featuring boys in more complex ways (whats eating Gilbert grape for example). After 25 years you would think that girls could be shown in different more intriguing ways. This of course would put a damper on the really exciting world of the in crowds house parties with scantily clad jailbait. That being said I will admit to seeing all three of the movies mentioned and owning two of them (heathers and mean girls). There is something about the drama that drags you in and gets you to see it again and again. I will admit that there have been some efforts to change female coming of age stories Juno, for example. Juno is a comedy but it also deals with actual issues like teen pregnancy without having Juno strive to be one of the popular girls. While I will admit that a little progress has been made in terms of girls coming of age stories there is still much work to be done.

Paper Musings on Musicals

My final paper topic is to write on a film genre, character type or a filmaker/actors body of work and analyze it. My current leaning is to focus on musicals with female protagonists. I want to show examples of women's representation in musicals over time, because of this I will be choosing a broad range of musicals: the sound of music,the wizard of oz, chicago, and rent. I am hoping to compare and contrast the sound of music and the wizard of oz to chicago and rent to show how the representation of women in musicals has changed over time. I am thinking that I will examine how the characters of maria and dorthy are both trying to find where they fit in in their worlds and the trials they must undergo to find themselves. For chicago and rent the emphasis I think is the relationships and sexual undertones/overtones that are present. I also want to look at how the films define success for the female characters and if that changes in the representations in the films.

Response to In Deedras Living Room about Steel Magnolias

Recently I read a Blog (http://indeedraslivingroom.blogspot.com/   Check it out!) concerning the movie Steel magnolias Deedra gives a wonderful breakdown of the characters, she even brings in information concerning the play that the movie is based on. Steel magnolias is the portrayl of the lives of several southern women as they try to flawlessly maintain their fractured lives.

M'lynn: the ever devoted mother who sacrifices everything in her power to provide for her daughter shelby.

Shelby: The headstrong young girl who wants to take life by the horns but lacks the ability because of the severe diabetes raging through her system.

Truvy: the southern as sweet tea beauty shop owner who reminds us that, “there is no such thing as inner beauty”.

Ouiser: Is a bitter woman who seems to be angry at everything but inside is a caring person, aat least when it comes to her immeadiate friend circle

Clariee: the well to do southern woman who delights in being the light to ouiser's dark and politely gossiping about her neighbors

Annelle: Is the plain and quiet beauty school student sent to truvy to work in her salon, Annelle undergoes a transformation in the movie and through the guidance of these women she finds her voice.

The movie does show the male gaze, as mentioned in deedra's blog, a large portion of the movie does in fact take place in a salon when the women are getting ready for events in their lives. It is in this small business that the women talk about the issues going on in their lives, almost like an accidental group therapy. A wonderful scene that shows the male gaze is When Truvy is closing up shop to go to a funeral her often neglectful and absent husband walks in and begins poking around the shop. He looks at the products with confusion including the mostly melted wax, he asks what it is for. She replies that its “to make you pretty”. He doesn't seem convinced.

The movie shows not only the male gaze but a female one as well, in the many scenes where Clairee and Truvy are gossiping about another woman close by the camera goes and scans the woman they are talking about so that we too can share in on the conversation. So that we too can agree with the judgments they pass on her.

As mentioned in Deedra's blog the male gaze is very obvious in the character of Annelle, at the beginning of the movie she doesn't really want to be seen because she is ashamed of her past. So she is dressed in clothes, hair, and glasses that hide her. As the movie progresses she begins to wear more flattering clothes, pulls her hair out of her face, and wears contacts. Ironically she also becomes more religious.

Overall Deedra's blog makes an excellent argument about this fairly accurate portrayal of southern women and the male gaze.

Mildred Peirce

The film Mildred Pierce is the story of a woman who wanted to give her children the life she never had at any cost. After a divorce that shakes her reality Mildred must contend with her children, the men in her life and her flourishing business. Mildred is caught in the position that many working mothers are trapped in, “how do I balance work and home responsibilities”. At the beginning Mildred is a housewife, after the divorce it is necessary for her to get a job to stay afloat. Mildred hides this from her snobby older daughter. The film shows Mildred as a capable worker who catches on quickly. After a short time the film shows that the older daughter finds out about her job and insults her mother calling her lowly, the daughter eventually takes it too far and Mildred slaps her. This seems to be the film punishing Mildred and her daughter because of the lack of parents in the house. This punishment through her children also takes place in the scene of the death of the younger daughter. The youngest daughter is sweet, full of life and seems to be a good person. She is the daughter you hope the film gives a massive pile of opportunity and happiness. This is not the case, the film builds up the youngest daughter to make her death that more tragic. When Mildred finds out that her daughter is ill she is returning form a very romantic date in which for a brief moment Mildred was not thinking about the business or her children. The film punishes the mother for not always keeping her children at the forefront. To add insult to injury when the sick girl was brought home Mildred wasn't there so the father brings the girl to the house of the woman Mildred suspected him of having an affair with during their marriage. Mildred walks in and witnesses the last moment of her youngest daughters life, this is an important moment in the film because it changes Mildred's drive from just success and happiness to funneling her pain into making her older daughter happy. Perhaps in this way she is compensating for not being there for the youngest daughter. This means that Mildred plunges into work which leaves the home front unattended, in a move to handle both the film shows Mildred essentially trying to buy the affections of her eldest daughter. The film also shows that the only kind of men that seem to be interested in a woman with money are unscrupulous men such as Wally or mooches like Beragon. This seems to be another way the film punishes Mildred. The reward the film gives Mildred for her hard work is success in business and what seems to be failure in every other front. Her daughter is a spoiled brat who thinks only of her own happiness, Mildred's new husband that she marries for the happiness of her older daughter cheats on Mildred with the older daughter and Mildred has her business taken away from her for poor business deals. When Mildred has her livelihood taken away all of her hard work seems for nothing, the film shows that she sacrificed her life and everything she loved for money to keep her only living daughters affections. The film's message seems to be that the new woman can succeed in the business world but at the expense of everything else.

Adam's Rib

The two main characters in Adams Rib are trying to answer the age old question question, “Who wears the pants”. While both match each other in job title it is clear that this is not the norm in society. In fact this abnormal relationship is further exacerbated by the fact that Amanda is better paid and educated while Adam works for the city. The only other women seen in places of employment are either secretarial or that of a housekeeper. Alternately for men employment is seen everywhere with lawyers, press, and judges just to name a few. A lack of women in places of power kept women in unfulfilling marriages as with the example of the defendant Doris Attinger. This is not the case of Katherine Hepburn's character Amanda Bonner. In this comedy of remarriage the story starts after happily ever after with the very real threat of divorce if they fail. We see the comparison of the Bonners and the Attingers as couples. The Attingers as the extreme example of incomplete incompatible people marrying. Mrs. Attinger as the nagging unintelligent housewife and Mr. Attinger as the wife beating adulterer. Amanda Bonner is an intelligent,confident, and successfully employed; not only does she have this sort of fulfillment alone but she is in a fulfilling marriage with Adam Bonner. This marriage is one of mutual benefit and love, they are married because they want to be not because they have to be. Adam accepts the modern woman in the private sphere and is even proud that he is married to such a competent partner. However in the traditionally male public sphere Adam is not comfortable when the modern woman has him lifted into the air by a strong-woman and publically humiliates him.

When the court case of Doris Attinger shooting her cheating husband is presented, Adam Bonner sees it as a simple open and shut case case. His opinion is that no one should have the right to be a vigilante, no one should be able to take the law into their own hands. This is the view of a man who has never faced the reality of second class citizenship. Adam Bonner is correct, in a just system everyone should abide by the same laws but the fact is the cards are stacked for the advantage of men. When Amanda Bonner reads the case she feels more sympathy for the woman and insists that if the case were reversed if it were a woman cheating on her husband and she were shot the view would be different. Amanda poses that if it were a man on trial he would be seen as protecting his home against the onslaught of another man, he would be protecting his property and his family. This view is confirmed to Amanda when she asks her secretary about the difference between men and women stepping out of their marriage. The female secretary responds that it isn’t as bad for men to cheat on their wives as it is for women to cheat on their husbands.

Adam Bonner is represented as the average man of 1949, an honest man who respects the law as it is at the time; and because of this social lens it is easy for him to maintain the argument that the law is the law and everyone must follow it. Amanda sees more room to move in the law and takes more circumstance into account. In the court case both defend their point of view, in the end the women's side wins. Through out the case Adam and Amanda battle in the court room but still maintain a certain affection with each other at home. As the case goes on the tension in their relationship mounts finally resulting in Adam leaving the apartment they share after Amanda embarrasses him publically. He claims that she has manipulated the law and that he has lost respect for her, at one point she asks him if she can do anything to make him stay pleading with him not to leave. This scene shows that the cost of power for women is that they lose their desirability to men. The film maker shows that Amanda winning the case was her choosing between work and her husband and how it negatively effected their marriage. This portrayal of men and women says even if women win court battles they did it by twisting the law and taking advantage of loopholes. That the only reason that Adam lost was because of Amanda's trickery and manipulation, not her abilities as a lawyer. This scene also shows that when women put lots of effort into their careers their home lives suffer greatly. A similar scene is the one in which a saddened and tipsy Amanda is talking to her slimy client across the hall. Throughout the movie the slimy client has tried to subtly woo Amanda and if not truly interested in her sexually he behaves inappropriately with her. After the marital spat Amanda is seeking comfort and just as she is dipped for an uninvited kiss Adam bursts in with a gun. This situation is an obvious reverse of the position that Amanda's client was in earlier. Amanda tries to reason with him as he angrily comes forward, she then begins yelling at him telling him that he doesn't have the right to do this. That NO ONE has the right, he then stops her and takes a bite out of the licorice gun. Adam bested the feisty Amanda and with that made her victory in court seem hollow. This scene implied that even though women may win victories on technicalities won through manipulation at the end of the day men still wear the “pants”.