Abjection By Julia Kristeva
How Julia Kristeva 's theory of 'Abjection ' works in relation to the film 'Alien ' (1979).
The 'abject ' is a complex psychological concept developed by Julia Kristeva in her book "Powers of Horror: an Essay in Abjection" (1980). "Abject" is that which "…disturbs identity, system, order." Essentially anything that threatens to destabilise the "symbolic order" with the reminder of the "semiotic order". Throughout this essay I am going to talk about Kristeva 's theory of abjection and relate it to the film "Alien" from 1979. In particular I plan to focus on the way in which the film portrays the abject idea of childbirth and they way it is represented in the film, that forces us to address the deep fears we have when faced with concepts we consider to be inherently 'vile ' and 'disturbing '.
According to Kristeva, the semiotic order is when there is no separation between a mother and her child. The child would usually begin at around 4-8 months to push away certain things in order to distance itself from its mother to identify with itself as a separate entity. The things that are pushed away …show more content…
become 'abject ', and this includes the mother. This is the symbolic order. When the mother is rejected, and becomes abject, so is everything associated with the maternal body, so for example blood, the womb - these things are all "cast out" and become a source of disgust to the child. From then on, the maternal is horrifying; anything 'abject ' threatens the child 's sense of identity, their sense of cleanliness. As a result we consider blood, gore and things like corpses as well as bodily functions to be vile.
In the film "Alien" it can be said that the female is represented as abject, and that it objectifies the roles of the female and childbirth as a way of giving new life. It includes the fears and subjects we usually repress. In the 1970 's and 80 's there were a lot of films made that included anxieties of the human body and "Alien" is definitely one of these.
The Alien itself is made up of both male and female-like body parts. The head is very phallic looking, and there is an emphasis on its biological elements, like its blood and the way it secretes a kind of slime or mucus. These things we would regard as abject and disgusting in our watching of the film, because it 's forcing us to confront innate human fears of the abject that we would usually repress into our subconscious.
Throughout the film, there are various scenes that could be considered potential metaphors for birth. One of these is the very first scene where the characters are woken up by a computer after the crew have all been frozen on the journey back to Earth. They lie in very incubator-like beds and are dressed in white cloths that resemble the kind that newborn babies, born in hospital wear. The aforementioned computer that wakes them has a female voice and is actually referred to in the film as 'Mother '. It offers and embodies a very maternal presence in that in waking the crew from sleep, 'Mother ' is, in a sense, giving them life, reflecting the way in which our mothers gave birth to us, and idea we might usually reject as abject. We reject it because the idea of childbirth usually corresponds to blood, mess and trauma. This would upset the want for cleanliness that comes with the process of abjection of the mother. In "Alien" however, the room in which they are in is very clean and white, it 's quite hospital-like. The 'birth ' process is not traumatic or loud, there 's no pain, and everything is very much in control. It suggests the use of machines have allowed humans to fully reject the idea of birth by having new technological advances control it, rather than letting nature take it 's course and relying on biology for new life.
Another representation of birth is shown in the scene where the alien itself is introduced. When the crew enter the empty, abandoned spacecraft they enter through portals that resemble female genitalia. It then follows that they enter into a large, warm, humid 'womb-like ' room. To add to the very obvious concept, the room is full of alien eggs, so like a womb, this is where new life grows.
There 's a third representation of birth when Kane dies. His death represents a hideous 'birth '. An alien bursts out of his chest, and this touches upon the male fear of childbirth and the loss of masculinity. The alien tears its way from Kane 's body in a horrific scene full of blood and gore, and it 's a very stark and obvious contrast to the first scene. The alien itself is again very phallic in appearance, and this leads me onto my next point.
The film briefly explores the idea of a masculine crisis and the loss of masculinity, because Kane is essentially made a victim of rape. A probe is forced down his throat by the alien and an embryo is planted into his chest. He is clearly the submissive character in this scene, due to the phallic penetration and him becoming the passive subject, being inseminated - a role that usually the female would embody.
In conclusion, "Alien" is a film that forces its audience to confront their deepest fears related to reproduction and this is inherently traumatic according to Julia Kristeva. The film constantly reminds us that all we are is organic and eventually "will rot away"
Bibliography:
Julia Kristeva (1980). Powers of Horror: an Essay in Abjection. New York: Columbia University Press. 4.
The progression of the portrayal of females in Film Noir.
The typical film noir will usually include a dangerous female of some kind, a 'femme fatale ' - although not all of them do.
These dark, often calculating women use their sexuality in order to manipulate men so that they can gain power, wealth and freedom. "Her transgressions are signalled by dress, behaviour and lifestyle" (Neroni 25). Society dictates that females should embody a role of devoted mother and loving wife to a husband, but the femme fatale rejects these norms. This transgression of societal; rules means that she is punished, and "her fate usually involves violence" (Neroni 23). Therefore it would appear that the portrayal of the femme fatale is supporting of the existing patriarchal order and gender roles, because the woman is punished in the end for stepping out of the confines put in place to control her, and so keep the male dominant social order
afloat.
There is a potential secondary interpretation however, that even though the femme fatale is bad and does need to be punished, noir also gives the impression that women only act in this way because they are desperate to break out of the confines created around them by men. In fact, women in general in these films only serve to reflect the life choices of the men in the film, or to act as a human, physical embodiment of his inner turmoil and confusion. There are two different categories of female, and these are the femme fatale, the alluring bad girl who may at one point carry a weapon, and therefore become a 'phallic woman ' - a threat to men, as she assumes control. There 's also her opposite, the dependable, respectable good girl. This character is the one who would make the perfect wife. They lend not to be sexualised or provocative in any way, and it serves to highlight the binary oppositions between the 'good girl ' and 'bad girl '. The subversive view of the traditional nuclear family values and tranquil domesticity is reinforced by this inclusion of the good girl character. The contrast between bad and good highlights the exciting qualities of the femme fatale, and means that the audience 's focus is on her, she 's the one they will remember, Both of these types of character aren 't usually characters in their own right, they just represent the choices made by the male hero.
She 's also there to be looked at, in Human Desire (1954) the first time we are introduced to Gloria Grahame 's character, she 's reclining on a chaise longue with a leg straight up in the air. She then proceeds to order her husband to look at the new stockings she bought, by standing up and raising her skirt. She 's very much fragmented, as women in film noir often were, by the focus on her legs. "…a perfect product, whose body, stylised and fragmented by close-ups… direct recipient of the spectator 's look." (Mulvey 21). Women were filmed in this way in an effort to control them, and to also convey their sexual attractiveness in a way that would not be forbidden by the Production Code.
Quite often their struggle for independence is a response to try and free themselves from the troubling relationships they often find themselves in. For example in Human Desire (1954) directed by Fritz Lang, and loosely based on the novel "La Bête humaine" by Emile Zola, Vicki - Gloria Grahame 's character is in a relationship with a very paranoid man who, after sending her to visit an affluent railroad customer and attempt to get his job back for him, becomes suspicious that she did more than talking with the other man, and he hits her. As the film progresses he becomes more and more reliant on drink and therefore he 's more violent. There are many other film noir narratives that include this questioning of the male/female relationship such as "Out of the Past" (1947), where Kathie is attempting to escape a relationship where she is controlled and essentially trapped by her husband Whit. He even refers to her as a racehorse that he bought and kept as a "prize possession". Women in film noir are often presented in this way "presented as prizes, desirable objects" (Harvey 27).
It could be said however that the way in which film noir represents the femme fatale as an abnormality, a mistake that must be destroyed in order to restore the correct patriarchal law in society, is somewhat of an abnormality in itself. Janey Place says "The dominant worldview expressed in film noir is paranoid, claustrophobic, hopeless… without clear moral or personal identity." So it naturally means that the way the femme fatale characters behave in the films is a reflection of them as a normal product of the context they find themselves in. Therefore in punishing her for her actions it show how society is essentially out of joint, society and it 's constrictive gender roles is the abnormality, punishing her for being a normal product of her "world", her environment.
In conclusion, even though at the end of the film, we know that the femme fatale must meet her fate, we are much less concerned with how she dies, that the sheer excitement and enthralling aspects of her independence and sexuality, that we were witness to. Her strength of character and independence is primarily the thing that we remember about her, not that she was punished, and not that patriarchal order was restored.
Bibliography:
Hilary Neroni, The Violent Woman: Femininity, Narrative and Violence in contemporary American Cinema (Albany, NY: State University of NY Press, 2005) 25.
Neroni, 23.
Laura Mulvey (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen. 21.
Sylvia Harvey. Woman 's place: The absent family of Film Noir. 27.
Janey Place, 'Women in Film Noir ', Women in Noir (London: BFI, (1998), 41.
How is the "American Dream" shown in "It Happened One Night" (1934)?
In 1931, James Truslow Adams coined the term 'The American Dream ' in his book "The Epic of America." He said that the American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone…" It corresponds somewhat to Robin Wood 's Capitalist Ideologies, where capitalism is defined by "right of ownership" (Wood 669). It also reflects the concepts portrayed in the Western genre, where every man had a right to own his own land.
The idea of this American Dream became a key part of the American psyche, and like the Western, is considered to be an archetype of American culture. Masses of American people idolised those who were happy, and had 'everything '. Road movies go some way in exemplifying this ideal American way of life. From the early days of American cinema, the road movie has been synonymous with the quintessentially American culture and the reflection that America shows to the world. The road itself, which is a central motif and structural device for the narrative of these films, is essentially, the symbolic promise of freedom, a control of your own destiny. No constraints, an escape from responsibility, and the oppressions of society.
In this essay I will analyse this symbolism of the road and in particular it 's importance in the film "It Happened One Night" from 1934 directed by Frank Capra, and the ways in which the idea of the American Dream is constructed within the narrative.
The film is the simple narrative of a rich, spoilt young heiress who runs away with a fortune hunter - "King" Westley, even though her father doesn’t want her to. She meets a handsome out of work newspaper reporter, Peter, played by Clark Gable and they end up going on an adventure together, eventually overcoming their initial antagonism towards each other and falling in love.
The film reflects the American Dream of freedom and escape because that 's exactly what the character of Ellie does. She wants to be free to make her own decisions, but her father is always making them for her. When your freedom is taken away from you, it 's a natural reaction to want to rebel, and that is what she does. She elopes at first which is the exact things her father forbade her from doing. Even after things go wrong and she is penniless, after such a wanted and sought after taste of freedom she still isn 't eager to return back home, only to be under the rule of her father once again. She 'd rather accept the offer Peter gives of telling him an exclusive story for his paper, than have him tell her father where she is.
Cohan and Hark say that road movies like this one "provide a ready space for the exploration of the tensions and crises of the historical moment in which it was produced." During this film and in many films of the 1930 's, issues to do with class tension and bridging the gap between the working and upper classes was explored. It could be said then that the road goes some way to becoming a forceful metaphor of an America ridden with crisis. That the freedom promised by the open road actually serves to highlight the oppression and limits that people faced at that particular moment in history. Even though the characters in "It Happened One Night" experience a certain freedom whilst travelling on the road, they are reminded throughout of their class differences and their differing backgrounds. This would have been reminiscent of the class divide issue that was big, around the 1930 's, and it 's still an issue today.
Frank Capra himself was a celebrated 'common man ' and he was said to have been the personification of the American Dream, being a Sicilian immigrant, he was convinced that such a thing existed and it played a big part in his films. It is shown in this film in particular because the film ends with a marriage. Therefore we are rewarded with the fulfilment of part of the American Dream. This however reinforces the idea of classical Hollywood and it 's tendency towards 'wish-fulfilment '. This frequently took, and still does today in contemporary cinema - the form of romance and marriage and wealth. This also reflects the institutionalisation of classic Hollywood in 1934 by the Hays Code, which spelt out the morals behind the Hollywood system and support for 'obeying the law ' and the 'sanctity of marriage ' among other things was insisted upon. We could go on to say that this code of rules was essentially another form of control, like a forced way of thinking, a 'forced American Dream. '
In conclusion, the American Dream is shown somewhat in the film "It Happened One Night" through its inclusion of Ellie achieving freedom through her rebellion and escape from her father ruling over her, and through it 's romantic and happy ending that encapsulates everything that good American people should strive for, and what they deserve. However, it also in places goes to highlight how the freedom granted by the road only serves to expose the restrictions placed upon us in everyday life, and it 's then that we are forced to consider that the American Dream could essentially exist only as a myth, and not as a conceivable, achievable concept.
Bibliography:
Robin Wood, Ideology, Genre, Auteur. 669
Cohan and Hark (1997). The Road Movie Book. London: Routledge. 2
Conflict as portrayed in the Romantic Comedy.
Romantic comedies are a genre where two characters, usually a male and a female meet, and a romance begins to develop between them that leads to comedic situations. As Grindon states, the films are "often dismissed as formulaic stories" that promise romantic fantasies, rather than being seen as an accurate representation of real life. This genre of film is also thought by Grindon to be "simplistic, sentimental and even harmful." due to the ways in which the genre tends to "valorise the heterosexual couple." (Grindon 77) Romantic comedies already have an established viewing position as the films are generally believed to be tailored towards a female viewer; they 're often referred to as "chick-flicks". It could potentially allow the female viewer to expect the same results in real life, when in reality the ideology behind the romantic comedy is unlikely to be found anywhere outside the realm of fantasy, it 's very unlikely that the stereotypical 'coincidences ' that occur within the plot to allow the relationship in question to occur will ever take place in reality.
There 's an idea, when watching a romantic comedy nowadays that due to this formulaic narrative, they are always quite predictable, in that there will always be conflict of one of three kinds. More often there will be a mixture of the three. The conflict between generations provides us with generational comedy. The battle between sexes, the courting male and female around which the film is focused, and the inner conflict faced alone by the protagonist. Throughout this essay I intend to discuss all three in relation to the film "The Proposal" (2009) While it may include more aspects of the latter two ideas of conflict, it 's my opinion that there is definitely a little generational comedy included in the narrative too, thus allowing a discussion of all three areas of conflict.
Firstly, in regard to generational conflict, it 's the idea of the old being overthrown by the new. Sometimes it 's used in a comedic way, in films such as "Meet the Parents" (2000). It can also be used however to show the conflict between family members and the differences between the older, more traditional way of doing things and the newer, more modern way. In the Proposal, for example, comic relief is provided in the form of Grandma Annie, and her seemingly innocent "old-timey" ways. In one scene she gives the couple a blanket and refers to it as "the baby-maker", much to the horror of Margaret and Andrew. However the generation gap also causes a lot of tension between Andrew and his father. Andrew 's father is angry about his son dating the boss he 's supposedly hated for so long and accuses him of having the relationship solely to further the career he never wanted his son to set out for in the first place. He expresses his disappointment in Andrew rejecting the family business to go and work in New York. Generally, the conflict is resolved and the happy ending is established when the two generations accept each other 's decisions, differences and divided opinions. In this case it 's the family who intervenes, with Grandma Annie faking a heart-attack in order for the two men to realise that family is more important than petty arguments over things that matter less.
The battle between the sexes is essentially the central field of conflict in many romantic comedies. It was apparent very early on in the screwball comedies of the 1930 's, as verbal battles of wit. It was a way of showing the sexual tension through one-upmanship without breaking the rules of the Production Code. In The Proposal, the conflict between the sexes is shown through the couple 's initial disdain for one another. Margaret is Andrew 's domineering boss, and there is an obvious underlying dislike of her. There 's a constant battle between the two of them as they slowly fall in love over the course of their fake engagement. This reinforces the general ideology of most romantic comedies which is that we all have one person who is right for us and that it could be the person you least expect. Andrew remarks during the film that Margaret "makes him a little crazy", and it 's this that allows him o realise that he has actually fallen in love with her.
The third and final conflict in the romantic comedy is the protagonist 's inner struggle. They 're typically portrayed as some incomplete being, inadequate when it comes to love, until they find the right person, or 'the One '. This person may have undergone some emotional trauma previous to the time frame in which the film spans, that makes them 'unable to love '. They must learn to overcome these obstacles within themselves so that they can function as a 'whole ' person in a working heterosexual relationship. Often it 's the process of falling in love itself that helps with this.
The typical ideology of the romantic comedy is that patriarchy is eventually reinforced. This is apparent in The Proposal when Margaret flees the fake wedding, but Andrew follows her, and when they meet, it 's he who is the one to make the 'big speech '. He 's the one to take charge of the situation and to initiate the 'kiss '. It 's here that we can incorporate Deleyto 's idea of the end of romantic comedy films, where he states that the couple always end up "if not always at the altar, at least promising each other eternal love."
In conclusion, "The Proposal" incorporates all three ideas of 'conflict ' and does in fact, in the beginning display some aspects of the 'nervous romance ' that shows man 's "uncertainty surrounding courtship in the wake of changing attitudes about gender roles…" (Grindon 55) By the end of the film, Margaret has been 'softened ' by the time spent being nurtured by a loving family, she lost her hard, domineering edge, allowing Andrew to take control and patriarchal order to be reinstated.
Bibliography:
Leger Grindon, The Hollywood Romantic Comedy (Malden, MA., Oxford & Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 77.
Grindon, 55.
Celestino Deleyto, 'Between Friends: Love and Friendship in Contemporary Romantic Comedy ', Screen, vol. 44, no. 2 Summer 2003, 168.
The 'abject ' is a complex psychological concept developed by Julia Kristeva in her book "Powers of Horror: an Essay in Abjection" (1980). "Abject" is that which "…disturbs identity, system, order." Essentially anything that threatens to destabilise the "symbolic order" with the reminder of the "semiotic order". Throughout this essay I am going to talk about Kristeva 's theory of abjection and relate it to the film "Alien" from 1979. In particular I plan to focus on the way in which the film portrays the abject idea of childbirth and they way it is represented in the film, that forces us to address the deep fears we have when faced with concepts we consider to be inherently 'vile ' and 'disturbing '.
According to Kristeva, the semiotic order is when there is no separation between a mother and her child. The child would usually begin at around 4-8 months to push away certain things in order to distance itself from its mother to identify with itself as a separate entity. The things that are pushed away …show more content…
become 'abject ', and this includes the mother. This is the symbolic order. When the mother is rejected, and becomes abject, so is everything associated with the maternal body, so for example blood, the womb - these things are all "cast out" and become a source of disgust to the child. From then on, the maternal is horrifying; anything 'abject ' threatens the child 's sense of identity, their sense of cleanliness. As a result we consider blood, gore and things like corpses as well as bodily functions to be vile.
In the film "Alien" it can be said that the female is represented as abject, and that it objectifies the roles of the female and childbirth as a way of giving new life. It includes the fears and subjects we usually repress. In the 1970 's and 80 's there were a lot of films made that included anxieties of the human body and "Alien" is definitely one of these.
The Alien itself is made up of both male and female-like body parts. The head is very phallic looking, and there is an emphasis on its biological elements, like its blood and the way it secretes a kind of slime or mucus. These things we would regard as abject and disgusting in our watching of the film, because it 's forcing us to confront innate human fears of the abject that we would usually repress into our subconscious.
Throughout the film, there are various scenes that could be considered potential metaphors for birth. One of these is the very first scene where the characters are woken up by a computer after the crew have all been frozen on the journey back to Earth. They lie in very incubator-like beds and are dressed in white cloths that resemble the kind that newborn babies, born in hospital wear. The aforementioned computer that wakes them has a female voice and is actually referred to in the film as 'Mother '. It offers and embodies a very maternal presence in that in waking the crew from sleep, 'Mother ' is, in a sense, giving them life, reflecting the way in which our mothers gave birth to us, and idea we might usually reject as abject. We reject it because the idea of childbirth usually corresponds to blood, mess and trauma. This would upset the want for cleanliness that comes with the process of abjection of the mother. In "Alien" however, the room in which they are in is very clean and white, it 's quite hospital-like. The 'birth ' process is not traumatic or loud, there 's no pain, and everything is very much in control. It suggests the use of machines have allowed humans to fully reject the idea of birth by having new technological advances control it, rather than letting nature take it 's course and relying on biology for new life.
Another representation of birth is shown in the scene where the alien itself is introduced. When the crew enter the empty, abandoned spacecraft they enter through portals that resemble female genitalia. It then follows that they enter into a large, warm, humid 'womb-like ' room. To add to the very obvious concept, the room is full of alien eggs, so like a womb, this is where new life grows.
There 's a third representation of birth when Kane dies. His death represents a hideous 'birth '. An alien bursts out of his chest, and this touches upon the male fear of childbirth and the loss of masculinity. The alien tears its way from Kane 's body in a horrific scene full of blood and gore, and it 's a very stark and obvious contrast to the first scene. The alien itself is again very phallic in appearance, and this leads me onto my next point.
The film briefly explores the idea of a masculine crisis and the loss of masculinity, because Kane is essentially made a victim of rape. A probe is forced down his throat by the alien and an embryo is planted into his chest. He is clearly the submissive character in this scene, due to the phallic penetration and him becoming the passive subject, being inseminated - a role that usually the female would embody.
In conclusion, "Alien" is a film that forces its audience to confront their deepest fears related to reproduction and this is inherently traumatic according to Julia Kristeva. The film constantly reminds us that all we are is organic and eventually "will rot away"
Bibliography:
Julia Kristeva (1980). Powers of Horror: an Essay in Abjection. New York: Columbia University Press. 4.
The progression of the portrayal of females in Film Noir.
The typical film noir will usually include a dangerous female of some kind, a 'femme fatale ' - although not all of them do.
These dark, often calculating women use their sexuality in order to manipulate men so that they can gain power, wealth and freedom. "Her transgressions are signalled by dress, behaviour and lifestyle" (Neroni 25). Society dictates that females should embody a role of devoted mother and loving wife to a husband, but the femme fatale rejects these norms. This transgression of societal; rules means that she is punished, and "her fate usually involves violence" (Neroni 23). Therefore it would appear that the portrayal of the femme fatale is supporting of the existing patriarchal order and gender roles, because the woman is punished in the end for stepping out of the confines put in place to control her, and so keep the male dominant social order
afloat.
There is a potential secondary interpretation however, that even though the femme fatale is bad and does need to be punished, noir also gives the impression that women only act in this way because they are desperate to break out of the confines created around them by men. In fact, women in general in these films only serve to reflect the life choices of the men in the film, or to act as a human, physical embodiment of his inner turmoil and confusion. There are two different categories of female, and these are the femme fatale, the alluring bad girl who may at one point carry a weapon, and therefore become a 'phallic woman ' - a threat to men, as she assumes control. There 's also her opposite, the dependable, respectable good girl. This character is the one who would make the perfect wife. They lend not to be sexualised or provocative in any way, and it serves to highlight the binary oppositions between the 'good girl ' and 'bad girl '. The subversive view of the traditional nuclear family values and tranquil domesticity is reinforced by this inclusion of the good girl character. The contrast between bad and good highlights the exciting qualities of the femme fatale, and means that the audience 's focus is on her, she 's the one they will remember, Both of these types of character aren 't usually characters in their own right, they just represent the choices made by the male hero.
She 's also there to be looked at, in Human Desire (1954) the first time we are introduced to Gloria Grahame 's character, she 's reclining on a chaise longue with a leg straight up in the air. She then proceeds to order her husband to look at the new stockings she bought, by standing up and raising her skirt. She 's very much fragmented, as women in film noir often were, by the focus on her legs. "…a perfect product, whose body, stylised and fragmented by close-ups… direct recipient of the spectator 's look." (Mulvey 21). Women were filmed in this way in an effort to control them, and to also convey their sexual attractiveness in a way that would not be forbidden by the Production Code.
Quite often their struggle for independence is a response to try and free themselves from the troubling relationships they often find themselves in. For example in Human Desire (1954) directed by Fritz Lang, and loosely based on the novel "La Bête humaine" by Emile Zola, Vicki - Gloria Grahame 's character is in a relationship with a very paranoid man who, after sending her to visit an affluent railroad customer and attempt to get his job back for him, becomes suspicious that she did more than talking with the other man, and he hits her. As the film progresses he becomes more and more reliant on drink and therefore he 's more violent. There are many other film noir narratives that include this questioning of the male/female relationship such as "Out of the Past" (1947), where Kathie is attempting to escape a relationship where she is controlled and essentially trapped by her husband Whit. He even refers to her as a racehorse that he bought and kept as a "prize possession". Women in film noir are often presented in this way "presented as prizes, desirable objects" (Harvey 27).
It could be said however that the way in which film noir represents the femme fatale as an abnormality, a mistake that must be destroyed in order to restore the correct patriarchal law in society, is somewhat of an abnormality in itself. Janey Place says "The dominant worldview expressed in film noir is paranoid, claustrophobic, hopeless… without clear moral or personal identity." So it naturally means that the way the femme fatale characters behave in the films is a reflection of them as a normal product of the context they find themselves in. Therefore in punishing her for her actions it show how society is essentially out of joint, society and it 's constrictive gender roles is the abnormality, punishing her for being a normal product of her "world", her environment.
In conclusion, even though at the end of the film, we know that the femme fatale must meet her fate, we are much less concerned with how she dies, that the sheer excitement and enthralling aspects of her independence and sexuality, that we were witness to. Her strength of character and independence is primarily the thing that we remember about her, not that she was punished, and not that patriarchal order was restored.
Bibliography:
Hilary Neroni, The Violent Woman: Femininity, Narrative and Violence in contemporary American Cinema (Albany, NY: State University of NY Press, 2005) 25.
Neroni, 23.
Laura Mulvey (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen. 21.
Sylvia Harvey. Woman 's place: The absent family of Film Noir. 27.
Janey Place, 'Women in Film Noir ', Women in Noir (London: BFI, (1998), 41.
How is the "American Dream" shown in "It Happened One Night" (1934)?
In 1931, James Truslow Adams coined the term 'The American Dream ' in his book "The Epic of America." He said that the American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone…" It corresponds somewhat to Robin Wood 's Capitalist Ideologies, where capitalism is defined by "right of ownership" (Wood 669). It also reflects the concepts portrayed in the Western genre, where every man had a right to own his own land.
The idea of this American Dream became a key part of the American psyche, and like the Western, is considered to be an archetype of American culture. Masses of American people idolised those who were happy, and had 'everything '. Road movies go some way in exemplifying this ideal American way of life. From the early days of American cinema, the road movie has been synonymous with the quintessentially American culture and the reflection that America shows to the world. The road itself, which is a central motif and structural device for the narrative of these films, is essentially, the symbolic promise of freedom, a control of your own destiny. No constraints, an escape from responsibility, and the oppressions of society.
In this essay I will analyse this symbolism of the road and in particular it 's importance in the film "It Happened One Night" from 1934 directed by Frank Capra, and the ways in which the idea of the American Dream is constructed within the narrative.
The film is the simple narrative of a rich, spoilt young heiress who runs away with a fortune hunter - "King" Westley, even though her father doesn’t want her to. She meets a handsome out of work newspaper reporter, Peter, played by Clark Gable and they end up going on an adventure together, eventually overcoming their initial antagonism towards each other and falling in love.
The film reflects the American Dream of freedom and escape because that 's exactly what the character of Ellie does. She wants to be free to make her own decisions, but her father is always making them for her. When your freedom is taken away from you, it 's a natural reaction to want to rebel, and that is what she does. She elopes at first which is the exact things her father forbade her from doing. Even after things go wrong and she is penniless, after such a wanted and sought after taste of freedom she still isn 't eager to return back home, only to be under the rule of her father once again. She 'd rather accept the offer Peter gives of telling him an exclusive story for his paper, than have him tell her father where she is.
Cohan and Hark say that road movies like this one "provide a ready space for the exploration of the tensions and crises of the historical moment in which it was produced." During this film and in many films of the 1930 's, issues to do with class tension and bridging the gap between the working and upper classes was explored. It could be said then that the road goes some way to becoming a forceful metaphor of an America ridden with crisis. That the freedom promised by the open road actually serves to highlight the oppression and limits that people faced at that particular moment in history. Even though the characters in "It Happened One Night" experience a certain freedom whilst travelling on the road, they are reminded throughout of their class differences and their differing backgrounds. This would have been reminiscent of the class divide issue that was big, around the 1930 's, and it 's still an issue today.
Frank Capra himself was a celebrated 'common man ' and he was said to have been the personification of the American Dream, being a Sicilian immigrant, he was convinced that such a thing existed and it played a big part in his films. It is shown in this film in particular because the film ends with a marriage. Therefore we are rewarded with the fulfilment of part of the American Dream. This however reinforces the idea of classical Hollywood and it 's tendency towards 'wish-fulfilment '. This frequently took, and still does today in contemporary cinema - the form of romance and marriage and wealth. This also reflects the institutionalisation of classic Hollywood in 1934 by the Hays Code, which spelt out the morals behind the Hollywood system and support for 'obeying the law ' and the 'sanctity of marriage ' among other things was insisted upon. We could go on to say that this code of rules was essentially another form of control, like a forced way of thinking, a 'forced American Dream. '
In conclusion, the American Dream is shown somewhat in the film "It Happened One Night" through its inclusion of Ellie achieving freedom through her rebellion and escape from her father ruling over her, and through it 's romantic and happy ending that encapsulates everything that good American people should strive for, and what they deserve. However, it also in places goes to highlight how the freedom granted by the road only serves to expose the restrictions placed upon us in everyday life, and it 's then that we are forced to consider that the American Dream could essentially exist only as a myth, and not as a conceivable, achievable concept.
Bibliography:
Robin Wood, Ideology, Genre, Auteur. 669
Cohan and Hark (1997). The Road Movie Book. London: Routledge. 2
Conflict as portrayed in the Romantic Comedy.
Romantic comedies are a genre where two characters, usually a male and a female meet, and a romance begins to develop between them that leads to comedic situations. As Grindon states, the films are "often dismissed as formulaic stories" that promise romantic fantasies, rather than being seen as an accurate representation of real life. This genre of film is also thought by Grindon to be "simplistic, sentimental and even harmful." due to the ways in which the genre tends to "valorise the heterosexual couple." (Grindon 77) Romantic comedies already have an established viewing position as the films are generally believed to be tailored towards a female viewer; they 're often referred to as "chick-flicks". It could potentially allow the female viewer to expect the same results in real life, when in reality the ideology behind the romantic comedy is unlikely to be found anywhere outside the realm of fantasy, it 's very unlikely that the stereotypical 'coincidences ' that occur within the plot to allow the relationship in question to occur will ever take place in reality.
There 's an idea, when watching a romantic comedy nowadays that due to this formulaic narrative, they are always quite predictable, in that there will always be conflict of one of three kinds. More often there will be a mixture of the three. The conflict between generations provides us with generational comedy. The battle between sexes, the courting male and female around which the film is focused, and the inner conflict faced alone by the protagonist. Throughout this essay I intend to discuss all three in relation to the film "The Proposal" (2009) While it may include more aspects of the latter two ideas of conflict, it 's my opinion that there is definitely a little generational comedy included in the narrative too, thus allowing a discussion of all three areas of conflict.
Firstly, in regard to generational conflict, it 's the idea of the old being overthrown by the new. Sometimes it 's used in a comedic way, in films such as "Meet the Parents" (2000). It can also be used however to show the conflict between family members and the differences between the older, more traditional way of doing things and the newer, more modern way. In the Proposal, for example, comic relief is provided in the form of Grandma Annie, and her seemingly innocent "old-timey" ways. In one scene she gives the couple a blanket and refers to it as "the baby-maker", much to the horror of Margaret and Andrew. However the generation gap also causes a lot of tension between Andrew and his father. Andrew 's father is angry about his son dating the boss he 's supposedly hated for so long and accuses him of having the relationship solely to further the career he never wanted his son to set out for in the first place. He expresses his disappointment in Andrew rejecting the family business to go and work in New York. Generally, the conflict is resolved and the happy ending is established when the two generations accept each other 's decisions, differences and divided opinions. In this case it 's the family who intervenes, with Grandma Annie faking a heart-attack in order for the two men to realise that family is more important than petty arguments over things that matter less.
The battle between the sexes is essentially the central field of conflict in many romantic comedies. It was apparent very early on in the screwball comedies of the 1930 's, as verbal battles of wit. It was a way of showing the sexual tension through one-upmanship without breaking the rules of the Production Code. In The Proposal, the conflict between the sexes is shown through the couple 's initial disdain for one another. Margaret is Andrew 's domineering boss, and there is an obvious underlying dislike of her. There 's a constant battle between the two of them as they slowly fall in love over the course of their fake engagement. This reinforces the general ideology of most romantic comedies which is that we all have one person who is right for us and that it could be the person you least expect. Andrew remarks during the film that Margaret "makes him a little crazy", and it 's this that allows him o realise that he has actually fallen in love with her.
The third and final conflict in the romantic comedy is the protagonist 's inner struggle. They 're typically portrayed as some incomplete being, inadequate when it comes to love, until they find the right person, or 'the One '. This person may have undergone some emotional trauma previous to the time frame in which the film spans, that makes them 'unable to love '. They must learn to overcome these obstacles within themselves so that they can function as a 'whole ' person in a working heterosexual relationship. Often it 's the process of falling in love itself that helps with this.
The typical ideology of the romantic comedy is that patriarchy is eventually reinforced. This is apparent in The Proposal when Margaret flees the fake wedding, but Andrew follows her, and when they meet, it 's he who is the one to make the 'big speech '. He 's the one to take charge of the situation and to initiate the 'kiss '. It 's here that we can incorporate Deleyto 's idea of the end of romantic comedy films, where he states that the couple always end up "if not always at the altar, at least promising each other eternal love."
In conclusion, "The Proposal" incorporates all three ideas of 'conflict ' and does in fact, in the beginning display some aspects of the 'nervous romance ' that shows man 's "uncertainty surrounding courtship in the wake of changing attitudes about gender roles…" (Grindon 55) By the end of the film, Margaret has been 'softened ' by the time spent being nurtured by a loving family, she lost her hard, domineering edge, allowing Andrew to take control and patriarchal order to be reinstated.
Bibliography:
Leger Grindon, The Hollywood Romantic Comedy (Malden, MA., Oxford & Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 77.
Grindon, 55.
Celestino Deleyto, 'Between Friends: Love and Friendship in Contemporary Romantic Comedy ', Screen, vol. 44, no. 2 Summer 2003, 168.