Breakfast At Tiffany's Analysis

The 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s directed by Blake Edwards and based on the novel of the same name, is about Holly Golightly a young woman who is living independently as a socialite in New York during the 60’s. The movie is regarded as a large reflection of American culture and the different values and opinions that were held by many people during the time. The movie is also a great example of filmmaking in the mid-20th century and how it compares to today’s style of filmmaking.

The film, being set and made in the 60’s, shows many different ideas surrounding women, the 60’s was a time of extreme social development, many different ideas were held by different people, some sticking to the old fashioned ideas of how women should be treated, and some sticking to new ideas of feminism that arose in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Many conflicts and characters throughout the movie can show us how these ideas clashed, and how they affected the storyline and relationships. The conflict these ideas create are mainly portrayed through Holly’s character, as she is involved with two lives, that centre around very different ideas
Racial stereotypes are used throughout the movie for comedic relief.. The main example in the movie is Mr Yunioshi, Holly’s Japanese landlord. The character is played by white actor Mickey Rooney, who used makeup to fit the Asian stereotype. Although the character was seen as comedic in the 60’s it has recently caused a lot of criticism from many people and has even caused a ban of public showings of the movie. As the large majority of characters in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, there are not many major examples of racism. But, we can see in some scenes there are background characters who aren’t white, these characters are portrayed as a stereotypical example of their race. One example of a background character being portrayed stereotypically is an Asian woman in the background in one of the party