On The Waterfront
On the Waterfront
Study Guide
Acknowledgements
Writer:
Susan Bye
Education Programmer
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Susan’s primary role at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image is to support the teaching of film as text to secondary school students. Initially trained as an English teacher, she studied and taught film and media at La Trobe University before joining ACMI in 2009.
Study Guide > On the Waterfront
2
On the Waterfront: difficult choices in an uncertain world
The purpose of this guide is to provide an introduction to On the Waterfront (PG, Elia Kazan, 103 mins, USA, 1954), an overview of the commentary and debate that the film has generated and some ideas that will help you form your own interpretation …show more content…
Study Guide > On the Waterfront
13
Section 3: Characters
Terry Malloy
When we first meet Terry, he is a defeated character, literally and metaphorically. Having sacrificed his dream of becoming a champion boxer so that Johnny Friendly could win a bet, he lives as if in suspended animation. With a past that is too painful to contemplate and nothing to strive for in the future, Terry exists in the present, at the mercy of Johnny Friendly’s whims. When Joey Doyle is murdered, Terry is forced to recognise how much he has allowed himself to be exploited by Friendly.
In the scene where Joey dies, it takes Terry a few moments to register what has happened and, as realisation slowly dawns, he has the demeanour of someone waking up: “He wasn’t a bad kid that
Joey.” As Terry contemplates his involvement in Joey’s murder, he comes face to face with the kind of man he has allowed himself to become.
Terry has been thwarted by his relationship with Johnny and his place in the gang. Johnny and
Charley treat him as a child, and Terry responds accordingly. However, once he begins to question …show more content…
Initially he mumbles and finds it very hard to express his thoughts and emotions but he becomes increasingly authoritative. In the scene in the cab, Terry is compelling as he finally tells his brother what he has been feeling. In the concluding scene, where he stands up to Johnny Friendly, Terry counters Friendly’s bluster by asserting his new identity untainted by Friendly’s bullying and corruption.
Because he begins as such an inarticulate character, with very little self-knowledge, Terry reveals a lot about himself through his body language. For instance, note the way that he cradles the pigeon next to his heart and continues to rub the place under his jacket after Joey is killed. In the scene where he picks up Edie’s glove and slips it onto his one hand, he expresses a desire for connection that he can’t manage through words.
Activities and Questions
•
On the Waterfront is a tightly constructed film and each sequence that features Terry reveals another step in his transformation. Plot this process.
•
Why does the line “I couda been somebody” elicit such a strong response?
•
In what ways is Terry an outsider? Is he any less of an outsider at the end of the film?
Study Guide
Acknowledgements
Writer:
Susan Bye
Education Programmer
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Susan’s primary role at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image is to support the teaching of film as text to secondary school students. Initially trained as an English teacher, she studied and taught film and media at La Trobe University before joining ACMI in 2009.
Study Guide > On the Waterfront
2
On the Waterfront: difficult choices in an uncertain world
The purpose of this guide is to provide an introduction to On the Waterfront (PG, Elia Kazan, 103 mins, USA, 1954), an overview of the commentary and debate that the film has generated and some ideas that will help you form your own interpretation …show more content…
Study Guide > On the Waterfront
13
Section 3: Characters
Terry Malloy
When we first meet Terry, he is a defeated character, literally and metaphorically. Having sacrificed his dream of becoming a champion boxer so that Johnny Friendly could win a bet, he lives as if in suspended animation. With a past that is too painful to contemplate and nothing to strive for in the future, Terry exists in the present, at the mercy of Johnny Friendly’s whims. When Joey Doyle is murdered, Terry is forced to recognise how much he has allowed himself to be exploited by Friendly.
In the scene where Joey dies, it takes Terry a few moments to register what has happened and, as realisation slowly dawns, he has the demeanour of someone waking up: “He wasn’t a bad kid that
Joey.” As Terry contemplates his involvement in Joey’s murder, he comes face to face with the kind of man he has allowed himself to become.
Terry has been thwarted by his relationship with Johnny and his place in the gang. Johnny and
Charley treat him as a child, and Terry responds accordingly. However, once he begins to question …show more content…
Initially he mumbles and finds it very hard to express his thoughts and emotions but he becomes increasingly authoritative. In the scene in the cab, Terry is compelling as he finally tells his brother what he has been feeling. In the concluding scene, where he stands up to Johnny Friendly, Terry counters Friendly’s bluster by asserting his new identity untainted by Friendly’s bullying and corruption.
Because he begins as such an inarticulate character, with very little self-knowledge, Terry reveals a lot about himself through his body language. For instance, note the way that he cradles the pigeon next to his heart and continues to rub the place under his jacket after Joey is killed. In the scene where he picks up Edie’s glove and slips it onto his one hand, he expresses a desire for connection that he can’t manage through words.
Activities and Questions
•
On the Waterfront is a tightly constructed film and each sequence that features Terry reveals another step in his transformation. Plot this process.
•
Why does the line “I couda been somebody” elicit such a strong response?
•
In what ways is Terry an outsider? Is he any less of an outsider at the end of the film?