Monday, February 29, 2016
Is Friday Feminist or Feeble-Minded?
Hildy Johnson is a confident career woman who can compete with men (and defeat them) in the dog-eat-dog world of journalism. She is even willing to divorce her man if he doesn't treat her right. Yet, at the same time, she seeks the domestic joys of children and caring for her man -- and in the end returns to the rascal whom she left in the first place. What is the role of women in this film? Does it tell us anything about "modern" women in 1940's America?
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Hildy Johnson is definitely a feministic character. Hildy is an interesting character because at first she just seems like a strong female character, but what her characterization serves to do as well is draw a comparison between women like her and typical domestic women. Hildy portrays the “modern woman” of the 1940s by showing that women can be just as strong if not stronger than men. She has risen high in the cutthroat world of journalism and is beloved by her peers. Her status is quite dissimilar to the fifties housewife stereotype. Hildy is confident, independent, and knows what she wants. She divorces Walter when he is not treating her well enough. Hildy is not characterized as viewing domesticity as her predetermined destiny. Quite the contrary. To Hildy, it is almost as if domesticity is the new fad for her because she’s grown tired of the world of journalism. What we see throughout the movie though is that she cannot simply turn her back on this fast paced lifestyle. While it is true that she goes back to Walter at the end, and some might make the argument that she is feebleminded, I would strongly disagree. Every decision Hildy makes is her own. She goes back to Walter at the end because he is the man who makes her feel more alive. Bruce is a very kind man, but he does not intellectually challenge Hildy in the way that Walter does. Therefore, by reverting back to Walter, I think it showcases her independence even more because she rejects domesticity to pursue the life that is more fulfilling for her. Even if there is contention on whether or not Hildy is a feminist or feeble minded character, it is undeniable that the movie conveys the idea that a strong, independent woman in the forties will not be just relegated to the home.
ReplyDeleteHildy Johnson from first glance represents the ultimate 1940’s feminist. In the 1940’s the role of the woman in America had changed, but the perception of them had not. With the men out fighting during World War 2, the woman filled in to keep the country chugging when most of its workforce was vacant. Hildy was hard working and always beat her male competitors to the best stories and made a name for herself as a reporter. However, the internal conflict that she had to deal with throughout the film showed the true effects of how the patriarchal society functions. The societal norms that are expected of woman are to be a housewife, who does everything for her husband. I think that the fact that Hildy is being swindled into this lifestyle exposes her weakness which allows Walter and others to take advantage of her throughout the movie. I think that there is a grandiose claim that is made by the directors of film about the role of women within American society. They attempt to show women throughout the country that even the most strong willed of you, which is Hildy, cannot escape the fact that they are weaker than the man. They show Hildy as weak and overcome by her emotions, especially in the scene where she breaks down crying and accepts Walter back into her life. The puppeteer will continue to be the man and the woman will continue to be at the will of the man. There is a reason that the movie does not end with Hildy riding off with Bruce is because Bruce did not have the same control over Hildy as Walter. Although Hildy appears to be a “modern” feminist, the movie instead attempts to frame the “modern” feminist as one that still requires the support of a man.
ReplyDeleteHildy definitely defies the role of what was though to be the "traditional woman" in the 1940s. While she does go back to the man who she originally divorced, in a way this even further establishes her feminist position. This is because her boyfriend in the beginning of the film, Bruce, treats her like a man would be expected to treat a woman back then while Walter seems to believe she is his equal. While Bruce is constantly cautious of the fact that she is a woman and how he should treat her differently because of it, Walter respects Hildy's role as a serious and independent career driven woman and wants her to continue her job. We also see that Walter's mannerisms in general show that he treats her more like an equal, for example, at the start of the film, he walks through a door without thinking to hold it open for Hildy even while she is talking about how chivalrous Bruce is towards her. There are several other examples besides her love interests that also show how Hildy breaks the standard of women in the 1940s and advances feminism. She is strong-willed and chooses her own path in life. She is driven and wants to get the news story about Earl, the criminal, on her own agenda and seems to even take on the challenge without any help. She is brave, as we are able to see mainly when she stays calm when Earl approaches her with a gun. Hildy is never the weak woman that needs a man to come and save her. Even at the end of the film when she is crying, she is not crying because she needs Walter or Bruce to come and help her. She is only shown as weak here because she does not know what to decide, but in the end the decision is hers and uninfluenced by Walter or Bruce. I believe that if she were supposed to be perceived as a "damsel in distress" she would end up with Bruce because that wouldn't be what she actually wanted but would be considered more socially acceptable than going back to someone she already divorced. Overall, while today, we may see Hildy's role as less of a feminist, in the 1940s, her role was extremely progressive.
ReplyDeleteIn His Girl Friday, I think Hildy Johnson’s independent, career-driven mindset is a refreshing departure from the oversaturated image of the domesticated wife that was so prevalent at the time. Breaking the status quo from most depictions of romantic relationships, Hildy Johnson is put in the position of power, resisting the constant attempts at courting by Walter Burns. I think it’s interesting to put His Girl Friday in a greater context by understanding its betrayal of the stereotypical 1940’s woman, long before the womens’ rights pushes of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Throughout His Girl Friday, we see Hildy in a powerful feminist role, however, much of this feels negated by Hildy’s occasional regression to the mean, speaking of her yearning to raise a family and assume a more classical domesticated role, which leads her to seek the stability and predictability of a life with Bruce Baldwin. In the end, however, Hildy eschews this lifestyle in favor of rekindling her romance with Walter. I think that it’s important to see the significance of Hildy’s demeanor as she stands out as the only prominent woman in a cast heavily weighed towards men. Her confidence and bravado show a fresh, new perspective on the kind of character a woman can portray in a film.
ReplyDeleteHildy Johnson serves as a number one writer in the history of the newspaper company. Everybody in the movie looked up to her and respected her. However, there was conflict between her and Walter, the chief editor of the newspaper. The two used to be married, but Hildy divorced him because he was a “bad husband”. Hildy shows herself as a powerful women who isn’t afraid of a challenge. However, she specified early that she wanted to get away from the business of journalism so she could settle down and have children in the nice suburbs. She was planning on getting married soon until an important event occurred that needed coverage from a top reporter. The role of women in this film is very important to recognize because it is hard to predict. In the beginning it clearly shows how women are in power and Hilde had control. It is a symbol of women’s rights since it is around the time where the Labor standards act had just passed, giving women more work opportunities. Contradictory to this, Walter convinces Hilde to stay at the newspaper, and also come back to marry him. Walter made Hilde look weak in the end of the film which showed the Walter was in power, instead of Hilde. Which shows that even though women were becoming more equal, there was still a stereotype that men were more powerful than women. This wouldn’t develop until many years later, but the movie serves as an example of how men and women were evolving.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday is neither feminist nor particularly misogynistic. Much like Macbeth, it plays with gender roles, shifting them between characters, without actually redefining anything. There is only one actual woman on screen, but both male characters display either-end of the traditionally female spectrum of personality. Bruce exemplifies much of what is viewed to be wrong with women. He is weak, ineffectual, a poor earner, overly attached to his mother, and incredibly naïve. He needs to be constantly protected and watched over since he can`t do anything on his own, and easily falls into Walters traps. Walter moreover plays the role of the scheming and manipulative Lady Macbeth. He bribes and plots in an effort to separate Hildy from Bruce and to get the best story for his newspaper. So technically, this movie re-enforces negative female stereotypes by comedicly placing them onto the male characters. Part of the reason the film is so funny is because the two men act in such traditionally female ways, making their actions even more ridiculous. The use of gender reversals for comedy is a long standing tradition which is simply utilized in this film, and is thus far less groundbreaking than it may appear on the surface. The hilarity of the situation is further heightened by Hildys duality. She spends her time on camera trying to conform to the expected level of femininity in 1940s society, but ultimately fails. She declares finally, “I`m a journalist!” when she drives Bruce away in her fervor to finish the article about Earl Williams. She is still somewhat weak since Walter consistently fools her, yet she is also domineering and aggressive. Hildy tackles the warden when she wants an interview, she gets the gun away from Earl Williams, and she keeps a level head during numerous stressful and dangerous situations. At times she even appears more manly than Bruce and Walter. Despite this, the movie is not meant to be serious, and all of this is done because it makes the situations so ridiculous. Viewers at the time would have recognized that the typical gender stereotypes were being played with, but not edited. This means that the view of women in this movie is still rather negative, even though it does not have Hildy being shackled with traditional stereotypes. However, the portrayal of a woman as manly and competent is always a step in the right direction, even if it is a jocular portrayal, so the movie does have some redeeming qualities.
ReplyDeleteOn the surface, His Girl Friday could be seen as a progressive movie that empowered women, by incorporating a strong female character who would not take disrespect from anybody; however, if one analyzes it closer one can see clearly that it hints at many limiting expectations of women, and it actually portray women as not knowing what is best for themselves and needing the approval of men. Hildy, one of the two main protagonists, was ready to marry her fiancé Bruce at the start of the film. She was willing to give up her successful career as a journalist to live a “normal” life for a woman at that time by staying home and raising a family. This is an extremely feeble-minded belief of what women should have to do. His Girl Friday clearly does not think that women are capable of having a career, and it is attempting to say that it is the responsibility of women to be care-takers rather than providers. To make matters worse, even though Hildy is ready to start this “normal” life, she does not even end up going through with it in the end. Walter, Hildy’s ex-husband, attempts to win her heart the entire film, but it is not until Walter tells her to be with Bruce that she wants to end up being with him. His Girl Friday, thinks that when women make up their mind on something that they do not actually know what is best for them. The film attempts to say that men should make the decisions for the woman. Additionally, by Hildy wanting to marry Walter after he rejects her, it reflects the idea that women are desperately seeking the approval of men. If Hildy had not been seeking the approval of Walter, a man, then she would not have made such a haste decision.
ReplyDeleteHildy is a very feministic character proving to her coworkers that even though she is a woman she is capable of beating them at “their own” game and will. I believe that her going back to Walter and remarrying him is not a step back for Hildy as a feminist but instead is a step forward. When Hildy and Bruce were together she had no reason to work, to not be at home, to act like a woman “should” because that is how she was treated. I’m not saying that Bruce was a bad man because by any means he was not, instead he was the perfect man and treated Hildy like he would have any women but Hildy is not just any women. Hildy is the women who divorced her husband because she didn’t like the way that she was being treated, she is the women who is respected by all men. Hildy is not greeted by her male coworkers with smiles and flirtatious good mornings but instead with equal spouts of hellos and good mornings like the conversations of two men. Instead Hildy remarries Walter not because she is regressing but because he treats her not as a lady but as an equal. This movie perfectly compares to different men and their treatments of Hildy and although society at that time would have thought that Bruce would have been the perfect husband to settle down with and have children, Walter was the man that Hildy loved.
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