Monday, February 29, 2016
Marriage -- and Divorce -- His Girl Style
His Girl Friday charts the marriage and divorce and remarriage of Walter and Hildy and the engagement -- and near marriage -- of Hildy and Bruce. Hildy says she wants domestic bliss in suburban Albany but she chucks it to remarry Walter and relaunch her career. Can someone balance career and marriage? Who is the best kind of spouse? Is happiness possible in marriage? What is this film saying about that state of marriage in the modern world?
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I believe it is possible to balance a career and marriage. For this to happen, however there must be compromises made on both ends of the table. On the career aspect, one must realize that they cannot totally indulge themselves in their career even if it causes them to lose out on some of their aspirations within the career. On the marriage aspect, one must realize that they cannot always be there for their family at all times as sometimes the job must take priority. The only way to be able to balance these two commitments is when one understands that there will always be goals or achievements being missed out on in both responsibilities. I believe the best kind of spouse is one that can learn how to balance between their life between these two commitments and not get overly committed into one field. I believe Walt is what a spouse shouldn't be as he is overly committed into his career and has proven that he can't create compromises and find a balance between the two responsibilities. I believe Bruce is the best example of an ideal spouse in His Girl Friday. He seems to have a balance between his work life and his family life and is committed to making compromises in both. I believe happiness is possible in a marriage, but only if makes an effort to compromise like Bruce. I believe the film tries to show that the ideal state of marriage is almost impossible in the modern world. This is evident by the lack of couples in the film and scene when by almost all of the characters who are too involved in their jobs.
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ReplyDeleteThis film makes the statement that women specifically cannot balance careers and marriage; in addition to the statement that marriage is essentially a sham. The reason that Hildy divorces Walter is because she couldn’t be a domestic wife because both of their careers interfere with their marriage. From this, we can gather that Hildy feels like she is not truly living all of her life while pursuing her career. While she was pursuing a career, she had to sacrifice living the lifestyle that she truly wanted to live. Less than a year after she divorced Walter, she was already engaged to Bruce. The speed of her moving on alludes to the fact that she does not give marriage much thought. Rather, marriage is simply an arrangement of convenience for her to live her desired lifestyle. Once again when Hildy begins to work, we see that she cannot balance her marriage with her journalistic ambitions. Both Bruce and his mother ask her repeatedly to leave the newsroom, but her journey to Albany is constantly postponed. When she ends her engagement with Bruce, it is to back to both Walter, and her journalism job. This development suggests that she can have both her career and marriage with Walter. However, history has already told us that Hildy and Walter’s marriage does not correlate to a successful balance. Rather, what this development shows is that throughout this film, marriage is essentially a sham. Specifically, it is seen as a sham when Hildy and Walter suddenly and almost randomly decide to get married again. There is no romantic gesture or large hints that lead up to the proposition. Additionally, Hildy’s marriage to Bruce would have been a sham because of the nature of the way that their relationship formed. Specifically, she met him while basically going on her honeymoon with Walter by herself. Overall, what His Girl Friday is attempting to say about marriage is that not only is marriage not respected in 1940’s society, but also that it is simply impossible for Hildy, and women, to balance their careers and marriage.
ReplyDeleteHildy of His Girl Friday is given two distinct options concerning her marital future: a ‘stay-at-home’, laid back life in domesticity with Bruce, or an exciting, corrupt search for success with Walter. Most importantly, she must make a singular choice between these options; both she and the audience are aware that a quiet lifestyle is not possible with Walter and a fast-paced career is not possible with Bruce. In this way, His Girl Friday suggests that marriage itself, and the notion of a woman vowing herself to a man, is quite limiting. Even so, a ‘correct’ decision, in Hildy’s case, can be made. While with Bruce, Hildy finds it difficult to escape her true personality and conform to the domestic values that Bruce symbolizes. For example, she must fight instinct in order to keep away from the newspaper business, and her witty and quick speech drastically contrasts the slow and innocent voice of Bruce. It becomes ever more evident (especially as she drifts back to journalism and spends time with Walter) that Hildy is her most animated and ecstatic self while following her career; before long, the image of independent Hildy as a housewife appears quite silly to a viewer. When she chooses to leave Bruce—who in the end has only been continually hurt by Hildy—and instead remarry Walter, it feels right: Walter’s amorality has shown throughout the movie, and Hildy’s nearly identical corruption has surfaced in the last scenes of the movie. In fact, one of the only personality differences between the two is that Hildy recognizes her corruption and occasionally is doubtful of the morality of her and Walter’s actions—which was likely the reason for her original temporary divorce with the newspaperman. By the end of the film, the clearly mismatched and hurtful relationship between Hildy and Bruce, contrasted by the sheer synchronicity between Walter and Hildy, suggests that happiness in marriage and the balancing of spouse and career is possible. But, such happiness is reliant on compatibility between the two individuals. Marriage, His Girl Friday proposes, forces a person to a singular path of life but can be effective (even if based on skewed values) when one chooses a partner that closely matches their natural inclinations and loves.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship side of the film His Girl Friday follows Hildy, a newspaper journalist, as she begins the next chapter of her life. The marriage of Hildy and Walter symbolizes Hildy’s professional life. The divorce of Hildy and Walter symbolizes Hildy’s decision to leave the professional world. In the beginning of the film, the viewers and Walter discover that Hildy is engaged to Bruce. Hildy’s engagement to Bruce symbolizes Hildy’s interest in leaving the professional world and pursuing a “stay-at-home” life. However, as the film progresses, Hildy’s certainty about leaving the professional world becomes questionable. The Earl Williams incident sucks Hildy right back into the professional world. Through the process of writing the news article, Hildy realizes that she misses her job and might not be ready to leave the professional world. By the end of the movie, Hildy breaks her engagement with Bruce (stay-at-home life) and runs off with Walter (the professional life). In the film, the relationships are more symbols than they are physical relationships. Marriage symbolizes choosing a lifestyle. However, although Hildy can control who she ends up with in the end and what lifestyle she chooses, having both lifestyles or balancing a career versus staying at home is not possible. Throughout the film, Hildy is torn between pursuing a career versus moving to the country and not working. Hildy cannot have both a career and a stay-at-home lifestyle. At the end, Hildy ends up getting back together with Walter and pursuing a professional career. Her decisions seems to be right because throughout the film she realizes that she is more interested in pursuing a career than she is in moving to the countryside and quitting her job. Hildy is more like Walter and the two of them are very compatible because of their shared interests, goals, and personalities.
ReplyDeleteThe whole premise and choice that Hildy has to make in His Girl Friday shows that there is difficulty between being a career-driven woman or a family oriented woman. While she could choose Bruce and have an easier life with a family, she would also suffer in her work life and would not be able to live the way she was before with the job at the newspaper. She could also choose Walter and have the successful job, but this means a more complicated marriage and going back to a life that already failed her once. This contradiction in the movie shows that it is often impossible to have a career and have a happy marriage as a woman in the 1940s. Therefore, the film is showing that marriage means sacrifice and that you cannot have everything when you are married to another person because you can't always think about and rely on yourself. I think that the film is not explicitly saying that happiness cannot come from marriage, but that marriage is not some fairytale where those involved have everything that they were able to have when they were single. There are definitely setbacks involved in marriage and this clearly shows through the tough decision and internal conflict that Hildy goes through throughout the entire film. Lastly, I think that the movie is trying to show that the best spouse is not the person who may be the easiest to be with, but the person you can still be the same person with, which in this case is Walter. Hildy, although her marriage may be difficult, ends up with Walter because she is still able to enjoy the things she was able to while she is single. If the film were truly trying to show that Bruce was the ideal spouse, then Hildy would be happy to be engaged to him--but by the end of the film we clearly see that this is not the case.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday exemplifies the difficulties of balancing a career and marriage. It demonstrates how a career can be a deciding factor in a marriage and the decision to be with someone. It clearly illustrates the difficulty of getting everything one wants, and sometimes one has to choose, which is what Hildy Johnson does in His Girl Friday. She has two options, either a family in suburban Albany where she cares for her family and her husband Bruce, or to remarry Walter and have a career again. It is obvious that even though Hildy says she wants to be with Bruce and have a nice, normal, and almost stereotypical family, she loves Walter more since she keeps coming back to him. This “normal” lifestyle may not be for her, and for her character it is evident that she is someone who needs a powerful job she can focus on. The best kind of spouse is someone who is doing what they want and love to do. For example, hypothetically, if Hildy did go on to live with Bruce, then she may not enjoy her life because she would always have that desire to go and work again, which may not be the best for their marriage. It would be another story if the family and not having a job is what she truly wanted, but it’s clear that it’s not. In this film, it is saying that a woman has to choose between having a job or having a family in order to have a good marriage, but that it can also be difficult to balance a career and a marriage. In my opinion, it is completely possible to have a good marriage and a career, but sometimes it can be very difficult.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is very possible for someone to balance both their career and marriage; however that does not mean that it isn’t going to be hard. You have to come to the understanding that you must be willing to sacrifice opportunities in your career in order to take time out for your family or marriage. Also you must understand that your job is your only source of income, the way that you survive so you must put your job first at times. It is all about balance, not concentrating more on your career than your marriage and vice versa, therefore I believe that the best spouse would be someone that is capable of balance. I also believe that there can only be true happiness in the marriage as long as both parties are balance and understanding of each other and the time that each of their careers needs in order to still flourish. I think that this film is saying that marriages today, in the modern world, have the problem of not being balance and instead either spouse is more focused on their career or marriage more. Today the average divorce rate is between 40 and 50 percent with the most common reason of divorce being due to lack of commitment. This shows how highly this movie reflects upon today’s society going back to the imbalance of career and marriage.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday exemplifies the difficulties of balancing ones career and one’s marriage, however, the film hints that you can only have one or the other. The film gives Hildy the choice or being a career-centered woman, or a family oriented women, taking the role of a wife. Hildy can choose to stay working in the office, but it is likely that she will never have time off to spend with her family. Her marriage will most likely not be happy, but she will be able to work like she wants to. Hildy can also choose to not work and have a happy marriage. The film portrays that we can’t have everything that we want in life, it’s one thing or another. The film also touches on who would be a perfect spouse. Based on all of the outcomes for Hildy, it seems as if there isn’t a best spouse. If you and him/her don’t work, too much time would be spent together and no one would have time alone to do their own thing. A better spouse would be one who could balance work and marriage, but it is rare to find someone who can do both. In addition, the film creates the image of what marriage means in the modern world. A modern marriage strays away from the traditional one partner for your whole life and makes the idea of marriage more casual, where it is acceptable to be married and divorced multiple times.
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