Monday, February 29, 2016
Nice Guys Finish Last?
On the face of it, both Rules of the Game and His Girl Friday depict a pessimistic, dog-eat-dog world. Both films have characters who care for their reputation and comfort over the well-being of innocent others. The Marquis and his wife condone the killing of his wife's would-be lover to return to their domestic cocoon. The Mayor and the Sheriff are willing to hang an innocent man to win an election. Walter Burns will manipulate and swindle Bruce to get Hildy back. Do both of these movies have cynical views of human nature and/or the society's they show? Or is there some silver lining in the dark clouds? Is their any value in either movie that is redeeming, noble or heroic?
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Both Rules of the Game and His Girl Friday show the darker side of the real world. They show the more realistic and cynical sides of people that is best characterized "all is fair in love and war". However, in reality being cutthroat isn't just limited to love and war. These movies show that people are willing to throw others under the bus and betray the ones that care about them all for self gain. I believe this is an accurate representation of the societies of the French bourgeoisie and the New York newspaper business. The French Bourgeoisie was a very selfish society in which people tried to best promote themselves and save face for their mistakes by placing the blame on others. This is evident after La Chesnaye and Christine pass Andre's death off as an accident to not cause more drama and to save their reputations. In the newspaper world, reporters are cutthroat as they fight to get the best stories and connections. This is seen when Hildy bribes her way into Earl's cell to get his thoughts on the murder. I don't believe there is any light in these worlds. The only way to succeed in these worlds is to care about yourself. Bruce and Andre are the perfect examples of light in the darkness, but both of their stories end poorly. This shows that even if people would want to act nobly and there is deterrence as those before them have always ended up with consequences because of it. I believe there are no redeeming values in either of these movies. These movies show us that chivalry is dead. They only show us that narcissism and greed prevail.
ReplyDeleteI believe that The Rules of the Game is much more cynical than His Girl Friday. However, both films perpetuate the ideas of cynicism as they reward those who lie and act selfishly to get what they want. In The Rules of Game, Robert lied about the nature of the shooting. In addition, when Andre attempted to act heroically and unselfishly, he was shot. From this, we can see that those act morally and adhere to the moral rules of life are not rewarded. This idea creates a cynical view on life. In His Girl Friday, Walter tries to get Hildy back. However, he does not try to do this through chivalrous actions. Rather, Walter acts through tricky tactics, like giving Bruce, Hildy’s current fiancé, counterfeit money, kidnapping Bruce’s mother, and getting Bruce thrown in jail multiple times. However, his rather unchivalrous actions are rewarded. In the end of the film, Hildy decides to go back to him rather than stay with Bruce. In both of these films, the ends justify the means. What this means is that the nature of your actions do not matter. Good is not rewarded. This perspective is a rather cynical one. Overall, these movies show a very cynical view of society. While there are heroic characters in each film, they are the ones who lose everything in the end (Andre and Bruce). As such, there is not a heroic redemption to be seen. The liars and bullies of society end up with everything, and the heroic and unselfish men are punished.
ReplyDeleteBoth His Girl Friday and Rules of the Game are cynical in their critique of a broader societal structure. Rules of the Game criticized the lavish lifestyles of France’s bourgeois the economic structure that they originated from. His Girl Friday criticized the political-journalistic machine that manipulated the public to try to win an election. Both movies are cynical in their view of those structures.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday portrayed the political-journalistic machine as pervasive and omnipresent. The hectic commotion in the phone room demonstrated how quickly information could travel with the advent of telephones which greatly expanded the sphere of control for the political-journalistic machine. Although the information that the journalists conveyed was often factually incorrect, it makes no difference to the machine. Any story, no matter how true or false, can sell papers. Even when faced with the truth, the newspaper would skew the truth of the story to promote one opinion. The ability for information to travel so quickly demonstrated that the political-journalistic machine was now effectively embedded into society. Absent wholescale upheaval of the political system, there would be no escape from it.
Hildy’s attempt to escape journalism also demonstrated the pervasiveness of the machine. Prior to the events of the movie, she was a talented reporter who could easily get stories. However, she quickly becomes drawn back into the movie as soon as she’s confronted with the prospect of a story. The simple fact that she becomes reincorporated into the processes of the machine demonstrate its inevitability.
Both His Girl Friday and Rules of the Game are cynical in their critique of a broader societal structure. Rules of the Game criticized the lavish lifestyles of France’s bourgeois the economic structure that they originated from. His Girl Friday criticized the political-journalistic machine that manipulated the public to try to win an election. Both movies are cynical in their view of those structures.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday portrayed the political-journalistic machine as pervasive and omnipresent. The hectic commotion in the phone room demonstrated how quickly information could travel with the advent of telephones which greatly expanded the sphere of control for the political-journalistic machine. Although the information that the journalists conveyed was often factually incorrect, it makes no difference to the machine. Any story, no matter how true or false, can sell papers. Even when faced with the truth, the newspaper would skew the truth of the story to promote one opinion. The ability for information to travel so quickly demonstrated that the political-journalistic machine was now effectively embedded into society. Absent wholescale upheaval of the political system, there would be no escape from it.
Hildy’s attempt to escape journalism also demonstrated the pervasiveness of the machine. Prior to the events of the movie, she was a talented reporter who could easily get stories. However, she quickly becomes drawn back into the movie as soon as she’s confronted with the prospect of a story. The simple fact that she becomes reincorporated into the processes of the machine demonstrate its inevitability.
Both The Rules of the Game and His Girl Friday depict the less moral side of the world. Both movies portray a world where people who play by “the rules of the game” lose in the end; it really does seem that nice guys finish last. In The Rules of the Game, Andre, the nice moral guy who follows all the rules, is the only one who dies. In His Girl Friday, Bruce, a nice guy who pursues his love interest morally, loses his love interest Hildy to Walter, Hildy’s manipulative and dishonest ex-husband. Although the film His Girl Friday does seem to support the idea that “nice guys finish last”, the film strongly suggests the idea that the press is composed of dishonest manipulators who would do anything to anything or anyone for self-gain. This idea is clearly supported by both Walter and Hildy’s actions. When a police murder, Earl Williams, gets caught by the police, the different press companies fight to get interviews. Hildy shows up at the police station and gets an interview with Earl by bribing one of the workers at the station. During the interview, Hildy is seen manipulating Earl and putting words in his mouth. Eventually she makes him agree that he shot the policeman because of “production for use”. Although Hildy acts like she is trying to help Earl, she is actually manipulating him into helping her write a juicy news story for her personal gain. Walter later helps Hildy write a news story about Earl by hiding him in an office desk and his smooth talking skills to deceive people such as Bruce, Bruce’s mother, the police, other journalists about Earl’s location. In one of the final scenes Earl is discovered and journalists poured into the room; all of them wrote different and inaccurate news stories. This further supports the idea that the press cannot be trusted. The film shows viewers that the idea that “nice guys finish last” is not right; we cannot let those who manipulate and deceive finish first.
ReplyDelete“The Rules of the Game” and “His Girl Friday” have similar themes and plots in the sense that the “good guy” does not get the happy ending, mostly because of the actions of someone else. With this being said, I think that both of these movies do have cynical views of today’s society in general because it shows that most people are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want, even at the expense of someone else’s life or happiness. In “The Rules of the Game”, Andre is portrayed as the hero throughout the whole movie but at the end, he is shot and killed by someone for their own personal gain. In “His Girl Friday”, Bruce is left by Hildy for Walter even though Bruce is the kind one who offers to give Hildy everything she wants. Obviously, in both of these situations, the “hero” does not come out on top and this kind of undermines the whole idea of heroism or nobility because the hero is supposed to be victorious and successful in all their endeavors. Especially in our society today, the defeat of these two men show a complex understanding of the world we live in, where not everything adds up the way it should. In both of these movies, I see no silver linings in the stories of Andre and Bruce because for all the hard work that they do and the things that they accomplish, they do not get what they truly want in the end.
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