Essay 3 Final

Womens Role in Film


--When watching multiple films it is common to want to compare them. In this case specifically, the role of women. The three movies: Splendor in the Grass, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, and Rear Window all show the role of women in very distinct ways. Regardless of these distinct ways that women’s roles are portrayed, these three films also share some similarities in the portrayed roles of certain women from each film. These three films were made during the 1950’s and early 1960’s which may be the reason for the roles of women being portrayed as they were. To start, I will summarize the three films to help get a better understanding of the types of women shown in the films. From there we can then begin to understand these women and their roles within the film as well as how those roles compare to each other.
--The first of these three movies is Splendor in the Grass, which was made in 1961. The story of this movie focuses primarily on a young girl named Deanie Loomis and her boyfriend Bud Stamper. This movie is set to take place during the late 1920’s just before the stock market crash. Deanie wants to be able to go to the next level with Bud but caught between her feelings and wants as well as those of her mother who tells her that “women don’t enjoy those sorts of things” as well as how she and her husband never touched each other before they were married. This tension as well as the expectations of their two families end up causing Bud to informally break up with Deanie which causes her to lose it. While being in a mentally and emotionally unstable state, she starts dressing and acting more like the typical Flapper of the time sp as to try and win back Bud. In the end however, nothing was ever the same between Deanie and Bud again.
--The second movie is Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which was made in 1958. At the start of the movie Mrs. Archer or Nancy if you will, has a run in with an alien spacecraft which contains what is later revealed to be a 30-foot man. She runs to find her husband Harry Archer, who is only interested in her large fortune, but instead only found the sheriff. Nancy seems to know that Harry has a relationship with Honey Parker but doesn’t seem to care as long as he denies any such relationship with Honey. The two later go to find the monster which they do. Harry abandons Nancy and returns to town hoping to leave before anyone can find out however he is stopped by the sheriff. When Nancy is later found it is discovered that she has some form of radiation and in time begins to grow to astounding proportions, specifically of the 30-foot variety. At this point she goes on a rampage which ends in her killing Harry and Honey. Shortly after, she dies or is killed, however it is not very clear which.
--The third movie is Rear Window, which was made in 1954. The story focuses around two main points. The first being the suspected murder of Mrs. Thorwald by Mr. Thorwald. The second point being the relationship between Lisa and Jeff. Jeff was a photographer who was injured during an assignment which got his leg broke which now keeps him confined to his apartment where the only thing he can to is spy on his neighbors which causes him to suspect the murder. In terms of the relationship, Jeff does not seem as committed because of the lifestyle he has as a photographer which he believes Lisa would not be able to adjust to seeing as she is used to a “higher class” lifestyle. This difference causes a rift to grow between them up until both become highly interested in the suspected murder case which ironically brings them closer together.
--So now we ask ourselves, what is the common role between these three women? All three of them had to give up something for their boyfriend or husband. Deanie from Splendor in the Grass gave up her good girl lifestyle and maybe even part of her sanity for Bud so that he would take her back. Nancy in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman in a sense, unwillingly gave up her life for Harry so that she could have him all to herself. Lisa in Rear Window gave up her higher end lifestyle so that she could be with Jeff and be happy with him. Going back to Deanie, in giving this up for Bud she ended up having to spend time in a mental institution. Nancy was not getting what she wanted from Harry because he did not care for her which in the end caused her to go on her rampage. Lisa was not getting what she hoped to from Jeff which caused her to willingly give up the lifestyle she was used to. One interesting observation in relation to the situation of these three women on not their roles was that all three were having relationship troubles in some form or another which is why these three women ended up giving something up for the man in their life.
--During and after the 1920’s, women’s role in society began to change. They changed from solely being housewives to being working women and women who could have lives outside of the home. Evidence of this can be seen in the lives of the three women in each film. Deanie even though it was only because of her mental state after the breakup with Bud, became a sort of Flapper. Since Nancy was quite rich she did not have to do any work so her only role was just being a loyal wife. Lisa had her own career which she enjoyed even though she was willing to give it up. Up into the 1950’s and 1960’s women’s role began to change even more. Going back to my point about how Deanie, Nancy, and Lisa all had to give up something, it was fairly common for women of the time to give up certain things for their husbands. Specifically since WWII had recently finished and many veterans returned home, many women began to work more so that their husbands could go to college and get and education. Many gave up the lifestyle they wanted or their education so that their husbands could. This was not always the case but it was still fairly common.
--When looking at all three films, sacrifice can be seen as a common action for women. It seems as if sacrifice was common for women of the general time period for when these movies were made. It is this reason that such a concept is represented in these three movies. This concept shows us that women’s place in society and their role had continued to change even in such a short thirty to forty year period and would continue to do so in the coming years after.