Wednesday, April 18, 2012
From Hildy to Mrs. Miller
Mrs. Miller is a tough businesswoman who takes McCabe fledgling businessand makes it prosper. Yet, at the same time she is whore and an opium addict who runs a brothel in which she sells other women's sexual pleasures. Is she the model for the "liberated" woman of the "70"s? How does she compare with previous images of femininity such as Hildy Johnson? How much has changed for woman (in the movies at least) from the '40's to the '70's?
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I believe both Hildy and Mrs. Miller represent the potential that women begin to show in both of these time periods. Mrs. Miller is a tough businesswoman who holds her ground and definitely knows what she is doing when running the whorehouse with mccabe. Hildy is also the bright young star in the newspaper business who is business savy and can hold her ground as well. However, they also exemplify the common view of women for their time periods. Hildy while driven to show her abilities to hang with men in business, she is willing to drop everything at the spur of the moment for shallow love and excitement. Mrs. Miller is, in a sense, the old west version of a hippie in the 70’s. Her whoreing occupation represents free love and mindless sex while her opium use is comparable to the abundance of drug use and new experimenting going on in the 70’s. Clearly, these two women are very different to one anther as the women of both times were very different but, overall, both of these women show that women of the time period have potential to do great things but are still not quite there due to outside exploits.
ReplyDeleteIt’s clear to see through the character of Mrs. Miller that the morals and values of women have slightly altered then that of which were presented in the 40s. In likeness with Hildy Johnson, Mrs. Miller also wants to be seen as a successful female within society. Both are very ambitious and seem to be more than capable of getting the job done successfully and adequately. Though they do share a common goal of ultimately making money and achieving what in their eyes is seen as success, the things they do and subject themselves to happen to be quite different. While Hildy Johnson is indeed a fire cracker not afraid to voice her opinion in a world dominated by the likes of men, Mrs. Miller on the other hand is a woman who in many ways believes she is outsmarting the male mind. She possesses something that many men would do anything for and in McCabe’s case that meant dying. For her she uses her body and feminine charm to succeed and collect monetary things. The women of Mrs. Miller’s time are still in a race with the likes of men to succeed and make a living. However, the woman of this time is more eager to disrespect and devalue herself for a hefty pay check.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Miller, although a liberated woman is not a role model or on the same level of liberation as Hildy. The differences between Hildy and Mrs. Miller are that Mrs. Miler never compromises and knows exactly what shes doing when running the whore house with Mr. McCabe. Hildy on the other hand is also quite smart, she is a little younger than mrs. miller, and is solid in the field of reporting. where they differ is hildy is the more wholesome of the two. she found a way to be assertive in life and make her own way and be in charge without selling her body. moreover mrs. miller thought that the only way that she could succeed in life was to self her body. this lead her to the point in which she gives in and turns to drugs, more specifically opium. All in all while they both might be liberated Hildy’s approach is the better alternative to mrs. millers, because she can sell her mind and not her body.
ReplyDelete~Ryan Looney
Mrs. Miller does not seem to be a particularly liberated woman. Though she runs a successful business by manipulating the blundering John McCabe into doing what she tells him to, she is ultimately the slave of what is apparently a crippling opium addiction and is quick to fear the mining company's threats towards McCabe. She compares oddly with previous images of femininity, such as Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday, who truly dominated men and women alike (the exception being her ex-husband) as a star reporter for a newspaper. In terms of changes for women in movies between the 1940s and 1970s, much seems to be different. Mrs. Miller runs a brothel, does opium, and swears. Hildy Johnson is a far more innocent character, which seems to be typical of older movies.
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