His Girl Friday charts the marriage and divorce and remarriage of Walter and Hildy and the engagement -- and near marriage -- of Hildy and Bruce. What is this film saying about that state of marriage in the modern world?
The movie His Girl Friday sends us the message that marriage at this time period was basically like dating, maybe even more meaningless. Hildy jumped from one man to the next with almost no thought or consideration for the other guy. Hildy continued to work with walter even though they had just divorced. They acted like it didn’t mean very much and it didn’t seem to be to hostile between them even though they continued to argue. Throughout the movie Hildy was always attached to Bruce and it felt like they had a real bond that was robably not going to be broken, especially because Bruce was a genuine guy. However, Hildy revealed her true colors at the end when she decided almost out of nowhere over one small thing that she was going to go back to walter, just like that. She had not talked to Bruce about it even though they were ”engaged”. She changed her mind in an instant without much thought it seemed. Bruce also did not do anything to deserve this and ended up getting completely screwed over as he lost what he thought was the love of his life to the guy that kept trying to put him in jail. To add on to it, walter and hildy were going to ask him if they could stay with him on their trip to Albany. Hildy was very fickle about these things. She acted as if engagements and marriage had no real bond and love carried a weaker meaning.
I agree with Nick Barnett when he says marriage was synonymous to dating. In this film it seems exactly like Hildy was just dating Walter; no significant connections whatsoever. The engagement and near marriage of Hildy to Bruce was delivered to the audience and Walter in such a quick and unsuspecting manner that it almost seems unreal. Today, marriage seems to be like that. I lot of people are falling in and out of marriage so quickly and easily it is if they are casually dating.
This film's perspective makes it seem like women are the problem, but the truth is that all parties regardless of their gender are doing this. As a 1940's film I like to think that it is trying point out the social problems (such as divorce) of progressive women being in control of their own lives. Again, this is not a result of that, but it shows that societal values where changing, and as a result it gradually broke the institution and sanctity of marriage. We see the results today with statistics of divorce rates and some stunning public examples like Kim Kardashian and her 'one week' husband, I believe.
Furthermore, in today’s modern world a lot of people have changed their attitudes towards religion. Previously, it used to be seen as an abomination for a woman to divorce a man. Today most religion still hold that but people have gravitated to a different way of thinking, more liberal I suppose, and this is what we see in the film. Neither Hildy nor Walter seems to be strongly affiliated with any faith of some sort. They govern their own actions. At the time of the making of this film, this behavior of the actors can be seen as foreshadow of modern life as we see it today. Society has changed and marriage does not hold water like it used to.
In His Girl Friday, the idea of marriage is mocked and ridiculed. Often times in modern society, two people get married because they are in love and want to spend the rest of their lives together. They may also dream of starting a family, and growing old together. However, in Howard Hawks’ famed screwball comedy, marriage is not seen as a union between two people who love each other. Rather it is portrayed as something that everyone must do, whether they want to or not. While the beginning of the film gives reason to believe that Hildy truly loves Bruce, the progression of events soon begins to suggest otherwise. Hildy will do whatever she can to advance her career, regardless of how it affects her relationship with Bruce. This exemplifies the message about marriage that is proposed in His Girl Friday; that marriage and a stereotypical family life should take a back seat to a budding career. While at the beginning of the film it appears that Hildy likes the idea of being a housewife while married to Bruce, she soon realizes that she may become bored of caring after the home all day. Rather, she thinks that she would rather go back to a past relationship, full of excitement and spontaneity with Walter. Subsequently, she plays the men, leading them both on as she weighs the options of who she would rather be with. This proves that to Hildy, marriage was nothing serious and especially not a commitment of one’s long term love for another. No, it was a game that could be played without penalty for switching sides.
I believe that if Hildy was portrayed as an ordinary person His Girl Friday would be shinning a negative light on the state of modern marriage. Hildy tackles someone, hides a fugitive in a desk, and gets so involved in a news story that she abandons her dreams; she is not shown to be an average person, and Bruce remarks how he has never met anyone quite like her. The film creates Hildy as someone who seems unconventional, and it is only fitting that her experience with marriage is unconventional as well.
If the film gave an indication that women like Hildy were becoming more prevalent, then perhaps it would be commenting on marriage. However, no other woman is given a role quite like Hildy's. She takes on the important role of spearheading the big news story, while no other women take on nearly as important of jobs.
I really think that Nick, Thabo, and Josh hit the nail right on the head when they said that "His Girl Friday" basically makes marriage look like it's nothing but a joke in the modern world. And the sad part is, these days marriage truly is taken for granted way too much, as couples seem to be rushing into it more than ever and losing sight of the commitment that they made to each other. In the film, viewers discover early on that Hildy and Walter used to be married and they had divorced not too long ago. Hildy then reveals that she has already moved on from Walter and is currently engaged to Bruce. That right there just goes to show that Hildy must not have been very committed to Walter in the first place. Yet, throughout the film, Walter uses some evil trickery to make Hildy realize that he really will do whatever it takes (whether it's moral or immoral) to be with her because he truly loves her. And to the surprise of many viewers, Hildy takes Walter back in the end. Apparently that's what Hildy really looks for in a man; questionable motives and morals to say the least, if you ask me. So she goes from being divorced to being engaged to taking back the man she once divorced. Unfortunately, that pattern seems to be appearing in more and more relationships as the days go by in the modern world. For some reason couples just can't seem to separate dating from marriage anymore. It makes people like me wonder if they are actually in love or if they are simply driven by lust.
The movie His Girl Friday sends us the message that marriage at this time period was basically like dating, maybe even more meaningless. Hildy jumped from one man to the next with almost no thought or consideration for the other guy. Hildy continued to work with walter even though they had just divorced. They acted like it didn’t mean very much and it didn’t seem to be to hostile between them even though they continued to argue. Throughout the movie Hildy was always attached to Bruce and it felt like they had a real bond that was robably not going to be broken, especially because Bruce was a genuine guy. However, Hildy revealed her true colors at the end when she decided almost out of nowhere over one small thing that she was going to go back to walter, just like that. She had not talked to Bruce about it even though they were ”engaged”. She changed her mind in an instant without much thought it seemed. Bruce also did not do anything to deserve this and ended up getting completely screwed over as he lost what he thought was the love of his life to the guy that kept trying to put him in jail. To add on to it, walter and hildy were going to ask him if they could stay with him on their trip to Albany. Hildy was very fickle about these things. She acted as if engagements and marriage had no real bond and love carried a weaker meaning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nick Barnett when he says marriage was synonymous to dating. In this film it seems exactly like Hildy was just dating Walter; no significant connections whatsoever. The engagement and near marriage of Hildy to Bruce was delivered to the audience and Walter in such a quick and unsuspecting manner that it almost seems unreal. Today, marriage seems to be like that. I lot of people are falling in and out of marriage so quickly and easily it is if they are casually dating.
ReplyDeleteThis film's perspective makes it seem like women are the problem, but the truth is that all parties regardless of their gender are doing this. As a 1940's film I like to think that it is trying point out the social problems (such as divorce) of progressive women being in control of their own lives. Again, this is not a result of that, but it shows that societal values where changing, and as a result it gradually broke the institution and sanctity of marriage. We see the results today with statistics of divorce rates and some stunning public examples like Kim Kardashian and her 'one week' husband, I believe.
Furthermore, in today’s modern world a lot of people have changed their attitudes towards religion. Previously, it used to be seen as an abomination for a woman to divorce a man. Today most religion still hold that but people have gravitated to a different way of thinking, more liberal I suppose, and this is what we see in the film. Neither Hildy nor Walter seems to be strongly affiliated with any faith of some sort. They govern their own actions. At the time of the making of this film, this behavior of the actors can be seen as foreshadow of modern life as we see it today. Society has changed and marriage does not hold water like it used to.
In His Girl Friday, the idea of marriage is mocked and ridiculed. Often times in modern society, two people get married because they are in love and want to spend the rest of their lives together. They may also dream of starting a family, and growing old together. However, in Howard Hawks’ famed screwball comedy, marriage is not seen as a union between two people who love each other. Rather it is portrayed as something that everyone must do, whether they want to or not. While the beginning of the film gives reason to believe that Hildy truly loves Bruce, the progression of events soon begins to suggest otherwise. Hildy will do whatever she can to advance her career, regardless of how it affects her relationship with Bruce. This exemplifies the message about marriage that is proposed in His Girl Friday; that marriage and a stereotypical family life should take a back seat to a budding career. While at the beginning of the film it appears that Hildy likes the idea of being a housewife while married to Bruce, she soon realizes that she may become bored of caring after the home all day. Rather, she thinks that she would rather go back to a past relationship, full of excitement and spontaneity with Walter. Subsequently, she plays the men, leading them both on as she weighs the options of who she would rather be with. This proves that to Hildy, marriage was nothing serious and especially not a commitment of one’s long term love for another. No, it was a game that could be played without penalty for switching sides.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if Hildy was portrayed as an ordinary person His Girl Friday would be shinning a negative light on the state of modern marriage. Hildy tackles someone, hides a fugitive in a desk, and gets so involved in a news story that she abandons her dreams; she is not shown to be an average person, and Bruce remarks how he has never met anyone quite like her. The film creates Hildy as someone who seems unconventional, and it is only fitting that her experience with marriage is unconventional as well.
ReplyDeleteIf the film gave an indication that women like Hildy were becoming more prevalent, then perhaps it would be commenting on marriage. However, no other woman is given a role quite like Hildy's. She takes on the important role of spearheading the big news story, while no other women take on nearly as important of jobs.
I really think that Nick, Thabo, and Josh hit the nail right on the head when they said that "His Girl Friday" basically makes marriage look like it's nothing but a joke in the modern world. And the sad part is, these days marriage truly is taken for granted way too much, as couples seem to be rushing into it more than ever and losing sight of the commitment that they made to each other. In the film, viewers discover early on that Hildy and Walter used to be married and they had divorced not too long ago. Hildy then reveals that she has already moved on from Walter and is currently engaged to Bruce. That right there just goes to show that Hildy must not have been very committed to Walter in the first place. Yet, throughout the film, Walter uses some evil trickery to make Hildy realize that he really will do whatever it takes (whether it's moral or immoral) to be with her because he truly loves her. And to the surprise of many viewers, Hildy takes Walter back in the end. Apparently that's what Hildy really looks for in a man; questionable motives and morals to say the least, if you ask me. So she goes from being divorced to being engaged to taking back the man she once divorced. Unfortunately, that pattern seems to be appearing in more and more relationships as the days go by in the modern world. For some reason couples just can't seem to separate dating from marriage anymore. It makes people like me wonder if they are actually in love or if they are simply driven by lust.
ReplyDelete