Final Project: Gender Roles in American Film History

For my final project for “American Cinema,” I want to look at characterization in Hollywood movies, and the way that it changes over the course of film history. In particular, I want to look at the way male and female interactions change. In the last hundred years of American history, there have been huge changes in the social relationships between men and women, and the “norms” of gender roles. It could be incredibly interesting to study the accuracy of Hollywood film depictions regarding these changes in American society.

            The character types of “hero,” “enemy,” “damsel in distress,” and “seductress” have existed since the beginning of storytelling, and they still exist in films and stories today. However, many things have changed in the way that male and female interactions are portrayed through American film over the last several decades. 

One of the first films we watched in class was an old Charlie Chaplin film called The Gold Rush. In this 1925 silent film, Chaplin plays his familiar character "The Tramp," and falls in love with the beautiful Georgia. Georgia is a relatively independent single girl who goes out with her friends to drink and dance. However, despite her seeming independence, she is portrayed in the film as more of an object than an actual character. The Tramp loves her and wants to be with her, and even sets up a whole party with gifts for her and her friends on New Years. Georgia does not show up, and instead makes fun of him. Georgia pays no attention to the Tramp no matter how kind he is to her, and he becomes more and more sad that he can not be with her. However, at the end of the movie he realizes that his partner has indeed found gold, and they are both billionaires from it. After learning that he is a billionaire, Georgia goes with the Tramp willingly, giving him a kiss in the last scene of the movie. What this portrays is that the Tramp must "get the girl" through a display of wealth. Georgia does not seem to have any emotion or needs of her own, but is simply won over as soon as the Tramp is rich. Moreover, Georgia is not expected to take responsibility for her actions. She treated him horribly the whole movie, but instead of being treated as a human being with the capability to make moral decisions, she is simply treated as a trophy for the rich, and her previous actions are forgotten. 

One of the next films we watched in class was The Wolf Man, made in 1941. This was one of the first ever "horror" movies. The main character of this film is a man who comes into contact with a werewolf, and spends the rest of the film trying to solve the mystery of what is causing these sightings and deaths. There is a main female character in this movie, named Gwen, with whom the protagonist falls in love. Gwen has more personality than Georgia did, and she asserts herself on some issues, such as her engagement. However, she is still an incredibly passive character. The main plot of the movie is, of course, the werewolf mystery. Gwen is a very "damsel in distress" type of character, and Larry makes a great effort to keep Gwen safe. Gwen does not have a big role as far as the intellectual effort of figuring out the mystery of the Werewolf. This is very different from a modern day horror film such as The Ring, because in today's horror and mystery films, a male and female couple act more as intellectual partners. In The Ring, Rachel and her ex fiance play equal intellectual roles. Both of them do research, have epiphanies, and put the pieces together. This is very different from Gwen, the "damsel in distress" of The Wolf Man. 

One of the next films that we watched in class was the 1950's film, Sunset Boulevard. This film shows a surprisingly strong relationship between the main male character and his romantic partner. Joe is a screen writer who is trapped in a situation with an older, delusional female actress. Joe meets an aspiring screen writer named Betty, and they begin secretly working on a screen play at night. Before falling in love with each other, they share a relatively equal partnership, where both put intellectual effort into their screenplay, and both respect and consider the artistic ideas of the other. Compared to Georgia, who is an emotionless "trophy" for the Tramp, Betty is given the opportunity to make her own moral choices about Joe and their relationship at the end of the film. Joe brings Betty to Norma's mansion, and lets Betty think the worst of Joe's situation. Betty stands and thinks for a while, and then decides that she loves Joe anyways, and just wants him to come away with her and leave Norma behind. This ability to make her own moral and romantic decision is very different from the inabilities of female characters in past films, and it seems as though female characterization takes a big leap during this time period. 

One of the next films we watched in class is the 1958 film, Some Like it Hot. The main female character in this movie is a girl named Sugar, played by Marilyn Monroe. This is a highly sexualized movie, and Monroe is the object of desire for two men who are pretending to be women. This movie shows a new aspect of romantic attraction- aside from obvious sexual attraction and aspects of companionship, this film also shows actual friendship between the male and female characters. Part of this friendship is because Monroe believes the two men are actually women, but nonetheless, this film shows a kind of carefree friendship between men and women that was not seen in earlier films such as Wolf Man and Gold Rush. Monroe spends most of the movie talking, joking, and playing at the beach with her admirers, and they actually get along with her as a friend. Monroe does some things that may have been considered masculine before, such as running away with a traveling band, and keeping a flask of whisky with her at all times. She is a very three dimensional character, and aside from being pretty, she is also fun and easy to talk to. This film shows the beginnings of male and female romantic friendships that go beyond simple attraction and partnership. 

The last film I am going to discuss is the fairly modern horror film, The Exorcist, produced in 1973. This film is interesting in its male and female relationships because men and women are shown as complete equals, without the need for a romantic link in their interactions. The main character is a single actress named Chris, and her daughter begins to have terrifying symptoms of what they eventually decide is demonic possession. Chris takes her daughter to many doctors and a couple of priests, constantly doing research and trying to save her daughter. Chris is not shown as "girlfriend" character of a male main character, or even as the female "equal" of a male protagonist. Instead, she is a completely self-sufficient main character, who is capable of any intellectual reasoning or decisive action that needs to take place in the film. There is male-female interaction, but this is not sexual or romantic in any way. These interactions take place simply as two adult human beings trying to make a decision on how best to help Chris's sick daughter. The Exorcist shows a new kind of main female character: one who does not need a man as either a romantic "savior" or equal companion, but who is completely sufficient as a character on her own. 

In conclusion, this semester I learned a lot about male and female interactions in American films. Obviously, there were many social changes going on at the time, and gender roles were rapidly changing in America. It is fascinating to see how these gender roles are reflected in the history of film. As women became more and more assertive and independent in society, female characters change and become more prominent in film. Female characters developed from sexual objects, to romantic subordinates who needed to be saved, to romantic companions, to friends and equals, and eventually to self-sufficient human characters who may or may not need a male counterpart. There will always be gender roles and issues in film, but the female character has greatly changed over the course of American film history, and is now frequently shown to be independent, capable, and self-sufficient.