The films Boudu and His Girl Friday were both films produced in and influenced by the Great Depression. What do you notice about these films that shows the influence of the Depression? How about the politics of the movie? As we approach the greatest economic crisis since that time, do these movies have any lessons for our time?
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Time and time again throughout Boudu, we see the blatant hypocrisy of the wealthy. Ironically, Mr. Lestingois is probably the most sympathetic character and Boudu the most despicable. Boudu's rudeness, however, provides a mirror in which the rich fail to see their own shortcomings. Renoir compares his rape of Emma to Mr. Lestingois' affair, for example. Also, we see the continual ego trip of the wealthy: A man comments something like "How wonderful, a man of our status showing true civic values" as Mr. Lestingois rescues Boudu, and even as Mr. Lestingois administers CPR on a man who could be dead for all anybody knows, all anyone can talk about is awarding him a medal. Self-congratulatory idiots all. And even the great bum-savior himself values ideas over human beings. Boudu may have wrecked his home and ticked off the two woman in his life, but Mr. Lestingois decides to kick Boudu out onto the street after the spitting incident, begging the question of why he saved Boudu in the first place--because he wanted to help Boudu, or because he believed it to be his responsibility as part of society's elite?
ReplyDeleteIs this condemnation of the upper class the result of Depression-era resentment? Sure. Look at the media today--there is a surge of disgust at the greed of the typical Wall St. executive. It's telling that I find myself disgusted by the news that an executive takes government funds to plan a "retreat" complete with pampering for his cronies more than the news of an actual hold-up type robbery. I mean, crooks will be crooks, they exist in society almost inevitably, but what the hell??!! How much cojones do you have to have to be the blunt of society's hatred for driving the economy into the ground with your greed, and then use government funds for a Swedish massage??!! Throughout Boudu Saved from Drowning, Renoir is saying that the upper class will do this, believing itself entitled to all the taxpayer money it can reach, but that it will drop loose change in the panhandler's tin cup, believing itself to be righteous but only doing it to assuage its conscience. The compassion it shows is fake nobility. Do I agree with this? No. But Renoir's film speaks to a time and people that agreed strongly.
In His Girl Friday takes serious, and real topics, such as murder and justice, and marriage and divorce, and puts a comical spin on them. Howard Hawks did this because the people wanted something to distract them from the horrible economy, but they wanted more than just fluff. I guess what I’m trying to say, is that the people wanted something funny, but also real. They didn’t want a fairy-tale. They wanted something they could relate to. The comedy allowed people to escape from the everyday, and be reminded that it would all be okay and to not take things too seriously, eventually everything would work itself out.
ReplyDeleteI think that this may happen in our economy now, but not to the same degree. The public still wants to be distracted, but we now have Youtube and our favorite reality TV shows.
So I just looked at the show times for chagrin cinemas, to see what was showing, and it made me rethink my point. It seems like, the majority is comedy and horror. Only a couple had actual meaning, and I’m not saying that the comedies and horror flicks aren’t good movies, but it seems like they are more fluff, there to provide a distraction. Which I don’t think is a bad thing, but I think, at least the American public, is being dumbed down by these movies and need more films like Valkyrie, Milk and Slum-dog (not that I have seen Milk or Slum-dog yet). And maybe this is only my personal opinion, but why spend $8.75, or how ever much it is now, to go be ‘distracted’ by a movie in the theater when you can just wait for it to come out on DVD and get it from the library for FREE?! Or watch funny youtube videos. I thought that directors would not be influenced by the economic downturn as much as they were in the 1900’s, and as I continue to think about this, I think it is true, American movies have been getting progressively more pointless, and I think it is because of the intelligence of the audience, not the economy. (Im not saying i don’t enjoy pointless movies, but I think the current trend is not connected as much with the economy as it was previously).
The film His Girl Friday shows many reflections from the Great Depression; throughout the whole movie there are many references of what life was like during that time. During the time the movie was made many people had experienced the feeling of losing a job, Earl Williams the man who was to be hanged had lost his job. Crime and gangsters were a major problem; Louie is a perfect example of a criminal/gangster. During the Great Depression there was a lot of fear towards communism also known as the Red Scare, the Sheriff tries to justify the hanging of Earl Williams by telling the Mayor that he is a Red (communist) which isn’t true. During this time a lot of the government and its officials were corrupted and influenced by money and gangsters; this film exposes the corruption of the government. Divorces increased by a huge number, so when Hildy Johnson and Walter Burns get a divorce it was just another reflection of the time. Because of the Great Depression many women had to be in the work place, in the film there are a lot of woman that can be scene being operators, which was a common job for women during this time.
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