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?
Slapstick comedies tend to feature dysfunctional relationships. In His Girl Friday, Hildy gets a divorce with Walter and then remarries him at the end of the film. Throughout the film, the character of Bruce seems to be added for the sole purpose of increasing the dysfunction of Hildy's relationships with men.
Because Hildy gets remarried to the same man that she had previously divorced, this makes the viewers question the true meaning of marriage and divorce in modern day society. This film shows that often, divorces could be caused by resolvable disputes which have just not yet been resolved. Because the dispute is later able to be resolved, it makes the viewers question why Hildy and Walter would get a divorce if their differences were not great enough to keep them divorced. This film shows that relationships require a lot of work which is often not pursued. To have a successful relationship, one needs to work to agree with his/her partner and without that work, the relationship is not possible. However, with this work the relationship may be possible.
Bruce's character is obviously used to increase the dysfunction of Hildy's relationship (which is needed in a slapstick comedy). Although Hildy is engaged to Bruce, she does not really love him. This shows that in the modern world, love is often rushed or only pursued to cause happiness for a short period of time. At the end of the film when Bruce is put into jail for using counterfeit money, Hildy cries in happiness. This shows that she never really wanted to be with Bruce and was pursuing him for all of the wrong reasons. Overall, His Girl Friday mocks relationships and shows that there are many easily preventable problems with love and marriage in the modern world.
Personally,I think that what the film is trying to say about relationships, specifically marriage, is that it is taken less seriously. What I think of when I think of marriage in the 1900s is the idea of concretness. In thinking about the "classic" marriage I get an image of the white piket fence with the 2 kids and the perfect couple, this film challeges that.
The way that Hildy and Walter seem to so casually talk about their divorce makes it seem like its a normal occourence, that divorce is nothing to be ashamed of. And then, how causually Hildy mentions that she is getting married again proves the point even further that marriage isn't as perfect as people think it is.
What is so striking about a film made in the 1940s is how open Hildy and Walter are about their divorce, it wasn't a hush hush affair as one would expect.
What I see as the bottom line is that His Girl Friday shows that marriage isnt always a perfect affair, but divorce is nothing to cover up. Life moves on, people get married and divorced all the time, which is a modern way to think.
His Girl Friday treats marriage and divorce as something that simply comes and goes. Rather than holding marriage in high esteem, it shows that marriage has little to do with love and much more to do with impulsiveness. At the start of the movie, Hildy and Walter had not seen each other in 4 months. By the end of the film, and only 24 hours later, they are getting married again. The impulsiveness is pretty obvious in this example, yet when you consider that Hildy and Walter had not seen each other in 4 months AND Hildy was supposed marry Bruce the next day, it becomes undeniable.
The fact that Walter tried to get Hildy to stay with him shows that he had little to no respect for her marriage that was about to occur. It may be possible to say that if Hildy was not about to get married, Walter would not have cared as much for her staying.
The film His Girl Friday portrays marriage in a negative light in that there is no real respect for it. After getting a divorce from Walter Burns, Hildy Johnson is engaged to marry a different man. During the film, she is due to marry him the next day (though not directly after the divorce). By the end of the film, Hildy realizes she still loves Walter, and ends up getting back together with him before she goes off to get married the next day, and the two of them end up remarrying. This film shows that marriage is not the unbreakable bond it once was, and is now something that can be thrown around and used when so desired. This has been true up through our society today, as many people today get married at very young ages and often get divorced, which has led to divorce rates up near 50%.
This film is modern where in the fact it addresses divorce out in the open at a time when it was taboo, but it also is detracting from the meaning of holy matrimony. In the film Hildy and Walter had gotten divorced less than a year before, yet Hildy had come to announce the fact that she was going to get remarried. You’d think if someone were to take marriage seriously and it didn’t work out the first time, they would take their time to ensure that “‘til death do you part” is actually fulfilled this time, but not Hildy! Her quick engagement to a man she met on vacation is reminiscent of the quick annulled marriages of today’s celebrities making marriage seem less important and sacred. Hildy and Walter’s plan to get remarried truly took away from the meaning of their divorce in the first place. This movie paints the picture that women are mercurial and quick to jump into and out of relationships and are easily swept away by lust and an unrealistic future. Hildy wanted to see herself as a housewife to Bruce, but in reality it wasn’t her, she just liked the idea of it, and was engaged to the idea of settling down rather than Bruce the man.
His Girl Friday shows that marriage along with divorce are not viewed the same as they were a long time ago. Hildy clearly lets the viewer see that marriage is not a huge deal to her. She can very loosely say how she is in love with Bruce and then the next day say that she is in love with Walter and that she is getting married to Walter instead of Bruce. It is ironic that Hildy goes to see Walter in the first place to tell him that she is remarrying and is in love with Bruce and all she wants is a normal life. This trip to see Walter is what really made her give up her chance at ever having a normal life. This film shows marriage, engagement, and divorce all as objects that come and go, without strong meaning.
Slapstick comedies tend to feature dysfunctional relationships. In His Girl Friday, Hildy gets a divorce with Walter and then remarries him at the end of the film. Throughout the film, the character of Bruce seems to be added for the sole purpose of increasing the dysfunction of Hildy's relationships with men.
ReplyDeleteBecause Hildy gets remarried to the same man that she had previously divorced, this makes the viewers question the true meaning of marriage and divorce in modern day society. This film shows that often, divorces could be caused by resolvable disputes which have just not yet been resolved. Because the dispute is later able to be resolved, it makes the viewers question why Hildy and Walter would get a divorce if their differences were not great enough to keep them divorced. This film shows that relationships require a lot of work which is often not pursued. To have a successful relationship, one needs to work to agree with his/her partner and without that work, the relationship is not possible. However, with this work the relationship may be possible.
Bruce's character is obviously used to increase the dysfunction of Hildy's relationship (which is needed in a slapstick comedy). Although Hildy is engaged to Bruce, she does not really love him. This shows that in the modern world, love is often rushed or only pursued to cause happiness for a short period of time. At the end of the film when Bruce is put into jail for using counterfeit money, Hildy cries in happiness. This shows that she never really wanted to be with Bruce and was pursuing him for all of the wrong reasons. Overall, His Girl Friday mocks relationships and shows that there are many easily preventable problems with love and marriage in the modern world.
Personally,I think that what the film is trying to say about relationships, specifically marriage, is that it is taken less seriously. What I think of when I think of marriage in the 1900s is the idea of concretness. In thinking about the "classic" marriage I get an image of the white piket fence with the 2 kids and the perfect couple, this film challeges that.
ReplyDeleteThe way that Hildy and Walter seem to so casually talk about their divorce makes it seem like its a normal occourence, that divorce is nothing to be ashamed of. And then, how causually Hildy mentions that she is getting married again proves the point even further that marriage isn't as perfect as people think it is.
What is so striking about a film made in the 1940s is how open Hildy and Walter are about their divorce, it wasn't a hush hush affair as one would expect.
What I see as the bottom line is that His Girl Friday shows that marriage isnt always a perfect affair, but divorce is nothing to cover up. Life moves on, people get married and divorced all the time, which is a modern way to think.
His Girl Friday treats marriage and divorce as something that simply comes and goes. Rather than holding marriage in high esteem, it shows that marriage has little to do with love and much more to do with impulsiveness. At the start of the movie, Hildy and Walter had not seen each other in 4 months. By the end of the film, and only 24 hours later, they are getting married again. The impulsiveness is pretty obvious in this example, yet when you consider that Hildy and Walter had not seen each other in 4 months AND Hildy was supposed marry Bruce the next day, it becomes undeniable.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Walter tried to get Hildy to stay with him shows that he had little to no respect for her marriage that was about to occur. It may be possible to say that if Hildy was not about to get married, Walter would not have cared as much for her staying.
The film His Girl Friday portrays marriage in a negative light in that there is no real respect for it. After getting a divorce from Walter Burns, Hildy Johnson is engaged to marry a different man. During the film, she is due to marry him the next day (though not directly after the divorce). By the end of the film, Hildy realizes she still loves Walter, and ends up getting back together with him before she goes off to get married the next day, and the two of them end up remarrying. This film shows that marriage is not the unbreakable bond it once was, and is now something that can be thrown around and used when so desired. This has been true up through our society today, as many people today get married at very young ages and often get divorced, which has led to divorce rates up near 50%.
ReplyDeleteThis film is modern where in the fact it addresses divorce out in the open at a time when it was taboo, but it also is detracting from the meaning of holy matrimony. In the film Hildy and Walter had gotten divorced less than a year before, yet Hildy had come to announce the fact that she was going to get remarried. You’d think if someone were to take marriage seriously and it didn’t work out the first time, they would take their time to ensure that “‘til death do you part” is actually fulfilled this time, but not Hildy! Her quick engagement to a man she met on vacation is reminiscent of the quick annulled marriages of today’s celebrities making marriage seem less important and sacred. Hildy and Walter’s plan to get remarried truly took away from the meaning of their divorce in the first place. This movie paints the picture that women are mercurial and quick to jump into and out of relationships and are easily swept away by lust and an unrealistic future. Hildy wanted to see herself as a housewife to Bruce, but in reality it wasn’t her, she just liked the idea of it, and was engaged to the idea of settling down rather than Bruce the man.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday shows that marriage along with divorce are not viewed the same as they were a long time ago. Hildy clearly lets the viewer see that marriage is not a huge deal to her. She can very loosely say how she is in love with Bruce and then the next day say that she is in love with Walter and that she is getting married to Walter instead of Bruce. It is ironic that Hildy goes to see Walter in the first place to tell him that she is remarrying and is in love with Bruce and all she wants is a normal life. This trip to see Walter is what really made her give up her chance at ever having a normal life. This film shows marriage, engagement, and divorce all as objects that come and go, without strong meaning.
ReplyDelete