The film His Girl Friday is all fun and games -- but there is some sharp social satire at the same time. Major social institutions such as journalism, politics and marriage are skewered with clever lines and absurd situations. What is the film telling us about at least one of these institutions (if you want to write about marriage and divorce see the the companion post)? Is it corrupt or crooked? Under siege? What, exactly, is the problem or critique?
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ReplyDeleteThe film His Girl Friday capitalizes on what it means to be a journalist and the corrupt nature of politicians in the era. The greasy politicians in the film will do anything to further their political careers. The journalist make fun of the politicians at every opportunity because they are polar opposites. The journalists can be sketchy and abrasive but it is in searching of the truth for the public, while the politicians are crooked for personal benefit. It is the journalists’ goal to get Earl Williams’ story and get the truth to the public while it is the politicians’ goal to kill Williams and use his death as a way to win the public’s confidence in office. When the police captain came to the newspaper announcing the time of the hanging the journalists haggled with the police-chief arguing that the hanging was conveniently at the time of his re-election. This highlights how the supposed criminal’s hanging was all to benefit the police-chief’s re-election campaign. The politicians just want to succeed in their lives; they do not care how they succeed or who they put down doing so. On the other hand, when Williams broke into the pressroom Hildy Johnson did not scream for help or try to expose him in any way, she asked for his story and protected him. She could have turned him in to receive credit and fame but instead worked to tell his truth to the public. Her actions highlight that being a good journalist is not amount writing the most exciting story but prioritizing the truth.
ReplyDeleteThe film His Girl Friday is based around the competitive Journalism that makes up todays information based society. The director used a high action scenario of a crime taking place in the publication building itself in order to detail the people behind the words of the stories. It seemed that the director was attempting to illustrate the absurd lies that get woven into these stories in order to generate a more interesting, thus, more popular story. For example, whenever the journalists would receive a new piece of information, or something pertaining to the crime happened right in front of them, they would immediately pick up the phone and dial their contact describing what happened. However, because they all traveled together and they cant have the same boring story, there was the ironic babbling of them claiming completely different things happening than what actually did right in front of their faces! Perhaps the reason why the female main character was portrayed as the strongest figure was because in the end she wrote about the truth. The director seems to be calling a revolt against the fake news that makes up our society, just to drive profit, and commends Journalists who can "make it big" by telling the truth and serving the society. This point is seemingly very blunt, and the Journalists continually lying is almost laughable. However, in the end, its the truth, and its quite saddening to see the effects its having in the real world today
ReplyDeleteConnor Carlson
DeleteIn Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday, Walter Burns and the city officials are willing to use deceit for personal gain; therefore, the film shows that those who have positions of power in journalism and politics are corrupt.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the film shows that Walter Burns likely gained his journalistic eminence due to his willingness to use deceit for his gain. By capturing and knowingly keeping convicted murderer Earl Williams in custody of The Morning Post, Walter not only engages in the illegal obstruction of justice, but also infringes upon journalistic integrity because he interferes with the story. Mr. Burn knows that hiding Earl Williams is unethical. Defending himself against the sheriff’s accusations, he indignantly states, “The Morning Post does not obstruct justice or hide criminals,” recognizing that such actions are immoral. These sorts of unethical actions allow Walter Burns to enjoy a prominent role in the field of journalism. As editor of The Morning Post, he receives respect from other journalists. For example, when Mr. Benzinger realizes he is speaking to Walter, he immediately adopts a subservient tone, remarking, “hello Mr. Burns … quite an honor having you come over here.” Even other powerful members of society note Walter’s prominence, with the sheriff exclaiming, “you can’t bluff me Burns – I don’t care who you are or what paper you’re editor of!” Although the sheriff tries to downplay Mr. Burns’ influence in this scene, the fact that he acknowledges that the editor’s role would otherwise carry a large amount of significance underscores Walter’s position of power. Clearly, Walter Burns gains a prominent role in journalism through the conscious and habitual use of deceit.
City officials in His Girl Friday also use deceit for personal gain. The mayor of New York City supports the execution of Earl Williams to boost his election chances rather than to dispense justice. He explicitly states to the sheriff, “there are two hundred thousand votes at stake this election and if Earl Williams doesn’t hang, we are going to lose them.” In this scene, the mayor reveals an immoral side to his character; in the subsequent minutes, he shows a dishonest side. When a messenger arrives at his office with an order from the governor to reprieve the execution of Earl Williams, the mayor attempts to bribe him so that the city leader can claim that the order never arrived. Obviously, New York City’s mayor has no qualms about lying, even at the cost of one’s life, for his own political gain. The sheriff also uses deceit to gain the most political benefit possible. Beyond also actively supporting the execution of Earl Williams, the sheriff tries to paint the fugitive as a communist, floating that “there are a lot of communistic sympathizers around.” Although the mayor shuts down the sheriff’s idea, the fact that the latter would attempt to distort the truth and play on contemporary fears during the Red Scare shows that he also is willing to use dishonesty for political gain. As the mayor and sheriff of the largest city in the United States with the law enforcement on their side, the two men are clearly in positions of power. Thus, the film shows that prominent politicians are deeply corrupt.
In the film, His Girl Friday, there is a lot of commentary towards the corruption and ruthlessness of journalism and politics. While the New York, The Morning Post, newspaper editor, Walter Burns, works hard to win back his ex-wife, Hildy Johnson, there is an ongoing search for convicted murder, Earl Williams. The sheriff and mayor want to execute him because he is accused of murdering an African-American cop, and they think this will help them win over the crucial black vote for their re-election. Although Williams is supposedly a killer, it is not definite, so the fact that the sheriff is willing to kill a possibly innocent man just to win an election shows how corrupt politics are. While the police are on the search for him, Walter is able to convince Hildy, his ex wife and star journalist, to write a piece that proves Williams' innocence, which will embarrass the mayor and sheriff, sell more papers, and save Williams. While she is writing this paper, Williams escapes into the pressroom and she hides him from the cops. Although this seems like the morally correct thing to do, it is still very illegal. Regardless, the other journalists are so eager to get a scoop on this story that they drive Earl’s friend, Molly, so crazy that she jumps out of a window to her death. They report lies and exaggerate things they hear might be true. Instead of using persuasive writing skills like Hildy, they have to fabricate a story that they think will be interesting and popular. This all goes to show that just like the politicians, journalists are willing to do anything, no matter how ruthless, to get what they want. The police eventually are led to the pressroom and find Williams. They arrest Walter and Hildy, even though they were really doing the right thing. Once they find where he is hiding, they pull out their guns and are about to shoot him on the spot; however, a man named Pettibone, sent by the Governor tells everyone that he is innocent. So the police have to set Williams, Walter, and Hildy all free, which shows that in the end truth wins, and their corruption and ruthlessness aren’t successful.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, His Girl Friday, there is a lot of very blunt commentary on how corrupt journalism and politics had become in American society. And one character through which the film conveys this message is through Walter Burns. A successful editor of a newspaper agency, Burns has only gotten to that point through deceit and trickery. That idea of his success being a product of peoples wrongdoings is a theme that runs through and through in Walter when he tries to constantly manipulate Bruce Baldwin, Hildy's fiance, and even Hildy herself.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the film, Burns tries to fool Baldwin and frame him for multiple crimes to stop Hildy from leaving. For example, the first way he tries to do it is by setting Baldwin up for stealing a watch, which leads to him being imprisoned, only to be bailed by Hildy. While a relatively straightforward example, it sets the stage for larger and even more elaborate tricks to get Bruce away from Hildy. But as for this one specifically, the funny thing is that Walter isn't directly successful here, as Hildy basically bails Bruce out as soon as he is imprisoned. But his actions are the catalyst for the absolute chaos that erupts throughout the rest of the story, especially for poor Bruce.
A second time where Bruce is duped by Walter's shenanigans is when he is in jail for having counterfeit money transferred to him by Hildy who funnily enough got the money from Walter. Now, at this point, Walter is not really directly wanting to harm Bruce, but it just happens that his distractions and domino effects led to a situation where Bruce is in jail for crimes he did not commit. What this shows is that Walter's schemes eventually got out of his control and things just started happening incredibly quickly. It's extremely reminiscent of how real life political schemes can quickly burst out of control and soon enough the person who started all of it can just duck out of the crossfire and not be put in trouble for all the chaos, despite that person being the catalyst.
All this leads to the fact that the film, while mainly being screwball comedy, interweaves an incredibly rich theme about how society is about everyone for themselves, dog-eat-dog world. It's that sometimes things go so sideways that it's impossible to tell how these events happened. Just like Walter kickstarting most of the events that happen in the book, hurting Bruce and many people around him, similarly politicians often kickstart events and controversies to garner support. Unfortunately, these controversies are at the expense of those not in power. In the movie, Walter represents the corruption of American society, and Bruce represents the general public who are at danger of the manipulation of those in power.
His Girl Friday presents the a dichotomy that transcends a critique of social institutions, but, rather, seeks to send a message about the absurdity of contemporary society.
ReplyDeleteThis cynicism is embodied best in Hildy’s speech to Earl Williams about functionality: “everything should be made use of.” Hildy subtly iterates the entire theme of the film in this conversation. “What’s a gun for?” she asks him, to which Earl responds, “To shoot of course.” Essentially her point is that, in the industrial world, everything has been reduced to its pure functionality; the moral viability of a gun is only related to its usefulness. Earl begins to agree. “There’s nothing crazy about that, is there?
From the opening to the final credits, the viewer is barraged with a constant stream of background noise and activity, whether it be the clacking of typewriters, the frantic speed that reporters run around the news room, and the constant visual metaphor of paper and bureaucracy. Even in the way that they speak is unexpected, witty, and overlapping. The film inundates us with a plethora of fast-paced monotony. Why? The purpose is to juxtapose next to the fully absurd actions that happen around the newsroom. We contrast the bored expression of the men at the card table to the pure indifference they react to the news that a man will be hung publicly in the building next to them. We react with their same indifference as Molly claims that Earl is innocent. The newsroom is the allegory of the postmodern condition, one where pure absurdity is met with apathy, nihilism in its truest form.
There is no objective truth in His Girl Friday, all morality is centered around the individual. This is best represented the mayor barging in to arrest Walter and Hildy for their obvious compliance in the escape of Earl Williams. However, in a twist that could only be purely described as pure absurdity (or just dues ex Machina), the bureaucrat Mr. Pettibone conveniently finds the three at the same time and reveals that Earl was actually innocent. The mayor promptly releases Hildy and Walter, now treating them as saints. In the contemporary era, there is only the personal power dynamics of each of the characters.
This cynicism has poisoned the entirety of the respective institutions that they represent. When we think of journalism, we have been conditioned to believe that it exists to check the government and provide and objectivity to the citizens. But, as another deconstruction in the film, the last word that could be used to describe Walter and the Morning Post is pure. His only interest is the wider distribution of the paper, regardless of whether their intentions or methods are righteous. Even the truth is secondary to selling more papers. In the Aristotelian sense, they have rejected duty and virtue. The newspaper is egoism in its ethereal form.
Perhaps one could see the film as a critique on the capitalist mode of production, how it erodes the virtue of our institutions. While it does seem like a valid critique, I would say the director’s message is more subtle than that. For example, one excellent place to look is in the background of every shot. The audience is nearly constantly inundated with imagery of the modern lifestyle. Flashing neon lights are a relentless, if not grating, part of the film. One could even draw the parallel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner with the significance the director places in the atmosphere of the of the industrialized and modern condition. The real critique here is that of modernism, more specifically, the post-WWII industrial machine that has saturated and overloaded us. The urban culture has eroded our virtue and left us chancers like Walter.
The clash between modernism and virtue is best embodied in the clash between Walter and Bruce. Walter occupies one corner of modern society, representative of the world-weary cynicism of the modern era: a quick, urbane, and a dog-eat-dog personality. In the other corner is Bruce, indicative of the rural, humane, and virtuous world outside of the city limits. Bruce is the perpetually butt-end of the joke, his worthy morals and virtues only conclude of him being constantly tricked by Walter’s cynical ploys. The film is essentially sending the message the pure, righteous personality only gets crushed in the urban jungle, the opportunist is the apex predator. In other words, in the true postmodern fashion, contemporary society has transcended traditional moralism and has entered the world of the absurd.
DeleteThe film His Girl Friday criticizes the dishonesty and immorality of two prominent parts of society: the press and the political establishment. The press is primarily motivated by money; the better the stories and the faster they can get them out compared to their competitors, the more publicity and sales they will receive. This cutthroat nature of journalism is exemplified when the journalists immediately call their higher-ups in their respective news companies in order to get the news out fastest. Interestingly, the journalists' desire to get eye-catching headlines leads to significant distortions in the truth to achieve this. The film illustrates this in a very comedic way, especially when Williams is captured in the desk and the journalists give contradicting accounts. For example, one journalist says that Williams was unconscious when he was found in the desk and another says that Williams put up a desperate struggle, but neither of these accounts are true. This scene is a sharp satire of journalism/the news industry at the time, because it establishes them as an industry that is willing to lie and distort the truth in order to get more readers and make more money. Additionally, while Hildy could potentially be considered to be a more moral/honest member of the journalistic community due to her attempt to report the truth regarding Earl Williams, the film still establishes that she needed to break a few eggshells to get the story out. For example, when she is visiting Williams in prison to hear his account, she bribes one of the men at the police station so that she can interview Williams. This is a representation of the idea that some degree of amorality is needed in the journalistic profession, as bold and dishonest moves must sometimes be made even if its ultimate purpose is only to tell the truth.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, the film criticizes the political establishment of New York City as corrupt and driven primarily by the desire to be re-elected and maintain power. The mayor of New York City tries to have Williams hanged as soon as possible, even though Williams is not guilty of having committed murder, because having Williams hanged would boost the mayor's re-election chances in the upcoming election. Even when Joe Pettibone comes in with a note from the Governor of New York to reprieve Williams, the mayor asks the police to arrest Pettibone to proceed with the execution of Williams. This leads Hildy to tell the mayor that he would "hang [his] own mother to get re-elected", as the mayor tries to execute Williams even when overwhelming evidence points to Williams being not guilty of the murder. This points to the obvious immorality of the mayor, but immediately after this, the film humorously has him do a complete about-face and show the dishonest and two-faced nature of the political establishment. This is shown when the mayor says that "our commonwealth has been saved the painful necessity of shedding blood" when he learns the authenticity of the document, which is completely at odds with the fact that he was incredibly eager to execute Williams just minutes ago. Additionally, he chastises the policeman for handcuffing Walter and Hildy, which is again at odds with the fact that he had just tried to arrest them for obstruction of justice! Overall, This Girl Friday is a sharp satire of the dishonesty and immorality of the political establishment (represented by the mayor) and also the dishonesty and immorality of the press/journalistic community.
“His Girl Friday” is used to illustrate to the viewer the corruption that lies within the journalism industry. From a broad view, a large plot point in the film is that Walter is trying to win Hildy back from Bruce. The immorality of Walter’s character is what helps him win her back in the end. There are many examples of this including Walter getting Bruce arrested. In the film, Bruce is arrested on many accounts which can all be traced back to Walter’s mischievous actions such as giving him counterfeit money. After his three encounters with the police throughout the movie, Hildy becomes visibly annoyed at Bruce, breaking down their relationship further. The deceit that Walter uses throughout the movie is a metaphor for the journalism as a whole, comparing Walter’s lying and deception to the lies of news sources. Furthermore, there are many specific examples of the actual journalists being untruthful in their reporting. This is shown when the police chief finds Earl Williams. When the desk was opened in the news room, the reporters, into the phone, began to say “Williams was unconscious when they opened the desk,” “Williams put up a desperate struggle but the police overpowered him,” “he offered no resistance,” “tried a shootout with the cops but his gun wouldn’t work,” and Walter finishing the reporting with, “The Morning Post just turned Williams over to the police.” Every reporter had a different story, but the only truthful one was that he offered no resistance. This is a clear example of how reporters in the movie, rather than reporting the truth, only want the best story that will sell the most copies, demonstrating the corruptness of the journalism industry.
ReplyDeleteZach Reitman, I dont know why it says unknown
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ReplyDeleteDespite a few attempts from Hildy to use journalism as a force of good to save Earl Williams’ life, the film His Girl Friday mainly serves as a critique for the fast paced and sensationalized nature of journalism. A prime example of this is when Mollie Malloy (Earl Williams’ admirer) breaks into the press room above the court, and begs the various wise guy reporters to not spread the story of Williams because of her fear of Williams being defamed. They initially ignore her, but later rush towards her because she claims to know where Williams is, and try to squeeze Mollie of any information that might make for a good headline. It is reasonable to assume that the self-proclaimed wise guys are solely interested in pursuing information that fits the narrative that Earl Williams is hysterical, and that their only motivating factor is to further their careers in doing so. An additional instance where the press is demonstrated as deceitful and goal-oriented is when the gathering of people in the Press room find Earl Williams hiding in the poet’s cabinet. Towards the end of the film, Walter and Hildy are ordered to open the cabinet of the poet after hearing a banging noise resonating from the cabinet. As Walter opens the cabinet, all of the wise guys immediately call different associates to tell about the news of Earl Williams hiding in the cabinet, but all tell completely different stories as to how the encounter occurred. The film attempts to critique the twisted and egotistical nature of journalists, and questions the credibility of journalists in doing so. The reporters seen contacting various associates are solely motivated by a gain in finances and viewers of the press, and completely contradict the basic principles of the free press.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday establishes a unique equilibrium between the corruption behind yellow journalism and the capitalism that defines modern society. Throughout the film, the profit-making motives behind the authors of society shine through their illustrious façade which aims to present themselves as the truth seekers beholden only to justice and the people. Prior to Earl’s arrest, Hildy is stationed in the news room with Walter when he tells the correspondents at the newspaper company to put the story of the three legged chicken on the front page and to move Hitler to the funny pages. Necessity is the mother of invention, and to Walter, his need to gain revenue for the company precedes his rationality to publish information on the genocide seeking dictator who the US is at war with. Their pledge to journalism is not to institution but rather to the bank account which collects money only if they publish what the people want to hear and not what they need to know. Thus, capitalism, the main driving force behind greed, is responsible for the newspapers decision to deprive the people of quick access to essential information. Furthermore, when the reporters were informing various sources about the incidents surrounding Earl’s escape, they all gave inaccurate and rushed accounts. One journalist claimed that Earl Williams had rushed through a police barricade, another insisted that he was armed and had tear gas thrown at him, and another stated that Earl was unarmed at the time. Their desires to be the first to report on the most recent news to sell the most prints led to large factual inaccuracies. While it may not be corrupt in that it is typical sense, the causal effects of not verifying information before publication is dire and can manifest in untoward actions being taken. An example of such an effect within the premise of the film where the governor does not sign the reprieve so that his constituency reelects him. Similar to the inaccuracies published in the paper for monetary gain, the governor’s willful negligence in signing the reprieve to increase his own status and power has the effect of killing an innocent man. Behind examples is capitalism which plays the self interest of people to create and spread false narratives such that it benefits themselves monetarily of status wise. The most clear-cut display of the abuse and mistreatment inherent to capitalism as it relates to journalism is the juxtaposition of Earl’s lover. When she pleads with the journalists to listen to her story which exonerates Earl, they refuse to listen, but after it is discovered that she knows of Earl’s location, they plead with her to tell them. While the just act would have been to listen to Mollie when she first approached them before the situation had spiraled into a full police chase, the journalists had their agendas set on what would have garnered them money, that is let Earl die. However, once it becomes relevant to their own self interest of publishing an exclusive article on Earl’s hiding place or being able to claim that the “Morning Post catches Earl Williams,” then they are willing to listen. Had it not been for capitalistic motives, there is no doubt that the paper would have listened to the lady tell her story and publish the article to free earl. To conclude, capitalism is the root cause behind the corruption of journalists who engage in profiteering behaviors rather than upholding justice within society.
ReplyDeleteThe film, His Friday Girl, presents how corrupt positions of power can become through the power of deceit, even if those powers are very different from each other. One form of power, being a politician, can be very corrupt. The film presents politicians wanting to keep power for themselves and how they would do anything to keep it that way. The decision of executing the murderer, Earl Williams, was supported by the Mayor of New York. The reasoning behind this execution was not because the Mayor cared about the public, but instead he feared that he was going to lose votes if he was not executed. He would much rather execute someone for his own gain instead of giving out proper justice. The mayor then attempts to bribe others who tell him to reprieve Earl Williams’ execution, which is exactly what he did to a messenger shortly after. The Mayor of New York is willing to lie in order to keep himself in power, even at the cost of someone’s life. On the other side, journalists also lie for their own gain as shown by Walter Burns. Burns hides Earl Williams, obstructing justice, for his own gain. He even lies to the sheriff by saying how the Morning Post does not hid criminals. He’s able to get away with it due to the fact that is respected among many other journalists, and even law enforcement, as the sheriff does try to slightly downplay Walter Burns role in the case.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Sewell