Hildy Johnson is a confident career woman who can compete with men (and defeat them) in the dog-eat-dog world of journalism. She is even willing to divorce her man if he doesn't treat her right. Yet, at the same time, she seeks the domestic joys of children and caring for her man -- and in the end returns to the rascal whom she left in the first place. What is the role of women in this film? Does it tell us anything about "modern" women in 1940's America?
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ReplyDeleteHildy Johnson is a epitome of feminist characteristics in a society of men. Her wishes to move to the country to be a housewife is simply a product of expectations in society. In the end of the movie she decides that becoming a domestic wife isn’t even what she wants to do, and she stays in the city to work as a journalist and remarry her ex husband. I think this film depicts a progressive image of women, especially for 1940s ideology. Hildy Johnson’s quick witted remarks and independence projects her image as strong and confident. Despite this she is able to show emotion without becoming a helpless and weak character. Through the film, Hildy is almost duped by Walter Burns multiple times, but she is always one step ahead of his games. All the time he is trying to win her back. At the end she decides to go back to him, and instead of unravelling the progressiveness of the film, it adds to it. Walter Burns is a quick thinking, top of the profession, influential person, and Hildy is his other half. She proves that she can be with whoever she wants, she will leave him if she isn't happy, and she’s not afraid to. This extends the progressiveness and independence of her character because it shows that she isn't afraid to change her own life instead of sticking with what she knows, despite her choices in the film to stay with the things she knows. Ultimately her choices in the film and the way she interacts with the men around her reflects her feminist characteristics even if her choices may look from the outside that they don’t.
ReplyDeleteIn His Girl Friday, Hildy Johnson’s role falls within the feminist realm more often than not. For example, in the beginning of the film, we discover that she had divorced her husband Walter. During the 1940s, to be a woman who had divorced her husband was quite uncommon, primarily because of the gender stereotype that women must rely on men. Hildy was an independent woman who would not allow Walter to control her decisions; she chose to quit as both his newspaper editor and his wife. When Hildy goes to visit Earl in prison for an interview, the power falls on Hildy’s side. The film utilizes the prison cell walls to separate Earl and Hildy both physically and metaphorically. Hildy is shown as superior to Earl because she is filmed outside of the cell, while Earl is trapped inside. There is a slight high angle that shows Earl lower in the frame than Hildy, emphasizing the power imbalance. Earl is also the character portrayed as frail and crazy, while Hildy is portrayed as calm and collected; their contrasting personas represent Hildy as the more mature one of the two. In regards to the film’s dialogue, it’s not always Walter talking over Hildy, but rather the both of them talking over each other simultaneously; this shows another power balance between the two genders. For example, while they are working on the newspaper article about Earl Williams, Hildy does not allow Walter to take full control of their argument. Additionally, Hildy is one of the best writers among her journalist peers. Her gender does not act as a barrier in her journey up the business ladder. As part of the film’s main plot, Hildy is the one to get close to writing the scoop on Earl, while the rest of the journalists continue to scatter around searching for him. Hildy’s role in His Girl Friday reveals that around the 1940s, women began to gain more respect among their male counterparts in America. Although it is impossible to say that Hildy’s role gave way to full gender equality, it did portray a more prominent gender balance as opposed to previous popular films.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday portrays the new norms for women that started to develop during the 1940s. Instead of being stay at home wives, women began to get more important jobs and change the gender norms. Hildy Johnson, a very successful newspaper journalist, embodies this idea. In the film, Johnson decides to marry and leave her job to move out into the countryside and raise kids, a “stereotypical” life for a woman in the early 1900s. Throughout the film, they regularly show her talent and love for her job. While the men cannot see that Earl Williams, the man ordered to be executed, might be innocent, Hildy uncovers the truth, so she writes a story for the front page of the paper about how the government failed with the capturing and sentencing of Earl. Hildy is not a stay at home wife, and she realizes this throughout the film. She acknowledges her passion and talent, and if it was a decade or two earlier, she might have given in to the norms. Walter Burns, the head of the newspaper who is still in love with Hildy, tricks Bruce Baldwin, Hildy’s fiancé, to try and win Hildy back. Walter deceives her into delaying her trip with Bruce by planting fake money and a watch in Bruce’s pocket, leading to his arrest. Hildy understands Walter’s tricks and has to defend Bruce. Bruce, unlike Hildy, is portrayed as clueless, switching the stereotypical gender roles held. Although this film does depict Hildy as a strong female, her original goal to marry Bruce is not successful because of Walter. He entices Hildy to stay, so he can marry her again, adding to the notion that females are easily won over. Despite Walter’s trickery, this film shows the changing roles in America in the 1940s for women that allowed them to have prominent professions and make their own choices on how to live their lives, rather than conforming to the norms of the past.
ReplyDeleteAs Hildy Johnson seeks a domestic life along with her career as an independent woman, His Girl Friday portrays the concepts of having power through independence and being able to choose the life that you want to live, to women in 1940’s America and today. At the beginning of the film, the audience learns that Hildy is a strong woman who is respected because of the power she holds as a woman as a successful journalist. We see this power dynamic through the polite and friendly conversations she has as she walks tall and swiftly through the office, announcing her departure from journalism to everyone. One aspect that helps show the women in the audience that women can be powerful and independent is the director’s choice regarding camera movement. The camera tends to follow and makes Hildy the center of focus consistently, capturing her confidence and power through her body language. Early into the film, we also learn that Hildy divorced her boss because she wasn’t treated with the respect she deserved. This is an important moment in the film because it shows women at the time that they are worth more and should leave any relationship in which they are being mistreated. This moment also helps prove the point in the movie that women do have choices to better their lives. In many scenes, Hildy consistently says that she wants to settle down and have kids with her new fiance, but she’s the first one to get information about the jailbreak the moment she sees what’s happening in the streets from the office window. This moment also depicts choice to women in the audience. Hildy is choosing to live a mix of a domestic and career driven life and that is completely okay. This scene particularly stood out to me because I loved how the film shows women that they can do both, which is a concept that my culture struggles with and that I’m learning to navigate. His Girl Friday motivates women to go out in the world and do more and live the way they want to live their lives. I’m so happy to know that films with this message existed back then, because they show how far we’ve come in society to support women. This film had unconventional ideas at the time, which probably inspired many “modern” women at the time to demand respect and make choices that not only better their lives, but also to better society and to fight to open doors for women who come after them.
ReplyDeleteMarisa M
DeleteIn His Girl Friday, Hildy Johnson is portrayed in a much more progressive and feminist light than many other films or shows at the time. Hildy is always shown to be in control of her marriage - she is the one who made the decision to divorce Walter, and Walter is shown to be the one begging her to come back to him, not the other way around. At the end of the film, it is entirely her decision to go back to Walter, as he makes it clear that he still loves her but does not at all push her to choose him over Bruce. It was common at the time to view men as the controlling and leading dynamic of a marriage, so Hildy’s role in her own marriage is a much more progressive and better view of this dynamic. Hildy is also shown to be a very skilled reporter and writer, as seen with the case of Earl Williams. She is told by Walter and other reporters that she is the only one who can write a story convincing enough to save Earl’s life. When she does write this story, one of the reporters reads it aloud and they are all blown away by the expressiveness and quality of the story. All of this emphasizes Hildy’s intelligence and skill, which is something that is used in a sexist way by many contemporary works. Women were often used in a very sexist way for comedic effect in comedies, such as using the cluelessness or unintelligence of a female character to be humorous compared to the male characters. Hildy’s character is never used in this way, while in fact several of the other male characters’ intelligences are used for comedy, such as Earl or Bruce. Earl is overly paranoid and helpless while Bruce is clueless to the way living life in a big city works. Overall, Hildy is put at the center of all the actions and choices of the film, while also being a strong and intelligent figure, setting her apart from many of the more sexist depictions of women in many other films of the time.
ReplyDeleteHildy Johnson in “His Girl Friday” is a progressive female figure as she portrays new norms for women in the 1940s. From the first couple of minutes into the film, Hildy instantly shows a strong personality, and is anything but a submissive stereotypical housewife. The storyline follows Walter, Hildy’s ex-husband, a charming and fast-paced newspaper editor consistently trying to win her back. Hildy is also currently engaged to Bruce, a sweet, yet slightly boring insurance salesman who is absolutely nothing like her past husband. When Hildy comes into the office to visit Walter and tell him that she's getting married the next day, Walter dangles a groundbreaking story in front of her. He hopes that not only will he bring Hildy back into the newspaper business but back into his arms as well. “His Girl Friday” personified gender roles in 1940s America by providing Hildy with two vastly different men to choose from and two vastly different lifestyles. With Walter, she was a fast-paced reporter, and he praises her on her reporting, evidently viewing her as an equal. Bruce, although sweet, is a choice who will bring her out of the city to Albany, where her occupation will be the traditional mother and wife. Early in the movie, you learn that Hildy divorced Walter because he couldn’t give her the life she wanted with his demanding occupation. This is one example proving how powerful Hildy was as a woman divorcing a man in that time period was extremely difficult. Through the course of the film, you see Hildy’s strength displayed in her hilarious dialogue, and her ability to walk into a newsroom full of men and demand respect, which is instantly given. The guys she works with even ask her to play poker with her one night! This is again something very similar to the divorce, unheard of almost. Additionally, towards the end of the film when Hildy and Walter are both on the phone with other reporters going over Earl’s escape from prison their yelling voices are parallel to each other as one does not overpower another. The equal sound and aggressive level they share correlates with the equal job level they are on and even the equal opportunities they have in the reporting business. By the end of the movie, the audience, as well as Hildy herself, realizes she is actually destined to be a career woman. You see her return to her reporting job and her equal marriage, evidently dismissing society's oppressions. This movie allowed a unique insight into the culture of the 1940s and reminded me that there was once a time where being a career woman and mother was a foreign concept. The subtle portrayal of female empowerment Hildy shows is what made this film a classic. This inspiring movie let all girls who watched it at the time know that they are destined for whatever life they chose, vastly different from the typical gender norms previously set where their life is laid out for them.
ReplyDeleteIn His Girl Friday, the protagonist Hildy Johnson is a fantastic feminist model during 1940’s America and even now. Hildy Johnson is an incredibly independent, strong, and feisty woman; she uses her skillset and powerful personality to take control of the path she wants to take with her life. Immediately in the film, Hildy is portrayed as a successful and strong woman who not only works in the journalism industry, but crushers her male competitors as well. As she begins to announce her departure from the journalism industry to her boss, who happens to be her ex-husband, she takes control of the conversation. As her boss attempts to interrupt her and argue with her she is consistently unbothered and beyond cool, calm, and collective as she moves through the conversation with a confident presence and lays down the truth and does not allow herself to be interrupted. Throughout the film, Hildy is expressed as a woman who is not afraid to think for herself and make her own decisions for her life. One example this is shown in is the fact that she divorced her ex-husband because she did not approve of the way she was treated and knew she could find and build herself a better life where she could be happy. Hildy also wants to leave her past life in journalism to settle down, get married, and start a family with her new fiancé. This is just another example of Hildy taking the wheel of her life and choosing her own direction. She will always do whatever she wants for herself if it’s settling down or even working on a juicy new story to write. Hildy is portrayed as a force to be reckoned with which shows that women in America can form their own life and do not have to settle for anything less.
ReplyDeleteHildy Johnson is not the average woman from 1940’s America; although she holds power in her job and won’t let herself be talked over by men, she has dreams of a quiet life with a protective, calm husband. Is this future the inevitable fate of any woman in the 1940’s? No. Options exist outside of the mold set by society. This is a true feminist film because it gives a woman, Hildy, a voice, and the power to choose her fate. Although, they portray her as “one of the outliers”, as we see women such as Bruce’s mother, who can’t keep up with the wit and flow of the office, and hysterical women who aren’t taken seriously by the male journalists. This juxtaposition displays how women differed in 1940’s America, with some at the top of the totem pole while others still frowned upon with their “weakness”. Hildy, as the main character, makes this a feminist film because she holds her own against men in her profession, fending them off from a hidden criminal in a desk, and taking over the office during call frenzies. She even collaborated to cover the biggest story of the year, showing how she held priority with Walter over the rest of the male journalists. In the end, this film was a depiction of a powerful, yet rare woman, who excelled in her career and personal life, marrying a man with whom she could be happy, all while taking the best story of the year. She is supposed to be held as the example, and the film was clear in showing how there are still many women who are “too emotional” and “not worth listening to”. This is definitely a representation of early modern day feminism, as Hildy is independent, strong-willed, and chooses her fate, whether or not it fits the stereotype of the time.
ReplyDeleteIn His Girl Friday, Hildy Johnson exemplifies exactly what it means to be a feminist. She acts how she pleases despite societal standards and expectations of woman during the time period. Hildy demonstrates characteristics such as determination, strong mindedness and ambition, all traits that are uncommon to find in a woman in the 1940s. Despite the dismissive nature of her character towards these societal standards, Hildy still desires a life of monogamy. She wants to settle down with a man in a quiet place and raise a family of her own. Within the film we watch her struggle to balance these two sides of herself. One on hand, Hildys career as a journalist takes priority over her other desires despite her resistance to it. As many times as she tries to walk away from it all, she cannot. On the other hand, we watch as Hildy continues to seek out this other life whether it be with Walter or Bruce. Although Hildy struggles with she always stays true to her feministic qualities when making decisions. She is not willing to settle for less than she wants and knows she deserves. Hildy seeks out exactly what she wants and goes in gets it because she knows nobody else will do it for her. She proves that it is possible for a woman to be successful in both career and relationship despite the sexist belief that woman can not do both. And although she finds herself back with Walter, it only supports the idea that Hildy is a feminist. She goes trough a divorce and than returns to the same man demonstrating her dismissive nature towards female expectations. She does not care to please society as long as she is happy with who she is and who she is with. In my opinion, she choice the relationship that was more suited to her personality with someone that would help her be comfortable with her not so boring life. Considering her profession, Hildy is provided with a plot line that is uncommon of a woman at the time. She is provided a voice as a journalist and proves that it is possible for a woman to be successful in a male dominated field. She ended up helping to publish the biggest story of the year. Overall, Hildy is successful in all aspects of her life demonstrating her feministic qualities and ability to hold her own despite societal standards of the 1940s.
ReplyDeleteThis was written my Cara Kannensohn
DeleteThe film “His Girl Friday” asserts that although women are capable of holding their own, the “modern” woman of the 1940’s holds an inferior role to men. The film presents Hildy Johnson as a stubborn, superior female figure who is masterful in her in craft. Yet, one of the her downfalls is that she is gullible and can be manipulated by her ex-husband Walter. This facet appears in how she allows Walter to get away with framing Bruce. When Hildy finds out that Bruce was arrested for stealing a watch, she immediately suspects that Walter was behind it. She brutally berates him over the phone, announcing her retirement to the other journalists and ripping up the story she wrote. However, when Earl Williams escapes prison, falling right into her hands, the passionate journalist side of her can’t resist the opportunity. So, she comes right back on the job and contacts Walter, dismissing any of the remarks she had just previously made. This event shows that the women in the 1940’s were projected as headstrong, but are indecisive. Another example of the role of women being presented as indecisive is when Hildy goes back to Walter at the end of the film. Hildy’s eventual willingness to go back to Walter shows that women were presented as indecisive in how they choose their significant others. Another depiction of the role of women in the 1940’s is that they are not usually present in many common working class jobs, such as journalists, and police authority. In the film, Hildy is the only woman journalist at the firm, with other women only holding secretary jobs. There are no women on the police force either. This deficit shows that Hildy is a unique outlier, she is the only women who holds a position like hers at her job, showing that the role of women doesn’t include taking high paced jobs like journalists or police officers.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1940 film His Girl Friday, women were becoming less domestic and having jobs that made an impact on society unlike staying at home. This was the starting point of women working in white collar jobs, and outside of the house for more than just going to the store. The film is feeble minded because all the women in His Girl Friday never make the best decisions for themselves and men solve the problem. An example of this is how Hildy and Walter are divorced but in the end of the film they end up getting married. Not only does this show the impulsivity and naivety of Hildy, but also women in this time period of “modern” women act and portray themselves. Though His Girl Friday does have feminist values and aspects, if is more feeble-minded since women are portrayed as weak and unable to make their own decisions without men “saving” the day and reducing the damsel in distress. The gender role of women during this time period and today is to stay at home and not have any other duty than to have children and do household chores, while the husband is the bread winner. In the movie, this contrasts those gender roles and represents an aggressive women in a demanding, male dominated profession, yet some of those cliché tropes of women are embedded into the film. Women are depicted as foolish and unable to manage their own life in everyday life today as well as in the 40s and this doesn’t mean that there is feminism in our society, just that people are so easily convinced that women are incompetent compared to men.
ReplyDeleteHildy Johnson in His Girl Friday is absolutely a feminist character despite her desire for a simple domestic life. From the very first moment she has on screen, she is a tenacious, headstrong powerhouse who is constantly calling the shots. Every detail down to the way she is costumed is designed to show her as the most powerful and competent person in the room. She divorced her ex-husband Walter because he couldn’t give her the life she wanted while maintaining a demanding career. She is the best reporter in the entire newspaper building, with her work in high demand for every story. Characteristics like this were extremely rare for female characters in movies of the time period, considering they usually took a backseat role of more subservience to the male lead. However, they are also a key component of the screwball comedy, as the genre relies on a sharp-witted leading pair of epistemic equals to play off of each other’s humor and match wits. Some might say that Hildy is actually not a feminist character, because she is planning to move to the suburbs and settle into a more traditional domestic life. On the contrary, I believe that she is making this choice as a conscious act of agency. She isn’t dreaming of marriage because anyone told her she “should,” but rather because it is something she genuinely wants to pursue. If she didn’t genuinely want to be with Walter in the end, he would not have been able to get her back. She makes her own choices and has her own agenda, is the most intelligent and quick-witted person in the room, and holds the juxtaposition of both career and marriage aspirations inside of her. Therefore, Hildy Johnson is a fantastic example of a feminist character in the 1940s.
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