Essay 3

Ying Huei (Vicky) Lay
5/19/09
Lit 223
Essay 3
"Even mainstream magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post began publishing stories about young, college-educated women who drank gin cocktails, smoked cigarettes, daringly rolled their stockings at the knee, and enjoyed sex,” from the history textbook. Woman played an important role started in 1920s by challenged her role in the society, we called her the new woman. Another common representation of woman was housewife. Housewife had less society life than man did and followed the traditional role of women. The new woman was also called the flapper. She did not follow the traditional role of a woman, but to challenge her role in society and views of her boyfriend or husband. The Splendor in the Grass, Attack of the 50ft Woman and Rear Window were the movies made in 1950s and early 1960s. These movies played the confusion, conflicts and pressures a woman was having about her role in the society.

In the Splendor in the Grass, the main woman character named Deanie Loomis, was under pressures of choosing between to be a good girl or a bad girl. Deanie was a high school student that had a boyfriend named Bud Stamper. There were kisses, touches and hugs between her and Bud, but she tried to be a good girl cross not to cross the line when Bud wanted to. Deanie's mom was worrying about Deanie will done something serious with Bud. She told Deanie that a good girl does not have sexual relationship with a guy before marriage. She also said, “ your father did not land a hand on me till we got married. And I only have sex with him is because he enjoyed it and we needed to reproduce.” It was a traditional that good girls followed which Deanie worked hard to force herself to follow it too. Bud wanted to have sexual relationship with Deanie, but Deanie was too well-behaved to take it. So Bud ended up to have have a sexual relationship with another girl that drove Deanie crazy. She kept saying that she wants to die. During this period of the time, when you have sex with someone when you are not married then you will go to hell according to their religion. Deanie was very ill and stayed at home till the someone asked her to go to school dance. She cut her hair short and tried to behave like a flapper. The flapper was like a style of new generation that existed during the Great Depression in 1920s. Flappers were women who followed the latest fashion, wore short skirt, cut hair short, went to parties and flirted with men. She went up to Bud and asked him to have a sexual relationship with her. Bud was surprised and rejected her. She went back to the water fall to commit suicide that where many couples made out included her and Bud. She was saved and sent to a hospital to fix her mental illness and had fell in love with a man who worked there. When Deanie came back home, her mom asked if the way she taught her was wrong. She said that if she does, don't blame her because she is only teaching Deanie the way her mom taught her, and it was the only way she knew. Deanie did not blame her mom. She represented a young woman that was confused with her sexual desires and pressured the stereotype view of the society. And not all the women have a mom around to remind them the traditional role of women.

Another women character in Attack of the 50ft Woman, Nancy Archer, was a rich woman. She was once divorced to Harry Archer, but was back together again. Harry was cheating on Nancy with a girl named, Honey Parker. One day Nancy was driving on the highway, a satellite landed in front of her with a 30ft tall alien in it. She run away and told the cops what she saw, no one believed in her. After she got home, Harry was trying to comfort her after he got back from the bar. Nancy argued with Harry about how he's cheating on her and how much she still love Harry. A day after, Nancy turned on the television, a television news anchor was making fun of the story of her saw a satellite and a 30ft giant. And later Nancy's body was growing larger into a 50ft woman by something alien done to her. When she woke up, the first thing she was looking for was her husband. Harry was like the only thing that mattered to Nancy. In the view of a traditional woman that husband is the most important person to her. She should let her husband be happy and do whatever he asks. Nancy knew that her husband was cheating on her, but she did not really do anything about it. After Nancy grew larger, she went to the town to look for her husband. She found her husband in a bar with Honey. Honey was killed when the roof was breaking in parts by Nancy. Harry was also killed in Nancy's hand because he couldn't breath. Nancy loved Harry so much and to kill Harry was the only way to keep Harry all to herself. Nancy represented a woman that went crazy to get love from her husband. Loving a guy too deep can drive a woman crazy, but it can also change the living style of a woman.

In the movie Rear Window, Lisa Fremont was a successful woman with a job. She has a boyfriend named Jefferies. Jeff was observing his neighbors through his window because he broke one of his leg and had to stay home. One day he was like to a lady that comes everyday to give him a massage. The lady told Jeff that Lisa is the right girl for him and any guys, but Jeff told her that he did not want to get married. He said that Lisa was too prefect for him. Man always like woman that is weaker he is, so he can protect the man. And if the woman is too perfect, than the man won't be able to show the talents he has and the power over the woman. When Lisa was kissing Jeff, he did not kiss her back because he was obsessed with what he saw. Then Lisa asked Jeff why they can't live together and get married, Jeff told her that she won't be able to fit into his life. Jeff reads comic and Lisa reads fashion magazine. While Jeff was observing his neighbors, he saw Mrs. Thorwald was not on her bed anymore since she was too ill to leave her bed. It turned out Mr. Thorwald killed her because he couldn't get any love from his wife. His wife rejected him multiple times when he brought her food and flowers. This action also relates to what Nancy had done to her husband. If they can't get the love from their partner, then they kill their partners. Lisa was trying to help Jeff find evidences for the case of murder. Lisa was also trying to show Jeff that she can change for him. At the end of the movie, Lisa was reading what Jeff reads, but when Jeff fell asleep, she took out her fashion magazine. She showed that she was able to change for the man she loved, but still remained what she was like when no one was watching. Lisa represented a successful woman that was willing to change for her love, but still remaining what she was.

In all three movies, the common thing about them was that they challenged themselves with the view of the society, and the love was the most important thing to them. They were willing to do anything to get the love from their men, even gone crazy. Deanie was a nice girl, but crazy for her boyfriend. Nancy was a normal woman till her husband cheated on her that caused her some health problems. Lisa was a successful and smart woman that willing to change her life style for love. Each of them faced problems that deal with the traditional role of a woman, also they represented different characteristics. Nancy's story was upset first, but she was brave to walk out the sadness and had a happy ending. Nancy had conflicts with her husband all the time and ended up killed him. Lisa didn't really have any conflicts between Jeff, and managed herself well to be with Jeff. Different woman faced different problems in 1950s' movies, but mostly about love, pressures, and conflict between roles of traditional and new women.