Gender norms Flashcards
The scene of Betty Shafer entering in with the synopsis of ‘Bases Loaded’, while Joe is in the back
show how this relates to the norms
This scene signifies the gender norms in 1950 originally before being transversed later in the film, where the men are often in power and the woman are lower/submissive to the men. In the scene Joe has his hands on his hips, a posture of confidence and dissaproval to Betty, proving that joe is assertive even though he is struggling in the industry itself, in contrast showing that men even in various situations hold authroity , whereas Betty is shown to have her posture slouched and her hands in a cusp below her waist, showing her submissiveness which shows how women are often in need for approval by men dominated areas like in the movie industry.
A low angle shot of Norma up on the balcony
explain
Billy Wilder purposely positions the camera to have a low angle shot of Norma looming over Joe and Max, to highlight that she has dominating power over the men, despite being a woman in the 1950’s in america that had gender norms of woman being generally the weaker vessel, Norma stands above as stark contrast of these norms.
Norma descending down the staircase to Joe and leads the men
explain
Norma descends down the staircase dowards the Joe and orders him to the living room, this further evidences not only Normas power over these men as they follow her steps but also her acknowledgement of such power. The camera panning and titlting down, tracking Normas movement and cutting Max out of frame, intensifies how powerful Normas influence is, where she can dictate the movement of the camera and leave Max to be casted out as a shadow of her.
“I said Sit down”
explain
Norma, in this moment, demands “I said Sit down”, while displaying rigid body language and glareful stare to reinforce her sense of authority she felt slipping as she handed Joe the writing for piece “Salome”. This again presents Norma to challenge the social gender norms for women in 1950 who often occupy subordinate roles to men. Gloria swanson’s absence of words after her command, adds suspense and weight to her words, solidifying her character to have dominace over Joe while hinting signs of desperation to cling onto her dwindling career.
As the silence fills the room, tension builds between the Joe and Norma. Wilder enhances the emotional instability in the scene, noticbly signalling the uneasy balance in power between the two. Joe stands, staring at Norma for a few seconds before deciding to sit down. This truly underscores his acceptance to join Normas world of delusion, driven not by love but necessaity. His hesitation suggests he was questioning whether to or not reverse his predetermined gender roles as a man to her. Joes lack of fincancial stability as a struggling writer, evidenced by his oversized sports coat, unironed shirt and lack of shiny accesories, fueled his willingless to compromise his masculinity,
You know Im —- expensive,…. i —– worry —-
You know Im pretty expensive,…. i wouldnt worry about money
”—-, as long as the lady’s paying —-, why not —-the vicuna?
“Well, as long as the lady’s paying for it, why not take the vicuna?
Norma slaps Joe when he threatens to have another girl or leave her
explain
This defys the sterotypical norms that defined men and women at the time, at the 1950s era, men were accepted by society to abuse their wives/lovers. Normas outlash parrarels the expecation around, presenting her to be the man in the relationship, and Joe the submissive woman.
“they didnt —- my —–,——- this —- a little”
“they didnt like my nose,slanted this way a little”
”——- to suspect there are — — his ——”
“too young to suspect there are men of his sort”
Strike me! But dont—–
explain
Gender roles had revered. She has dropped down from her level of authority and caused herself to be vunerble. Begging for Joe to become an average 1950s man.
-Her dreaful plea to be rather abused than hated, underscores the now flipped complete dependency on Joe. If she cant earn his love, shed rather be abused than forgotten, ignored, discarded, as long as he acknolweged her. This suggests that Norma would rather be hurt than forgotten, reinforcing the films theme of Hollywoods cruel neglect on its former stars.
