sunset boulevard themes Flashcards
DELUSION, LIES & MANIPULATION (13)
- Hollywood is a world lacking in truth.
- Those in Hollywood are isolated from the “real world” and thus often choose to live in fantasy
worlds removed from reality. - All characters are morally ambiguous and will do whatever to takes to get what they want.
- There are no genuine examples of love or friendship
- talk is cheap
- Norma’s delusion over her Career:
- Norma’s delusion that she is ageless and is still as young and beautiful as she was at the prime of her career:
-Norma’s delusion over her Career: - Danger of Norma’s Delusion:
- Max deceiving Norma:
- Joe showcasing the delusion/false hope Hollywood provides:
- deceptive nature of hollywood
-Norma’s delusion being her final show (big finale/always putting on an act) DECEIVING HERSELF: - like a preditor, norma draws joe further and further into her dellusion
appearance (beauty and aging) (6)
- appearance is more important than talent
- Motif of Norma’s mansion representing her mental state:
- Norma self obsession with her appearance stems from the fact that appearance was the main aspect of silent movie acting
- Delusion belief that she is still as young and beautiful as she was at the prime of her career:
- Resulting from Hollywood’s unattainable expectations that to remain relevant you must still fit into unattainable beauty standards:
- People referring to Norma as a Child:
fame and success (10)
- Success in Hollywood is fickle and fleeting and there is often a price to pay to obtain it.
- Those in the silent era struggle to move on from past success and into the modern era of
Hollywood.’ - metacasting (using past silent era movie stars) - Motif of Norma’s mansion representing the state of fame/career:
- Price of LOSING fame is this insanity/obsessive nature to get it back:
- Price of success in Hollywood (i.e success in Hollywood is unattainable):
- Joe’s lack of SUCESS:
- Normas Loss of Fame highlighted through the different generations:
- Norma’s loss of Fame still remaining transfixed on her old career
- hollywood and other prople are the reasons fro normas delusion and mental state
wealth (5)
- Motif of Norma’s mansion highlighting that money doesn’t equal happiness:
- Norma’s Excessive Wealth:
- The quote on quote easy Hollywood money/lifestyle isn’t worth it:
- Joe rejecting the idea that money/material items matter more than things such as integrity:
- Norma’s control through financial means:
power (8)
- Wealth and success are linked to power.
- There is an inherent sexism in the film where women must fight harder for success than men.
(women did not get lead roles, male dominated, all men in power in industry of hollywood and treat norma as a child) - Norma’s power over Joe reflected through posessive mannerisms:
- Joe Loss of power:
- Norma’s power over Joe:
- Motif of Norma’s mansion symbolsing Joe being trapped in Normas world:
- Joe taking back his power:
- Suicde Scene acting as a POWER PLAY:
bleak perspective on hollywood (6)
- Hollywood hiding it’s bleakness behind this glamorous facade
- Hollywood’s a cruel machine, leaves people high and dry, the delusion/false hope Hollywood provides, the deceptive nature of hollywood:
- Hollywood built on fanciful lies, especially through the media to fit their narrative, whatever sells narrative:
- Hollywood is a money scheme, people value money over important quality’s such as integrity:
- Audience doesn’t know the truth about Hollywood:
- Delusion belief that she is still as young and beautiful as she was at the prime of her career:
Hollywood is a world lacking in truth.
Right from the opening scene where Joe says “before you hear it all distorted and blown out of
proportion, before those Hollywood columnists get their hands on it, maybe you'd like to hear the
facts, the whole truth…” we get the sense that there is an inauthenticity about this world of film.
Subsequently, we see how this impacts all the characters within it, as we see Norma’s delusions,
Joe’s manipulation, lies and lack of understanding of his powerlessness with Norma and Max’s
damaging lies. Even innocent Betty is not immune to the fakeness of Hollywood as she falls for Joe’s
façade and promises of a money-making script.
In Hollywood, everyone is putting on some sort of act, so authentic examples are hard to find. As last
year’s exam topic stated, it is both “hollow” and “alluring” – most characters in the film are aware of
this hollowness (Betty loves the fake streets at Paramount Studios, Joe knows shallow scripts are the
ones that make money and Artie’s party shows that fun rather than connection is what’s important),
yet like moths to the flame, they are all drawn to the fantastical world.
As a character, Joe is emblematic of this lack of truth and substance – he is rarely honest or genuine
in his interactions with anyone, instead making wisecracks and using his wry and sarcastic humour as
a wall between him and anyone who tries to get close. But perhaps this is what he needs to do to
survive in the world of Hollywood?
Those in Hollywood are isolated from the “real world” and thus often choose to live in fantasy
worlds removed from reality.
Norma is a symbol of a wider issue in Hollywood, a world built on creating fantasies for
entertainment – existing in their own Hollywood bubble, characters are often removed from reality.
Norma creates her own reality in her mansion, removed and isolated from the outside world – there,
she is still famous and adored; if she doesn’t leave, she doesn’t have to face the fact that she is no
longer as big as she was. But her delusions are not all of her own making; they are fuelled by the
industry and her reliance on Max, who continues to uphold the fantasy. As Joe gets drawn further
into Norma’s web of delusion, he himself becomes delusional about his place in Hollywood and his
relationship with Betty.
Ultimately, no one is willing to face up to reality until forced to in the final scene: think about how
each character reacts when faced with reality.
All characters are morally ambiguous and will do whatever to takes to get what they want.
There is not one innocent and incorruptible character in the film. All want to be successful in
Hollywood and to do this, are willing to manipulate others to get there. For some, success was
something in the past, for some it appears attainable in the present, but for most, it is a dream that
is never realised, despite their efforts.
Talk is cheap
no truth
As Norma says “Writing words, words, more words! Well, you'll make a rope of words and strangle
this business! With a microphone there to catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor to photograph the
red, swollen tongues!” In Hollywood, what people say and what they do are two different things.
Most people will use words like “friend” (Joe’s agent) or “love” lightly. Norma professes to be in love
with Joe, but this ends up being just another part of her “act” in trying to control and emotionally
manipulate him. Betty thinks she is in love with Artie, then Joe, but it seems she doesn’t really know
either man the way she thinks she does. Joe promises a lot of things to a lot of people, but these
turn out to be empty as he struggles to make it in Hollywood. Ultimately, most of the characters in
Sunset Boulevard are putting on their own little acts, and not a lot of what they say lines up with
their actions.
The film challenges the concept of appearance being more important than talent.
The film comments on the often unhealthy environment of Hollywood, and how the emphasis is on
appearance, youth and beauty, or what will make money, rather than necessarily someone’s skill as
an actor or writer. Films have become about making as much money as possible, which means hiring
the most beautiful, famous and youthful people. In this environment, Norma Desmond struggles to
move on from the silent era, when her beauty and fame were at its peak. The photos strewn about
her house, the “Norma Desmonds” that show her in her prime, reflect a snapshot in time when she
was the centre of Hollywood, a time she struggles to move on from. Surrounding herself with these
pictures is a way of reminding herself of how beautiful she was, memorialising this time when she
was at her peak.
Norma’s montage of her beauty regime leading up to supposedly filming “Salome” also shows her
desire to still be young and beautiful. We don’t see her practising lines, or going over the script, but
solely focused on looking good.
At the end, Joe tells Norma to “grow up. You’re a woman of fifty. There’s nothing tragic about being
fifty – not unless you try to be 25.” There is a message in here for Hollywood – that there must be a
place for stars to age gracefully, that talent should trump over appearance and in that regard there
is a place for those who have experience. DeMille’s comment that “A dozen press agents working
overtime can do terrible things to the human spirit” leaves us in no doubt who he believes is
responsible for her descent into madness.
FAME AND SUCCESS
Similarly, the film examines the cult of celebrity and fame, looking at both the benefits and downfalls
of the life of the rich and famous, but also shows how fame can be fleeting, as the media and
audience look to the next new thing. Stars who shone bright in the silent era, such as Norma and her
bridge playing friends, are suddenly relegated to the shadows as “talkies” become the new
cinematic experience, leaving them used and discarded, barely recognisable as their younger, more
famous selves.
success in hollywood is fickle and fleeting and there is often a price to pay to obtain it
no rules in hollywood
The film is full of has-beens or wannabes who have been let down by their experiences with, or lack
of fame and success. There are not many examples of those who are able to sustain success. The film
examines the cult of celebrity and fame, looking at both the benefits and downfalls of the life of the
rich and famous, but also shows how fame can be fleeting, as the media and audience look to the
next new thing. Stars who shone bright in the silent era, such as Norma and her bridge playing
friends, are suddenly relegated to the shadows as “talkies” become the new cinematic experience,
leaving them used and discarded, barely recognisable as their younger, more famous selves.
Norma’s visit to the Paramount Pictures Studios also show the recognition she gets and how this can
be addictive, but fleeting. In contrast to the crazed and delusional 50 year old woman we see now,
we get the sense she was once vibrant, young and fun, a girl of 17 with the whole world ahead of
her. The tragedy of the film is that this young woman that both DeMille and Max remember no
longer exists. DeMille scolds a young assistant who suggests he give her the brush off, saying “Listen,
thirty million fans have given her the brush. Isn't that enough?”
Betty is another character to shows this theme – 22, ambitious and at the beginning of her career,
Betty once wanted to be on the screen as an actress, but now aims to be a successful writer. Her
story of getting a nose job reflects the fickle nature of Hollywood – initially they liked her acting, but
not her nose. When she gets her nose “fixed” they love her nose, but not her acting. Even Joe, who
once was a successful writer, seems past his prime and struggles to make a living from his profession
due to having become cynical and out of ideas. His scripts are devoid of meaning or depth, as he is
just out to make a buck, reflecting his idea of Hollywood as only wanting films that will make money,
not films that “mean something” as Betty says.
Those in the silent era struggle to move on from past success and into the modern era of
Hollywood.
- using past silent movie stars
It’s not just Norma, but many stars from the silent era that struggle to move on from the earliest
days of cinema, where they were making millions and adored by fans worldwide. The film shows us
1950s Hollywood, the “golden era” of cinema, where talkies are now the norm. This has left people
like Norma and the “waxworks” she plays Bridge with left in the dust, unable to move with the
breakneck pace of Hollywood, leaving them to be replaced by younger, more talented versions of
the themselves. Norma’s crumbling mansion and shrines to herself are indicative of her inability to
embrace the new Hollywood and find success within it.
Wealth and success are linked to power.
Those who don’t have a lot of money or success in the film
are more reliant on others. Joe’s grim financial situation at the start of the film and loss of his car
consign him to an unhealthy reliance on the benevolence of Norma. Conversely, we see that those
who have money/success can exert power in the industry (see how Norma is received at Paramount
Studios). Yet still there are limitations on how far this will get you in Hollywood. In the end, money
alone is not enough to get characters what they want.
