Women In Detour

The representation of the women in Detour is very interesting.  Both women appear to make their own decisions free from the influence of the male characters.  Sue makes the move from New York to LA on her own despite her boyfriend’s lack of support.  She appears to be an independent woman with dreams she is willing to sacrifice for.  Sue doesn’t give up on her dream or back down from her plan just because Al is dismissive of it, she breaks away and moves to LA.  However Sue’s role within the film really has nothing to do with this perceived independence.  She is portrayed as an unachievable symbol of Roberts’ desire for happiness.

Vera also seems to be an independent female character, however she is also manipulative, controlling and greedy.  When Vera recognizes Charles Haskell Jr’s car she schemes out a plan to take advantage of Al Roberts.  From there on out she controls every minute of their time together.  Unsatisfied with the money Roberts finds on Haskell, she first insists on selling the car and then insists that Roberts pretend to be Haskell so that they can inherit money from Haskell’s father.  Seeing a woman in control is refreshing, but she doesn’t seem to be in control of herself and at times she appears to be very vulnerable.  In the evenings she gets drunk and tries, unsuccessfully, to woo Roberts.  In these moments her power seems to shrink away until she is reduced to a lonely girl.  To me this gives her character some sympathy and realism.  No one can be so authoritative all the time, everyone has their softer side and I think representing that in the story makes it more powerful and relatable.  Although it may not be the most commanding representation of a woman I think it get closer to a more realistic representation than I’ve seen of other movies of the time.

The (Almost) Equality of Freaks

In my opinion although Freaks had the potential to break down fears and stereotypes of the general public towards people with physical differences the ending causes the movie to fall short of these goals.  Throughout the majority of the movie the circus "freaks" are shown to be just like you and me, they hang clothes up to dry, they enjoy the outdoors, they have friends and even interact normally with people of an average physical appearance.  Beyond that they're also shown having normal emotional experiences, they fall in love, they get jealous, they celebrate the birth of the bearded lady's baby.  By the end of the movie you almost stop seeing they're physical differences or at least they're not the first thing you think about when they come on screen.  The "freaks" also seem to be more moral than Cleo and Hercules, their average sized comrades.  Right up until the ending the film has the audience sympathizing with and even liking this band of circus "freaks".

In the last 5 minutes however, the tables turn and this band of likeable oddballs becomes a gang of monsters with revenge in their eyes.  The minute the audience looses their emotional connection with the "freaks", the physical differences that define them as such come front and center and we no longer see them as our equals.  All the sudden the audience sympathizes with Cleo, who up until this point has been strongly portrayed as the villain.  I think if the goal of the movie was to be more forward thinking towards those with physical differences than the ending was a mistake, because it portrays the "freaks" as villains and Cleo, who is clearly a terrible human being, as a victim of their crimes.  The ending of the film cements the connection in the audiences' minds between monsters and persons with physical abnormalities.

Physical Comedy in Sherlock Jr.

To me, the use of gags in Sherlock Jr. was a key part of what made the film so enjoyable to watch.  Since the movie is silent and there is no real dialogue much of the story must by communicated through physical means, including the comedic pieces.  I thought the gags were hysterical and well executed.  Before watching the film, I thought since it was an older movie the gags might be a little cheesey, but to my surprise most of them were pretty unexpected and funny.  The scene where Keaton jumps through the window and into the white case with the lady's clothes in it was my favorite.  I really had no idea what was going on with that white case in the window up until he jumped through it and was suddenly dressed as a woman.  To me, the most successful use of humor in movies is when it's totally unexpected.  I think things are funnier when you can't see them coming.  

Many movies today make use of slapstick humor much like Keaton did in Sherlock Jr.  Over winter break I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and there are many similarities between the humor in that and Sherlock Jr.'s physical style of comedy.  For example when the Dad in Christmas Vacation is putting up Christmas lights he falls off the roof and onto the gutter then from the gutter into the bushes.  It reminds me some of the scene in Sherlock Jr. where Keaton falls from the train onto the water spout, gets drenched and then finally falls to the ground.  In both cases the character could have been hurt but instead his fall is broken a couple times on the way down and this helps to create a comedic, instead of tragic, scene.

Intro

Hi my name is Nora and I am a 4th year architecture student in DAAP.  I decided to take this course because I really enjoy watching movies and would like to know more about them.  After taking this class I hope I will be better able to critique and understand movies.  As far as my taste in film goes I like a little of everything from comedies to romances, I would never count out something just because it was a certain genre.  However my favorite types of movies are probably dramas.