Thursday, October 4, 2018
There's Something Rotten in the State of Denmark (or New York)
His Girl Friday is a satirical -- some might even say cynical-- romp through all the sacred institutions of 1940's America: marriage, government, justice, media, you name it. What is the moving saying about ONE of these institutions? Alternatively, is the film making a statement about America on the brink of World War II -- or perhaps about human nature at all times? Or shouldn't we take all the gibes and derision seriously?
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I believe that His Girl Friday is most definitely making a statement about the media/newspaper in 1940s America but also may portray truth about human nature. Throughout the film, the journalists and newspaper employees are extremely selfish and only seem to care about what is in it for themselves. Almost all of them lack empathy, privacy, and honesty. It is evident from many different scenes that they only care about people when they offer them a useful story or are of higher power. For example, when Molly Malloy is full of sorrow due to the Earl Williams situation, the journalists completely ignore her concerns and questions. They all continue to speak into their phones in order to share the next news story. If one looks at their facial and body expressions, there is not a single one of them that shows her empathy or the interest to listen to what she has to say. This in part may or may not be due to the fact that she is woman. The only time the journalists take interest in Molly’s life is when it ends because it gives them something to report. Furthermore, there is a scene in which a journalist lies about the state in which Earl Williams is found. The journalist claims that Earl was unconscious when they discovered him which was completely false. This was most likely to make the story more interesting, but how can these journalists and the news be trusted when the stories have little fibs among them? All of these attributes and actions of the journalists bring up the point of the film shedding light on human nature. It is not crazy to point out that many of us today have been selfish or lied to get what we want. Humans are not perfect and we all have flaws. However, I think these common flaws were exaggerated more in the film to point out the corruption of the media in the 1940s and how its stories are written to make them more interesting and surprising. The film suggests that many of those who work in the media industry are corrupt and only care about personal gain.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there are numerous messages and lessons that can be taken from Howard Hawk’s His Girl Friday, one significant piece is how media was handles on the 1940’s. Aside from the gender roles that are evident, the way the journalist as a whole treat each other and interact with various news stories. Walter and the other journalist in his office are like vouchers starving for a good story they can report. They will take any information they can get no matter how reliable the source is that it is coming from. This hints that news and journalism in the 1940’s was not as accurate as it is today. Of course, now we have hundreds of news sources that all check each other and some are far more accurate than others are. However back in the 1940s’, there was no internet and news could not be spread instantly with the click of a button. Additionally, the men seem to ignore Mollie Malloy, a female character with a rather minor role. The journalists do not show any interest in her life until she ends it. This is a true example of “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. This scene was unexpected and rather sudden, which is likely how the journalists felt in that situation. From this, it can be inferred that journalists only cared about the most popular stories or what they thought would get the best response/sell the most papers. Overall, the view on journalism is somewhat negative when analyzing His Girl Friday.
ReplyDeleteThe incompetent and amoral actions of members of the justice system in “His Girl Friday” align with the larger theme in the movie of people in power being incapable of making selfless or well-thought out decisions.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, the justice system is shown to be easily manipulated as Bruce is wrongly imprisoned due to the actions of Walter and his associates. Bruce, one of the few in this story who isn’t amoral, is the last of the main characters who should have been put in jail, but due to the faults in the justice system, he is the only one legally punished in the film other than Earl Williams. Worse, the mistake happens three times depicting the consistent fallibility of this system. Another instance in which morality is not valued by law enforcers is seen as Hilde is able to bribe an officer for an exclusive interview with Williams. The idea that finding out whether or not a man deserves capital punishment is less convincing of a reason to interview than a monetary bribe for a member of the justice system adds to the lacking ethics of these characters. Finally, the sheriff giving a gun to Williams and the entire center allowing him to escape capitalizes on the inability of these me in power to use it for real good. They imprison the wrong man three times and accidentally let go a murderer with a gun.
Taken together, these plot points reinforce the film’s larger message of men (and to some extent women as seen with Hilde) in power being incapable of using their power selflessly for the good of those beneath them.
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ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday portrays the news in New York City as lying and corrupt, reflecting the problems with modern era media and yellow journalism. Each newspaper firm battling for circulation throughout the competitive landscape of New York City media, many would fall into the loop of making exaggerations or eye-catching headlines with little legitimate information. This type of reporting is often referred to as yellow journalism. His Girl Friday expresses this theme through several instances during the film. In the scene where Earl Williams is discovered by the sheriff, the theme of yellow journalism is shown through the reporters as the scene unfolds. Upon opening the desk, Earl Williams says, “Go ahead, shoot me”. One reporter then claims that Earl was unconscious when they opened the desk. Another claims that he tried to shoot at the cops but his gun wouldn’t work. This scene clearly shows false reporting in the media to create a more interesting story. Additionally, Howard Hawks displays a panning shot through the room during this scene. This panning draws focus from one reporter to another, each with different stories. This filming technique enhances the perception of lying in the media.
ReplyDeleteThis same negative attitude towards proper media is expressed by the reporters when dealing with Mollie Malloy. Mollie was complaining that the reporters made up a bunch of lies, and that she was never as close to Earl Williams as they depicted. For the majority of the film, none of the reporters paid any attention to Mollie. However, when Mollie claims that she knows of Earl’s whereabouts, all of the reporters frantically start paying attention. In the end, Mollie kills herself because she does not feel as if her voice is being heard. The extremities of the media, both selective attention and yellow journalism, are at the stakes of several people’s lives. This signifies insane corruption in the media at the deterioration of society.
Finally, Howard Hawks displays a corrupt media through the extremes of Walter and Hildy in creating the “perfect story”. In the spirit of yellow journalism, Walter and Hildy are willing to go the extra step beyond making lies, as they become involved in the chase of Earl Williams to influence a “perfect story”. Walter and Hildy do this by smuggling Earl in the desk, planning to “make such monkeys out of those ward heelers” after the Sheriff and the Mayor cannot find him. This scene further emphasize the lies and corruption in the media by showing the extremes of yellow journalism in New York City.
His Girl Friday is an obvious derision towards nearly every institution of the 1940's and human nature in general, if that’s what’s in focus while viewing. Rather than seeing each character as an interpretive vehicle for satire, each character should be seen at face value for the person the character portrays. His Girl Friday is a screw ball comedy full of ironic and unpredictable twists intended to make its viewers laugh. The opening scene of the movie introduces the main character's goals and the first ironic set of scenarios: Hildy enters Walters’s office to inform her ex-husband of her engagement and future marriage with Bruce. The irony of a divorced couple discussing the marriage of the other is comical in the scene. Divorce was intended for people who disliked each other enough to break their vows. Hildy and Walter’s interaction was portrayed shockingly lighthearted and flirtatious compared to one that by definition should be more emotional. The film can either be seen as continually mocking marriage and other institutions or as a film for the entertainment of its viewers. When taking a more recreational approach to screwball comedy film viewing, the misdirection of each scene is what makes it funny. With any modern day comedy show jokes and plot twists are made at the expense of someone else or the irony of their situation. His Girl Friday is a compilation of jokes and plot twists centered about the main characters. When each of the newspaper workers were misreporting the capture of Earl, rather than seeing this scene as a satire for news media I thought it was funny each man had to lie to try and get some sort of validation. To be explicit, I found that the irony and in turn humor of the situation outweighed any interpretive derision. Satire shouldn’t be taken seriously because His Girl Friday is a screwball comedy.
ReplyDeleteHis Girl Friday is the definition of a satire. The director completely eviscerates numerous institutions including the journalism industry, the government, and people who follow the news like sheep. I believe that while the Governmental satire is the easiest to see, I believe the journalism satire to be far stronger and more interesting. The film has a lot to say but the compelling argument is that journalism is cut-throat and willing to step over people using statements, that might not even be the truth, in order to get people to read it. This can be seen in a variety of ways. It is incredibly evident in the ways the reporters treat Mollie. Mollie is an innocent, caring girl, who took the time to care for the man who is currently awaiting his death. The paper decided to paint her as a love interest. She is in tears as she screams at the reporters for twisting her words into a narrative that would sell papers. It is a gross example of the reporters being willing to take an innocent caring girl and use her to make them money. The director scars the imagine of an innocent, kind girl who only wanted to help, killing herself due to the pain the reporters caused her. While less powerful, another great example comes from when they finally open the desk to reveal the escapee. What should be portrayed as a simple arrest with zero resistance, is painted as a huge scuffle by one reporter, and is painted as arresting an unconscious man by another. It shows the willingness of the journalist to completely lie in order to craft a more “interesting” story. These are two of the strongest points but it can also be seen in the way the journalist are so ready to betray the politician who had helped them so much in order to put out the scoop on a story, or in the way Walter is willing to use his power as a journalist to threaten the mayor. Overall, the film does a wonderful job of dissecting the issues that plague the journalism industry, and acts a herald telling the people watching it to think about what they read before they accept it.
ReplyDeleteHoward Hawk’s screwball comedy “His Girl Friday” presents an underlying critique of media at the time of the film’s production. Synonymous to the “fake news” phenomena of the 21st century is the very similar “yellow journalism” era of the 20th century, where many newspaper outlets dispatched poorly-researched news articles that were frequently over-exaggerated or even completely inaccurate in efforts to attract readers for fiscal profits or for readers’ support in corrupt political schemes. “His Girl Friday” critiques this unethical form of reporting in its plethora of painfully obvious and hilarious scenes. The greed for flashy and trending news is clearly seen when Walter Burns orders his newspaper employees to have the story of convicted murderer Earl Williams captured by the Morning Post flood the front page of the paper when they discover him in the newsroom. Rather than focusing on substantial news such as the “European war or the Chinese earthquake” – actually relevant news that Walter tells his reporters to replace with the scandal of Williams, Walter prioritizes scandalous and exciting drama instead. Although this scene advocates many comedic purposes such as portraying Walter as a fast-talking and sly man, the underlying message is clearly a critique on the yellow journalism. Furthermore, newspapermen’s greed for flashy tidbits of news are clearly seen when Mollie Malloy jumps off the top floor of the newspaper building. In this scene, the newspapermen, who were ignoring her pleas to change the inaccurate articles detailing her relationship with Williams, suddenly took interest in her when she claimed she knew about his whereabouts. She later jumps from the building when she realized they only listened to her for the information they wanted to hear. Rather than writing accurate and truthful news articles, the reporters and columnists only want to write outrageous and scandalous tabloids that will in turn generate the highest number of readers. In the spirit of unethical reporting for the craziest news titles, Hilde bribes the prison guards to be able to have a one on one interview with Williams. Additionally, she does not inform him that he is being interviewed, a breach of ethical reporting. While this scene is also a metaphoric jab at the U.S. justice system (when Hilde bribes the guards), we can see that journalists are willing to go to enormous lengths such as crossing moral boundaries to get the best, eye-popping articles. Perhaps the most straightforward and obvious scene critiquing the media was when Williams was found hiding in the desk. As Williams says “go ahead and shoot me”, the reporters present at the incident report completely falsified information such as one claiming Williams had attempted to shoot a police officer. Rather than reporting the truth, the newspapermen spin outrageous news stories to appeal to the ever-so-hungry eyes of their readers. Though “His Girl Friday” is a fast-paced and hilarious comedy, it also critiques the yellow journalism phenomenon and the over-exaggerated news articles of the time at various points throughout the film.
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