Some may argue that the movie The General conforms to traditional patriarchal gender roles. Annabelle Lee, the heroine, is kidnapped (albeit inadvertently) by hostile soldiers and needs the heroic exploits of her lover to rescue her. She is portrayed as submissive to her father and brother, ineffectual in plotting own escape (such as throwing a stick of wood into the train furnace or failing to stop the engine so her lover can board it), and often exhibiting domestic inclinations ( as when she sweeps the engine with a broom).
Do you agree with this picture of Annabelle Lee -- or is it more complicated? Is Annabelle a stereotypical damsel in distress or is she a more progressive figure? Is there something about her a feminist could admire? What is this film saying about gender roles?
While Annabelle may be appear as a typical damsel in distress in “The General”, she plays a much greater role in her own rescue than a typical female character might. First of all, Annabelle is not mainly portrayed as a ‘typical’ woman in many other movies where the woman is victimized, powerless, and subordinate. Apart from Annabelle’s kidnapping, the main plot of “The General” was the chase between the Union and Confederate trains. Other than the one scene at night in the bedroom while she cries before being rescued by her lover (and, there, is shown as the fairly typical woman character), she is as much as part of the action as he was. Together, they drive the train and figure out how to ward off the chasers. She comes up with the plan to block the train with the rope and helps toward their success. Rather than sitting, crying or worrying, she is featured on the return trip working with her lover to deter the villain. Once saved by Johnnie, Annabelle becomes involved and an important part of the success of their trip. She figures out how to work the train and is quite helpful on the journey. While I do not believe she is a modern, progressive female character, she is a start. She is not a typical damsel in distress to the max. But there are a few scenes in which she leans toward a stereotypical female. She falls somewhere in between. As much as Annabelle is not a typical female in this film, neither is Johnnie a typical male. He is not enlisted like many men at the time. He is as much a victim as Annabelle when his train is hijacked. Gender roles in “The General” are far from typical but far from our modern progressive view.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia on this as Annabelle is clearly more than the typical damsel in distress. Her character value to "The General" is huge as she is shown as a more advanced woman during the movie, helping her lover to stall the Union army in the train chase. Though she may seem clumsy and ditsy in some parts, she proves to be an intellectual woman coming up with the idea of tying the wire between the trees over the tracks to stall the Union train when it passes by. Her ditsy scenes are shown more for comic relief than giving a stereotypical woman as the main character also showed a large amount of being clumsy as well. Annabelle is an essential part of "The General" and proves to show leaps of escaping stereotyping in the movie.
ReplyDeleteThere is much more to Annabelle than what was typical for the stereotypical female role during this time. She makes key decisions, saves her man, and stands up for herself. Annabelle sets up a trap which ends up working, learns how to drive the train, and tells Johnnie what she wants from him; even if it is a silly old southern demand for Johnnie to be a soldier. Despite all of this she is still clearly a damsel and she does find herself in distress throughout the film. I think that this movie is saying something about where gender roles are going and that women really can do more than is credited to them. Yet this isn't the focus of the whole movie. If Annabelle had been any more independent that would have been the main point of the film. "The General" does a great job of showing what was expected and how Annabelle handles it. She was taken, and being the female it was logical for her to be the one who needed help and for Johnnie to save her but she ends up saving him at one point. The reversal of the gender roles is suggestive of a much more progressive angle for this film. I think that the actress, Marion Mack, did a good job expressing that she wasn’t “just a girl” she wasn’t scared and flimsy like your stereotypical damsel in distress.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments others have made. However, while watching “The General” I could not help but notice how Annabelle’s actions would go through different stages of vulnerability and helpfulness. Annabelle begins being captured by the Union troops, throughout the scenes where she is under their control, she is powerless and forced to await her lover, Johnnie, rescue. As soon as Annabelle is free she helps Johnnie by pulling the pin holding all the trains together. Latter on she becomes very helpful to Johnnie, when she sets a trap involving two pine trees that is able to temporary stop the pursuing train. However, soon after Annabelle’s success with the trap she returns to her past form. When Johnnie trusts her to stop the train so he can switch the track, in order to delay the trailing train, unfortunately Anabelle is unable to stop the train for Johnnie. He is forced to chase after the train and attempt to board it. Once again Johnnie has to “save the day” and stop Annabelle from wreaking the train. So even though Annabelle is not entirely a hero in the movie, she is also not completely a damsel in distress. The role of women in “The General” is transitioning towards a more modern view of women, although it is still very far off.
ReplyDeleteI think that throughout the movie, Annabelle does tend to fit the criteria of a typical damsel in distress. It all begins with Johnnie Gray going to rescue Annabelle from the house the northerners are staying at. He is the one that has to come to her, and he plots our their entire escape. Once they make it back onto a train to the south, Annabelle continues to be unhelpful with their escape, as she doesn't really know what she should do to help. For example, she throws a small piece of wood into the train furnace, though that doesn't actually help their cause.These sorts of actions make Annabelle fall under a stereotypical woman's role, in which she is unable to solve a problem herself, and thus enlists a mans help. Annabelle also falls under the criteria of this damsel because she falls for Johnnie more and more as they near a safe return. In the beginning of the movie, Annabelle didn't even wan't to speak to Johnnie, but know she is falling in love with him. This makes her a typical damsel because she is following the stereotypical chain of events of a woman that falls in love with a man because he is going to save her life. Thus, it doesn't seem to me as if she is a very progressive female character after all. Rather, she reinforces basic female stereotypes, and seems helpless and unknowing.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the movie, Annabelle Lee is the typical American girl and wants the typical American boy who goes off and fights in the war. The gender stereotypes during the time are very prominent during most of the movie. When the Northerners take the train with Annabelle on it, she acts helpless and does not fight back but instead accepts that she has been captured. Also, when Johnnie comes to rescue her from the room she is locked in all he did was go through the window, which is something she could have easily done on her own. She thinks she is helping when she is on the train by putting a small twig into the burner and starts to sweep the floor. In a household setting, this is helping but because she has been placed in a new situation she does only what she knows until she is forced to take on more responsibility. When the train leaves without Johnnie, she figures out a way to reverse the train and stop it so that her love can get back on. The farther along in the movie, the more Annabelle starts to break away from the traditional stereotypes so that she can help Johnnie get back in time to warn the Southern army. She becomes a more progressive figure and learns she is capable to do more than just sweeping by going out of the house and doing something different than most women.
ReplyDeleteThe maiden in this film is no doubt the typical stereotype of women during the civil war. The film even makes fun of how women acted during this time. The film shows women having a one-track mind, not being able to do certain things with not much anvil. She is without a doubt a damsel in distress and takes that name to heart. She is depicted as a princess and is waiting for someone to whisk her away from her captor. Annabelle is portrayed as a women with no skill set to be able to work on her own as so she needs a man to be her steed. She follows orders as one would if she was a slave and the film plays a part on that. During the chase scene they focus on her multiple times to show her stupidity. She fails to follow the simply instructions such as throwing wood in the fire to make the train go faster. She isn’t able to use common sense when throwing wood in the fire. She throws a little chip of wood in and thinks that is enough. Throughout the film Annabelle is shown multiple times being ridiculous in terms of thinking. The film shows Annabelle throughout the film becoming more and more ridiculous.
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