Thursday, February 27, 2014
Marriage -- and Divorce -- His Girl Style
His Girl Friday charts the marriage and divorce and remarriage of Walter and Hildy and the engagement -- and near marriage -- of Hildy and Bruce. Hildy says she wants domestic bliss in suburban Albany but she chucks it to remarry Walter and relaunch her career. Can someone balance career and marriage? Who is the best kind of spouse? Is happiness possible in marriage? What is this film saying about that state of marriage in the modern world?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In His Girl Friday, there are clearly two distinct representations of a husband; one being kind and supportive (arguably a pushover) and the over being aggressive and witty (arguably smarter and cooler). Although when posed the question "who is the best kind of spouse?", there can be no real answer. What an individual looks for in a spouse is very different for each person, thank god. For Hildy, she obviously craves the witty banter and competitive drive that Walter has to offer. Although after choosing Walter over Bruce, she picks the arguably more risky relationship. She picks the man that she already had a failed marriage with. Yes, they have a lot of history and great chemistry. Although if they tried it once and it did not work out, why give him another chance? She could have had a perfectly fine life with Bruce in Albany, although she chooses the adventurous mystery. This says a lot about Hildy's personality. She is choosing adventure and risk and constant commotion over safety, security, and boredom. It could be considered the right choice for Hildy, but not for every other woman. This film is a commentary on marriage, showing that conventional marriages are not always the healthiest. Hildy's life with Bruce would not have been the life for the vivacious and vibrant female lead that the audience fell in love with. Maybe the safe option is not always the right option. The audience can note that the attraction between Hildy and Walter is undeniable, even though it might not last for the reasons they discovered upon their first swing at the institution of marriage.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Elanna on "conventional marriages are not always the healthiest". Hildy in the beginning of the movie is looking to settle down with Bruce and live a simple life. Even though Bruce is a nice guy and means well for Hildy but he isn’t what she wants. The film shows two separate spectrums of marriages. Hildy and Bruce are the classic marriage where the men works and the women stay at home. While Walter and Hildy are the dynamic duo, working off each other’s vibes and being able to produce an exceptional outcome. It is shown in the first scene where Hildy and Bruce are in terms of love, a sweet man with good intentions. But throughout the movie Hildy seems to deviate from the path and takes a detour down the wild side. The other side of the spectrum is Walter and Hildy, the two with the same interests and the same goals. Its not like Hildy didn’t intend to take a run in Walters maze. She knew of he sly ways and sleazy tactics, but she took the bait and jumped into his pond. She was in a sense leaping into common grounds, she knew how Walter would do everything, but came up surprised each time he swung at her plans. I feel like Hildy at the end of the movie realized that Walter didn’t want to lose her and Bruce was just too simple for her. Hildy expected to be in a conventional marriage but always knew she wanted a spontaneous life.
ReplyDeleteI think “His Girl Friday” is saying that full happiness in marriage is unachievable. For Hildy she really wants very different things, to be a mother and good housewife, and to be an ambitious reporter. Even though Hildy says that she just was her quiet, boring life with Bruce, once she gets started on the story it is clear that she really is and wants to be a journalist. Bruce can offer her a quiet life where she can have lots of babies and do the cooking and cleaning and maintain a household with frequent visits from her mother-in-law. Hildy thinks is a part of being woman and will make her happy on its own but Bruce just can’t offer her a thrilling career that she clearly values more. Walter can offer her the opposite. Walter can give her a life of travel and excitement that can allow her to pursue her real passion but will often leave her alone and unhappy as was clear through the fact that at the beginning of the film the two characters were divorced once already. Walter’s life would also not be a practical lifestyle to bring a baby into when she wants one. The fact that she will only get half of what she really wants from each man with no compromise coming from either side proves that she will be unhappy in some respect either way. I think what this is trying to say is that there is no perfect marriage and that eventually everyone will just end up settling for less than what they really want. That everyone will have to compromise their own expectations in order to be married to someone else.
ReplyDeleteI think what “His Girl Friday” is trying to say about marriage is that it satisfies a human need for chaos through a never-ending series of foolish and perhaps even self destructive tendencies. The characters themselves are not inherently foolish, and indeed Walter and Hildy are clearly very sharp, intelligent individuals, but both are obviously fueled by a certain adrenaline rush, which marriage provides for them in spades through a series of spontaneous and hectic situations. It’s most likely the same reason why they both got into the newspaper industry in the first place: to always be on the verge of something new and risky, to become entangled in thick webs of deceit, and to be constantly locked in a battle for superiority. Bruce, of course, provides no such adventure or challenge, and thus, despite Hildy’s efforts to convince herself that she needs neither, is forced to surrender back into the arms of chaos. The movie definitely depicts Bruce as the “nice guy”, but ultimately his relationship with Hildy is dull and unexciting, and his repeated accidental arrests throughout the film demonstrate to Hildy that life with Bruce is going nowhere interesting anytime soon. What I think the final scene of the film suggests, with Walter and Hildy walking off happily to presumably remarry, is that once committed to the insanity, there is no turning back. No amount of championing a “normal life” can ever erase that hunger for insanity, and thus marriage continues in a cycle as hectic and exhilarating as the frantic duties of a newspaperman.
ReplyDeleteThroughout "His Girl Friday" we see that no one truly knows you more than your true love. I believe that it is possible to balance a career as well as a relationship, if there is an understanding of each others wants. In the film we see that Hildey dreams of becoming a suburban wife with children, however her personality doesn't fit the description. Walter knows Hildey and understands her passions and what keeps her going; he could tell immediately that the lifestyle in which Hildey wants will not work out for her. Both of them are so similar because they thrive on competition and being in the game. They want the story, they want to have it first, and they want to make the most money out of it. From my perspective in order to be with Hildey, you have to be a tough guy and not let her overpower you. She is a very strong willed person and again strives on competition, therefore if you are weak like Bruce, she will lose interest. Walter understands this and goes all out to prove his point that Bruce isn't the right guy for her. I believe they make each other better because they have the same passions and similar personalities which allows them to understand each other. I believe the perfect spouse is someone that knows your personality and knows what can make you happy or mad but in the end will always be there. "His Girl Friday" proves the point that marriage is an everlasting bond and although some people may not make it through, ultimately they know each other so well that they decide whether to work it out or not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Isabella's comment, where she says full happiness in marriage is unattainable. Either that, or Hildy just does not know what she wants. She claims she wants to live a calm and very domestic life, although she does not seem of the type. However, if that is truly something she desires, than the film is telling us that full happiness is not possible--because Hildy also wants the hectic, scheming, and adventurous life of a journalist, at least that is what she puts off at the end of the film when she chooses Walter. Nonetheless, even though she decides to be with Walter in the end, someone that would put her into that hectic journalist life, one can still infer that full happiness is definitely not a possibility with him. They were already divorced once, which showed there were problems previously. Ergo, the film is telling us there is no perfect spouse. Hildy cannot find everything she wants in a single man, but she has to choose between two. The film also tells us something about modern marriage. It tells us that it is not a concrete relationship by any means, because it covers marriage, then divorce, a fiance who ends up alone, and possible new relationship.
ReplyDelete