Hollywood Is Dead

Female Sexuality in the Golden Age of Hollywood

Female Sexuality in the Golden Age of Hollywood

To an extent the narratives of Shanghai Express and Sunset Boulevard echo the workings of a Greek tragedy, both feature ‘fallen’ women as evil creatures and their male characters as would-be-heroes.

For this to be true one must first come to an understanding, that is that through sheer deliberate intentions or pure coincidence most female characters from the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood who fall under the sub category of Tramps, Vamps, Divas & Lolita’s are in some way related to portrayals of women from Greek mythology. While this above statement may be brash, abrupt and full of assumptions the two main ‘Golden’ era films I am looking at ‘Shanghai Express‘ and ‘Sunset Boulevard‘ both play out in similar fashion to an ancient Greek tragedy, in fact both seem to follow a three act writing format (a classic doctrine for Greek tragedy) introduction/journey, incident/tragedy, resolution/revenge. While now in today’s world this has become the writing principle of “beginning, middle and end”, it is nothing new at all. One must remember that the truly classical form of a three act story is something that is hardly used in today’s films, books and other media sources, but some cases of it can still be found, especially in what one would consider more “classical” films. Marlene Dietrich is a Siren, covered in feathers and luring men towards her with her sexuality and then destroying them (or in most cases their reputation). Her travelling partner Hui Fei can also be seen as a Siren as well. Homer himself says nothing of their origin or names when describing them, but gives the number of the Sirens encountered as two in his Odyssey, just as there are two seductress women within the film. Both are deadly to the men around them, captivating them with their beauty. They then place these men they have entrapped and enticed in great danger or bring about their deaths. Gloria Swanson’s character from ‘Sunset Boulevard‘ Norma Desmond is a broken former shell of herself just like a Gorgon, cast down by the Hollywood studio that made her; she now lives alone with only her trapped butler and perfectly content in a preserved world of her past achievements. She is trapped in her past glory and youth and encases others with her, turning them into former shells of themselves (i.e. stone) and entrapping them. Joe Gillis and Max von Mayerling become these trapped and encased men, unable to break free no matter how hard they try. The only way out seems to be death, the ultimate realise.

 

‘Sunset Boulevard‘, the story of an ageing silent screen star who traps and imprisons a young script writer, eventually leading to his death (by her hands) plays out like a classical Greek tragedy. The ageing screen star is the evil female monster and the young script writer the naïve hero who destroys the monster, but in doing so sacrifices his own life in the process, much like a classical Greek hero.

Gloria Swanson from ‘Sunset Boulevard‘ is the monster of the film, deformed and cast down by the gods of her world (Hollywood studios) shunned and forgotten by all those around her who only consider her a myth when Joe Gillis (William Holden) finds her, her house itself is tattered and old. Seemingly abandoned “On the way back from the Gorgons, who lived at the ends of the earth across the stream of Okeanos…” (Kirk, p149) Desmond’s large mansion situated at the end of the road and over grown is reminiscent of the Gorgons lair. The dead monkey, petrified, cold and stiff also as if a stone statue this animal another one entrapped by her brings a sense of humour and foreboding for Joe Gillis. As one company of Desmond’s leaves her (through death) another arrives to take its place, fated to the same fate, an escape through death.

(fig 1 –Norma Desmond descending the stairs). But it is not just those who have been with her who become trapped and ultimately die by her hand, in fact the most infamous scene from all of ‘Sunset Boulevard‘ where the now completely deluded Desmond believes she is filming a scene for her latest movie, all the while she is being led out to be arrested. She holds the gaze of all around her, her transfixed gaze, slow but deliberate causing all those gathered to witness her freeze in their tracks. They become captivated by her unable to move, talk or do anything else but keep their gaze on her as they become petrified by her.

(fig 2 –The Gorgon Medusa’s deadly stare). The Gorgon, Medusas was one of three sisters born to a human and sea monsters “…Actually there were three Gorgons, Medusa being the mortal one: they were sisters of the two Graiai, and their parents were Phorcys (an old-man-of-the-sea type) and the female sea-monster Ceto” (Kirk, p148). Although this does not account for her hideous looks or deadly abilities, in fact just like Norma Desmond these three young girls believed that they were bigger and more attractive then their gods (in Norma Desmond’s case the Hollywood studios). Both (Desmond and the Gorgon’s) end up in their current states due to their own vain nature and uncontrollable attitudes. Norma Desmond the young starlet with the world at her feet throws it away with her impetrate attitude and is cast down when she is rejected by the very Hollywood studios that made her and forced into exile in her mansion, awaiting a chance to escape her self imposed prison and to her awaiting public. Likewise the Gorgons who believe themselves more attractive then the Goddess Athena are punished by her when Athena turns all three into hideous monsters whose very look can turn men to stone. “Gloria Swanson was coaxed out of long retirement to portray the pathetic, forgotten film queen, Norma Desmond, and now it can be said that it is inconceivable that anyone else might have been considered for the role. As the wealthy, egotistical relic desperately yearning to hear again the plaudits of the crowd, Miss Swanson dominates the picture.” (Online 1).

 

Just like Medusa, Desmond lures her victims towards her and their eventual fate, but whereas one would expect Medusa to turn them to stone in an instant Desmond’s fate for her victims is much more insidious that that.  Instead she entraps them through her gifts and lavish surroundings, like the sirens using her grace and mysterious nature to lure men towards her. Also just like the medusa even though one knows to look at her is certain death (in this case to become involved with her) “Joe Gillis is indignant when Norma insists that he live in her house, but gradually his self respect is corroded by the easy comforts and he does nothing strenuous to thwart her unsubtle romantic blandishments. Before an attachment to a girl his own age jolts him out of this dark abyss and rekindles his writing spark, Joe has become hopelessly entangled in the life of the psychotic star who holds him down with lavish gifts and an attempted suicide.” (Online 1). The attraction by man to see her is too much to resist and as such leads to a dangerous curiosity, Joe Gillis knows that agreeing to work on Norma Desmond’s script and then move into her guest room could mean trouble. But as he needs the money and a place to avoid those after him the comforts around him soon become too lavish and he becomes complacent in his actions. It takes the love and affection of the heroine to bring him back to his senses and away from the clutches of the monster. Unfortunately for Joe Gillis, just like all classical heroes he sacrifices his own happiness and life to bring down the evil monster.

The death scene (Fig.3 –Joe Gillis’ Death) in its own way pays homage to the myth of Medusa, turning his back on the pleading and begging Desmond, Gillis knows that to turn around and look at her he will never be free of her imprisonment. Even after he is shot he still stumbles forwards refusing to turn around in one final act of defiance. Once shot a second time he is now out of control, staggering away from her, turning back to see his attacker he knows, his body is now disoriented (perhaps by her transfixing gaze). Wounded, Joe flails about, flailing for the dropped suitcase.

(Fig.4 –Joe Gillis’ Death plunge) She shoots him for the final time. Gillis takes one final look at Desmond before falling face first into the pool, dead by the hand of the very person so desperate for him to love her. One must see that Swanson’s character of Norma Desmond feels just like Medusa the Gorgon. To once have been the most beautiful women sought after by man, to being the most feared, and what it would feel like to inevitably kill all those that came to her. It is this that drives Desmond into her final self delusion of grandeur and importance

 

Marlene Dietrich is Shanghai Lily; formally know by a select few as Magdalen, she is a women know throughout all of China for her reputation, one that is built up and maintained by the men who used her “It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily.” – Shanghai Lily.

Dietrich’s character herself becomes more than a renowned woman of “reputation”. Within Shanghai Express she and her travelling companion Hui Fei (Anna May Wong) are modern day sirens and very reminiscent of those from Greek Myth. Their beauty and entrancing song calling men towards them and their untimely deaths, while in the case of Shanghai Express only one man dies by the hands of these “sirens” (Mr. Henry Chang). Saying this thought, it is the men that suffer through this movie and the men who are tortured, humiliated, captured and threatened. The only indignities that Shanghai Lily and Hui Fei suffer are being used for their bodies; a situation to which we come to understand (via the small talk from other characters on the train) is their current profession and the cause of their immense notoriety. As such one feels less sorry for them when compared to those men around them when they suffer throughout the course of the film.

In fact the first time we see Shanghai Lily she is covered in shadows, wearing a black feather costume and hat. Her appearance is made to attract the attention of those who see her (especially men)

(Fig.5 –Shanghai Lily the Siren?). The bird like appearances is descriptive of the Sirens, her manner and the warnings about her and reactions to her by the passengers on the train mirror what one would expect the reaction to a Siren, to ignore her, to not listen to her and to stay out of her way as much as possible. While one realises the inherent dangers of the Sirens from Homers ‘Odyssey’, one must also come to an understanding that these deadly creatures do not find those that they kill. All of their victims instead pass by them on their respective voyages, and it is on these voyages that they are drawn into their collective fate. Likewise the passengers on the train are not there to seek out Shanghai Lily, but rather are travelling on their own voyages homeward. Just like Odysseus, they all have to pass by her. One must note that it is their (passengers of the train) attempts to talk to her or pass her that becomes the catalyst to conversations or encounters with Shanghai Lily (mirror how the sailors attempting to pass the Sirens to safety was the catalyst of their deaths.)

As written by Homer in his ‘Odyssey’ the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) was journey home from the end of the Trojan War. His long ten year journey was eventful to say the least. Undertaking this journey Odysseus hears of deadly female monsters know as Sirens, creatures who lovely song causes men to try to reach them. This causes them to drown in the harsh and wild waters of their shore.

(Fig.6 – Ulysses and the Sirens.) Wanting to hear the songs of the Sirens Odysseus commands his crew to tie him to the mast of the ship and for them to plug their ears with bees wax. No matter how much he was to plead with them to be released they were not to untie him until they had successfully passed the Sirens. “In Homer’s Odyssey, Book XII, the Greek hero Odysseus, advised by the sorceress Circe, escaped the danger of their song by stopping the ears of his crew with wax so that they were deaf to the Sirens; yet he was able to hear the music and had himself tied to the mast so that he could not steer the ship out of course.” – Online 2.  Likewise Captain Donald ‘Doc’ Harvey is warned by the fellow passengers on the train and by his friends and colleges before he boards of Shanghai Lily and to be wary of her. He later speaks to her alone on the outside section of the train carriage away from the other passengers. Here he confronts her, and tries to find out how she became who she became (renowned prostitute). However by confronting her alone is he Odysseus? Allowing him to be willingly subjected to the seductive song of the Siren to save his fellow crew/passengers he saves them. While this may not seem apparent at first, by reaching out to the “monster” and re-forming a bond he is able to affect her. Forcing her to sacrifice her own happiness and future so that he may live, this can be seen as the sacrifice of one of the Sirens, who after not being able to lure Odysseus to his death through herself into the ocean below drowning. One can also see her self sacrifice like this, even when she prays for the Captain to survive his ordeal, she is throwing herself (metaphorically) into the ocean, the world beneath/under her. A place where her victims would normally end up, while for the Sirens this world was that of under the waves Shanghai Lily’s world of sacrifice is one of repentance and change.

 

In conclusion one can see that there are many similarities to Greek tragedy/myth within bothShanghai Express and Sunset Boulevard. Both seem to echo the doctrine use of a three act system for their stories, but there are more similarities here than rules of literature practice. Both seem to showcase stories of strong young women who through the actions of the men around them are cast down and transformed into “monsters”,Shanghai Lily into a prostitute and Norma Desmond into an aged, demented former shell of herself. This in turn leads to a sense of irony as it is the actions of these same men that make these two characters become women who now have become feared, reviled and persecuted by all men around them. For them this is a fate worse than death, to be transformed from goddess to monsters. To inevitably bring pain, misery and to kill all those that came to them or crossed their paths. Both films seem to be retellings of the myths and tragedies of their female ancient Greek mythical counterparts. Of course one must first understand and know the stories to which they refer to in the first place to be able to see the connection but there is a connection indeed.

 

 

 

Bibliography

Kirk, G S. (1990) The Nature of Greek Myths. Canada, Penguin Books Ltd, pp.148-149

Online Sources

Online 1

The Screen: Inner Workings of Filmdom. 1950. The New York Times. [Online] (Updated 15 Aug 1950) Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/27/specials/wilder-sunset.html?_r=3 [Accessed 4 May 2009]

Online 2

Siren, Greek mythology. 2009. Britannica online. [Online] (Updated 2009) Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546538/Siren [Accessed 6 May 2009]

Filmography

Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950, American)

Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932, American)

Appendix

Fig.1 –Norma Desmond, Sunset Blvd.1950 (2001). [Online image].

< http://www.melbournecinematheque.org/2007/films_by_title/images/sunsetblvd.jpg > [Accessed 04 May 2009]

Fig.2 –Medusa, Clash of the Titans 1981 (2000). [Online image].

< http://gorgonslair.com/medusa ugo.jpg > [Accessed 04 May 2009]

Fig.3 –Joe Gillis’ Death, Sunset Blvd.1950 (2008). [Online image].

< http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/sunsetblvd6.jpg > [Accessed 04 May 2009]

Fig.4 –Joe Gillis’ Death plunge, Sunset Blvd.1950 (2008). [Online image].

< http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/sunsetblvd10.jpg > [Accessed 04 May 2009]

Fig.5 – Shanghai Lily the Siren?. 1932 (April 25, 2006). [Online image].

< http://www.doctormacro1.info/Images/Dietrich, Marlene/Annex/Annex – Dietrich, Marlene (Shanghai Express)_06.jpg > [Accessed 06 May 2009]

Fig.6 – Ulysses and the Sirens.1891 (2009). [Online image].

< http://www.clanoftubalcain.org.uk/images/john_william_waterhouse_-_ulysses_and_the_sirens_1891-1.jpg > [Accessed 04 May 2009]

About the Author

Satveer Gill was born in London in 1983, and spent a few years of my early youth in Reading and now resides in West London, Southall… yes THAT Southall. Keen film enthusiast and film maker.

Available for contact at satveergill@hotmail.com

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