Part B: Essay

TITLE
As with all published narratives, films do not exist in a vacuum; they are influenced by
culture, and influence culture themselves. Even though they tell fictional stories, every single
film reflects the time period and the culture of when it was made, whether its apparent or not.
Directors of a film have enormous power when it comes to influencing their audience. They can
expose problematic or favorable aspects of a society, condemn or praise certain people or
historical figures, or bring controversial topics to an audience in a new light. All of these choices
in a film can incite any kind of emotion in an audience (whether it be subtle or explicit) and can
even lead to actions on their part. Even if a filmmaker doesnt actively choose to present an
argument to their viewers, their film will no doubt have an effect on them. Whether it be
widespread population drops in shark species after the release of the hit blockbuster Jaws, the
MPAA establishing the PG-13 rating after parent protests about the intense violence of Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom, or the undeniable promotion of abuse as romance in the widely
popular 50 Shades of Grey series and subsequent movie, films absolutely have the power to
create real world effects. The three films The Day of the Locust, Citizen Kane, and The Grand
Illusion all present specific views about men and women and their roles in society. Each film
looks back to a different time period, which the directors use to their advantage to create a
commentary about that specific era. In this case, the message they present about gender roles is
steeped in history, which gives more credence to the films influence. Illusion, released in 1937,
looks back to the First World War, and the director Renoir presents a claim that the boundaries of
gender roles can be crossed with ease, yet society enforces people into rigid gendered categories.
In 1941, Citizen Kane is told through the perspective of many people about one man, and Orson

Welles utilizes male and female gender roles to his advantage in advancing the narrative, yet isnt
revolutionary in its gender representation. Finally, released in 1975, Locust looks back to
Hollywood pre-WWII, and even though it has the potential to use its historical standing to its
advantage, it doesnt presents anything new in terms of breaking down gender roles.
At its core, The Grand Illusion is a movie about knocking down the social barriers of
class and nationality between the soldiers of two warring countries. Its anti-war message is
evident, and Renoir uses World War I as a lens to examine the humanism of all the characters
involved. In addition to the films major theme of transcending social and national borders,
Renoir also explores the boundaries between genders. Even though the ratio of male to female
characters is absurdly disproportionate, he uses the main characters of the men to portray to the
audience a commentary about the fragility of gender roles.
The men are somewhat characteristic of the role they are expected to play in society
(going off to war, fetishizing womens clothing, hanging up pictures of women in their rooms),
and this in turn supports societal norms about women (the fact that women are only valued on
their appearance) and heteronormativity especially. However, Renoir sneaks in certain scenes to
make the audience question societys resolute gender norms. The scene where Rosenthal washes
Marchals feet seems necessary since Marchal has a broken arm, but it serves another purpose:
to show a man being sensitive and considerate and doing a domestic task normally reserved for
women, the exact opposite of societys notion of a strong, emotionless brute.
Later in film, the French prisoners are putting on a show. They all dress as women to
entertain the rest of the men; this is common practice in theater when women arent available,
but Renoir uses this scene to make his point. The men are all obsessing over a chest of womens
clothing, and when a man with an angel face comes out dressed like a woman, every single

man stops and stares at him, mesmerized by how feminine he looks. This scene suggests that its
incredibly easy to cross gender lines, yet enforcing objectification and the idea of fetish gender
vs. actual gender, that men are in love with the idea of a woman instead of an actual woman.
In the last third of the film, we finally see the only main female character: Elsa. After
escaping, Marchal and Rosenthal take refuge in her home, despite her being German. Elsa is a
single mother, raising her daughter Lotte and doing all the work on the farm on her own after her
husband and brothers died in the war. This portrayal of a strong female presence, especially a
single mother not presented in a negative or debilitating way, is a major achievement. By having
a female character not relying on a man and doing stereotypically unfeminine things, in
addition to raising a child, is Renoir again displaying the futility of strict gender expectations.
In conclusion, Illusion asks many questions: why should nationality separate us? Why do
people die for these illusions of difference? And perhaps most importantly: if gender roles can be
so easily traversed, why does society have these rigid expectations for men and women, and why
do people insist on upholding these strict roles? The director sets up expected boundaries for men
and women in the film and then subtly knocks each of them down with strategically placed
scenes to undermine societys preconceived notions about gender.
Citizen Kanes message about gender is less clear cut than Illusion. Told through
flashbacks from various characters, Charles Foster Kane takes center stage in the story.
Renowned for its innovation, it produced many groundbreaking film techniques and critical
acclaim. Despite its standing as one of the greatest films ever made, it doesnt match the critical
commentary on gender of Illusion. However, it doesnt completely follow the status quo for
classic Hollywood films at the time in relation to gender either. Even though the story is

ultimately about the main masculine figurehead, the three main women are important in the
narrative, and are used to shape Kanes character at different times in his life.
The character of Charles Kane seems at first like the typical male leading role. From the
first newsreels we see about him, hes portrayed as successful and ambitious. As the film
progresses, the audience receives a full, albeit fragmented character study of Kane and how he
evolved over his life. When an idealistic Kane starts working in the newspaper business, he
eventually becomes more and more powerful, gaining money and popularity, marrying the
presidents niece, getting involved in politics, and by the end of the film, we see him as a largerthan-life personality. This depiction of the main character is not groundbreaking in terms of the
deconstruction of the societal male role. Nonetheless, the three female characters in Kanes life,
Emily, Susan, and his mother, all play subtle yet significant parts in his narrative.
Kanes mother is only shown in the beginning of the film, yet she casts a long shadow
over the rest of her sons life. Mary Kane is deeply impactful to the plot, despite being only in
the first few scenes. The early separation from his mother prevented him from having a strong
parental figure in his life (his guardian, Mr. Thatcher tries to fill that void), and also diminishes
his ability to find emotional stability in other people. In addition, this separation robbed him of
having a fulfilling childhood. It could be argued that this departure from innocence cultivated the
aggressive, controlling and authority-resenting personality that we see in him as an adult. Kane
always looks for a new way to gain power, to try to attain the lost love of his mother, and to
further advance his social standing. This is where we see his two wives come in.
Part of reason why Kane marries Emily Norton is to gain further popularity in the
political sphere, but also to fill the empty space in him that longs for love. His marriage to her
also represents the spot in the narrative where the corruption of his self-being starts. This leads to

Kane becoming even more selfish and controlling, which causes his marriage to fall apart. In
comes Susan Alexander. Kane again uses his new object of affection to try and obtain the love he
was denied from his mother as a child. Come his defeat in the election and even more corruption
from possessing so much power, Kane tries to make up for this by attempting to elicit love from
Susan. He advances her singing career, builds an expensive opera house, and commissions a
huge mansion to be built for them, in addition to buying numerous other materialistic luxuries.
Despite this, Kanes favors toward Susan did not end up getting his love for her returned. Female
empowerment does come into play a little bit in the end, when Susan finds the strength to leave
Kane for his lack of emotional maturity. Susan ultimately represents and helps produce the
downfall of her husband, laying bare all of his shortcomings in life.
In conclusion, Citizen Kane is on the surface a brilliant character study, but dig a little
deeper and the film uses the female characters as a significant underlying theme for the narrative;
each one helped define Kane at critical moments in his life and had an influence on the person he
became (even the consequential Rosebud has a female connotation to it). The character of
Charles Kane, even though he may seem like the stereotypical independent mans man,
actually relies on all three of women behind him, which gives a new dimension to his character.
While not as progressive or subversive to gender roles as Illusion, Welles effectively brings
significance to the female presence in a male dominated film while staying within the rules of
traditional gender expectations.
Finally, The Day of the Locust, a 1975 film depicting the golden-age Hollywood of 1937,
tells an entirely different story of the roles of men and women from the previous two films. As a
commentary of the movie industry in the 1930s, it presents an analysis of many different social
aspects at the time, including gender, race, politics, entertainment, etc. However, despite being

made well past the outdated society of the 30s, Locust takes a traditional stance on gender roles
appropriate for the time period and also presents a slightly skewed narrative in terms of female
representation.
The whole movie is told through the perspective of the main character Tod. A newcomer
to the world of Hollywood, Tod is a typical plain, everyday man. His role in the story as an
observer makes the audience sympathize with his experience, but also serves to distance him
from the rest of the characters. Therefore we arent present with an unbiased view; all the people
he encounters are shown as one-dimensional compared to him. In this sense, his relationship with
Faye is critical in understanding the films conversation about gender. Faye is the only main
female character in the movie, and the only one Tod interacts with, therefore she serves as the
only channel for the films, and more importantly Tods notions about the female gender. Faye
represents the stereotypical blonde Hollywood starlet, dreaming to become a famous actress, and
of course Tod falls in love with her. Even though she has ambitions and isnt defined by her
romantic feelings, Faye is never given agency in the story. Through Tod, shes constantly viewed
as a side character, a goal to be achieved, and by the end of the film, turns into a caricature:
flippant, self-obsessed, and moody. In addition, the voyeuristic quality of the film towards
women is magnified through Tods perspective. The camera always shows his gaze towards Faye
(through windows, framing, etc.), and is almost always viewing her when shes not looking. This
aspect of the narrative amplifies the films male gaze and contributes to the traditional
expectation of women in society and the representation of them in film: objects to be attained,
not in charge of their own story, not three-dimensional characters.
With the male characters, however, the film tells a different story. The male characters are
all well-represented and fleshed-out, at least, more than Faye, and are not objectified or

stereotyped. Through his perspective, Tod doesnt view any other the male figures as onedimensional, even though they make take lesser roles in his story. As mentioned before, Tod
takes center stage, and his character is realistic and believable; he has valid emotions, ambitions,
and is good moral center for the audience to latch onto. His character is not over-simplified or
exaggerated at all, and therefore is a good representation for the male viewers. The other main
character, Homer, is also an example of accurate role representation. His character differs from
Tod, but is also realistic and credible; hes not objectified (though he is slightly vilified by Tod).
Even though this may seem satisfactory, Tod and Homer arent anything groundbreaking; they
still follow the same formula for male roles. In these two characters, Locust takes an expected
approach to male representation. The director doesnt try to subvert any traditional gender
notions or make a social commentary on male dominion in society; he simply follows the status
quo of any other mainstream film of the time.
By presenting the male and female characters in completely opposite but conventional
ways, Locust follows the rules for strict gender roles in Hollywood, especially since its looking
back to the 1930s. The director could have compared the two genders in a critical way, but by
leaving their representation through the characters locked in traditional expectations, the film
actually moves backwards in terms of crossing gender boundaries.
There is no doubt that films have influence over their audience. A truly laudable film in
regards to representing gender roles would try to upheave antiquated notions and make the
audience think about them in a new light. The Grand Illusion, Citizen Kane, and The Day of the
Locust are all films critical of time periods before their creation, yet all do not make weighty or
substantial claims about men, women, and their respective roles in society. Released in 1937,
Illusion is the most progressive in undermining gender expectations, especially for the time

period. Citizen Kane is slightly in favor of using the roles men and women to add a new
dimension to a narrative, yet it still lingers in the strict gender norms of the 1940s with its main
characters. The Day of the Locust carries the least influence of the three films on gender roles. Its
characters are immersed in traditional expectations and the film doesnt give any new perspective
in the manipulation of male and female identity.