In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Q1. How does this film relate to relate to Chapter 25 in Foner?

A way that the film relates to Chapter 25 is with the slow pace racial change. During this time in the 1960’s you had a lot of racism and segregation in the country. Many people did not tolerate it while others enforced it. In the film In the Heat of the Night, we have an African American detective, Virgil Tibbs, who in the beginning is racially profiled by an officer. In the beginning of the film we see Sergeant Sam Wood arrest Tibbs without any reason other than having money in his wallet that he presumes is stolen. Then we learn that he really is a very famous detective and is put into working out a case. This to me although it is facing racism is a step of social change because Tibbs is put in charge of the case and is a detective that is renowned for his work. Tibbs can be seen as a step for racial change in the United States. Another example of this is when white men are chasing Tibbs and is about to get taught a lesson after he slaps a rich well-known white man. This scene can be viewed as the same with the using tides of college students getting involved with civil rights. Many people that fought for rights were often hurt through violent acts like in the film where the white men were going to beat up or kill Tibbs. The film relates to Foner in the sense that it is a film that tries to give the audience of sense about the racial tensions that occurred after the civil rights movement and try to get people to educate about the negativity of racism and segregation.

Q2. What was the symbolism behind when Police Chief Bill Gillespie told Detective Tibbs “you’re just like the rest of us ain’t you?”

This particular part of the film shows the true intentions that Detective Tibbs has. In the scene before the line is given Tibbs slaps a rich white man that him and Chief Gillespie interview. When they leave, Tibbs begins to say some things that sound racist. They sound racist in the sense that he wants to bring the other cop down since Tibbs is a black detective. This then leads the chief to give that comment. The comment symbolizes that Tibbs along with the other cops have a racist side that sometimes comes out and they want to accuse the other person because of their skin color. The other scene in which we are able to se this symbolism is towards the end of the film in which Tibbs goes into a small shop and yells at the woman to tell her who it was that was involved. Out of frustration Tibbs begins to yell out that he wants to know who it was, and that he wants to get the white man. The fact that he said ‘white’ in the film lets the audience know that there is much more depth than is led on. We are left to assume that Tibbs wants to do this because he knows that it will help being a white man down to justice. The symbolism of “just like us” is to suggest that not only white people are racist but that other races also have a racial tension between others. Tibbs is a perfect example of this.

Q3. Do you think that the film offers a pessimistic or hopeful vision for the future of race relations in the United States?

I definitely do think that this film offers hope and pessimism. The reason being that although Tibbs is black, he is able to solve the crime and get respect from the white cops and the chief of police. A part in the film that this happens is after Tibbs goes for an autopsy and one of the people comments to the chief, “you don’t want him, but you need him…” This lets the audience know that Tibbs is needed and the whites know it too. We are able to see Tibbs portrayed as a big masculine lead that is very well educated and surprises most of the white cops in the film. This is seem as progress because at the time many African Americans did not have an education to where they are now allowed to have. Another part of the film, which provides hope, is at the end of the film in the interaction between Tibbs and Chief. You are able to see that Chief Gillespie respects Tibbs and is able to move from race and focus on who Tibbs really is as a person. This is a sign oh hope as we can see that some aspects of racism walls are deteriorating and there is room for joy and change in society.

Q4. Pick a character and what he/she stands for.

The character that I have chosen is the character of Chief Gillespie. In the beginning of the film we can see that he is close-minded and a little racist towards Tibbs. He represents your standard white man with the same ideas as many Americans at the time. He is a tough guy who believes in justice and doesn’t need help from a black man and throughout the film struggles with acceptance. Chief represents many Americans and the audience can identify with him in the beginning. Once Chief begins to change it is to show the audience that change and openness is important. One example in the film is when Tibbs is about to get beat up by thugs and Chief comes and breaks it off and actually defends Tibbs from getting hurt. This to me shows that he is a character that does not condone violence and to influence the audience to not be racist and accept others no matter what. We first know that he is open to change or ideas when he first contracts Tibbs to help him with a case since he is a detective. This shows us that he is very professional and doesn’t care as much about race but rather whoever is experienced enough and is willing to get help from a black man. Chief Gillespie depicts a racist man that eventually opens up and rethinks racism through the help of Tibbs. This shows that the American Culture was shifting into being more tolerant and promote peace amongst each other.

Pickup on South Street (1953)

1. How does the film relate to Chapter 23 in Foner? A solid answer should cover at least two themes from Foner connected to at least two scenes from the film.

After World War II, the United States had the most powerful military and sole possession of the atomic bomb. In the film, Candy has information that she is ordered to deliver it. The information that she is to deliver is a filmstrip containing the blueprints on how to make a bomb. After the war the United States began to try to stop any other countries in case they were to begin another World War. Many other countries were beginning to take in Communistic ideals and the United States began what was called containment. This meant that the United States would stop the expanding of communism and try to expand democracy and the higher standard of living. This then lead to the creation of the CIA (central intelligence agency). In the film there is a ‘secret agent’/ CIA type group of people determined to stop the bad guys from getting the information. These people kind of serve as the image of the CIA and secret missions carried out in order to stop people from sharing classified information. There is a scene where the cops take Skip to the office for an interrogation and discuss to him that the film is classified information and has the power to blow up. He means that the filmstrip contains bomb information, which has to do with post WWII, and the atom bombs and other countries trying to obtain information. In the film Candy is accused of being a “commie”, which meant that she was a communist. Many people were afraid that communism was going to be instilled in the United States and many were afraid of being called a communist fearing that it would ruin their reputation. Candy was in a cutthroat business and they weren’t criminals but did what they were assigned to do. She never meant to be seen as a communist but rather was just doing her job.

2. What does the character of Moe reveal about how issues of criminality and the underworld are portrayed against a backdrop of anti-communist cultural sensibilities? Use at least two scenes from the film to make your argument.

   

Moe in the film is seen as a criminal that gets by life selling ties and also giving information for the right amount of money. In the film when she is introduced she is remarked as a ‘stoolie’. She just serves as a person that gives information and nothing more. Many people come to her no matter who they are working for and she gives the info no questions asked. Then throughout the film when she befriends Candy she begins to get involved in the plot to retrieve the filmstrip, she begins to take part in the anti-communist. There is a scene in which we are able to see this when she arrives to her house and she isn’t alone. Joey, who is Candy’s boyfriend, visits her and requests information on the whereabouts of Skip. Joey is working for the people that want to get their hands on the filmstrip and Moe knows who has it but doesn’t want to tell Joey where he is. She refuses because she believes in her country and she makes a decision to die for her country although she was seen as criminal. She refers to herself as a ‘solid citizen’. She gives information to the right people because she believes it is right and whatever will help her get money to live another day. Some call her a rat but when she decides to not share the information to Joey she calls him a communist and would rather die for her beliefs than to help someone she doesn’t trust or is working to betray her country.

3. What does Skip McCoy represent in the film? (Is he a patriotic American? A critic of Cold War culture? A traitor?) Use at least two scenes from the film in your response.

Skip McCoy represents the everyday hero. He is a patriotic American, a critic of the Cold War culture and a traitor. He is a patriotic American in the sense that although he is a criminal in the end he does what is right and retrieves the information and hands it over to the authorities. There is a scene towards the end of the film in which he uses his skills to rob Joey in the train to help out Candy and clear his name. He steals back the information and does what any anti-communist person would do and fights for his country. He is an everyday hero because he was dragged into it without his intention but still did the deed in helping out his country. He is a critic of Cold War culture because he is seen as a shady criminal who is only looking out for himself and doesn’t want to help others. Candy visits him for the first time and he assaults her while she is seducing him. This lets us know that he doesn’t trust anyone like many citizens did during this time, fearing communism and all. Some see him as a traitor after he steals the wallet containing the filmstrip and then sees it as sale and demands cash for the information. He is a sort of traitor because he doesn’t care much about helping his country but rather whoever is the highest bidder. When he begins to help out the cops at the end of the film he sort of betrays all his beliefs and helps out his country in the fight to stop communism.

4. Would the portrayal of the police and various "secret" agents instill confidence that Americans could combat communist spying? Use at least two scenes in your answer.

The portrayals of the police in the show let us know that the police don’t have all the power. The police in the film are reflected with very little power. They just interrogate but they don’t really do much to help stop the perpetrators responsible for the crimes. This gives the audience a sense that they should be like Skip and take matters into their own hands. Candy is someone that doesn’t go to the cops and begins to investigate for herself. She goes and pays a man to tell her where Moe is to track the man who stole her wallet. Candy is someone that takes matters into her own hands and doesn’t need the cops to help her because she knows that they wont help her out. The secret agents that we see in the film help us see the rebel side of the law. They are trying to uncover the whereabouts of the classified information. We see them in the beginning of the film when they are following Candy in the subway and inside the building. They are used to show that the law has their own secrets, and anyone can help fight the cause against communism or anything against the country. Skip gives people hope that just about anyone can help stop communism and give them the sense of patriotism. 

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Gabriel Bahena

Q1. How does the film relate to Chapter 21 in Foner?

Two main themes from the film are on jobs and freedom. Jobs were very scarce during the Great Depression and in the film it explores how the main characters all struggled for a job. Barney Hopkins, who was the producer in the film, was looking to restart his shows and make money so that he could be well off during these times. He himself had an idea that he wanted to make a show about the Great Depression and was looking for people that were willing to be in it. Brad Roberts, who was a songwriter and singer in the film, made music and was trying to start a new career during this time. Him along many people in the film is trying to get a job. One specific scene in the film is when the three main actresses are introduced in the film and they are all seen lying down and talking about getting up and trying to get a job. One of the main characters makes a comment about how she’s rather get up than sleep and starve. This is an example of the difficulty that Foner talks about in the book, in the sense that many people struggle really hard just so that they could find a way to get their daily bread and also to help us understand the harshness that many Americans at that time faced. Freedom was another theme in the film and Foner. Americans throughout the whole cultured believed that they had the right to economic security. In the film the comedienne Trixie Lorraine tries to explain to the producer how the show wont go on since the money isn’t coming in and they need it in order to pay all the actors. Charity, Faith and Hope is brought up when Trixie explains how the actresses have hopes as the producer has faith in the songwriter for his charity. This makes us think of the freedom that these people had. They all were looking for a stable income and wanting to make enough where they didn’t just have to barely get by, but enough to where they could live off well and have some luxuries. The songwriter has his freedom when he decided to leave and confront his brother in the middle of the film. He is trying throughout the film to help the people that are unemployed reach that level of freedom and income stability by helping produce the show.

Q2. How are gender roles and sexuality represented in the film?

Sexuality is clearly represented in this film with the three main actresses Polly, Carol, and Trixie. A great example of this is throughout the film in which Trixie begins to seduce Fanuel H. Peabody into buying her all of these fancy luxurious gifts. This is done throughout the second half of the film. Peabody along with Lawrence Bradford, are put to the extent of their money when they have to keep buying things in order to convince, who they think is Polly, to leave the songwriter alone since she comes from a low class life. One great example of the sexuality is when Peabody is explaining to Bradford how all showgirls are all “Parasites”, “gold diggers”, and “chiselers”. This type of person is brought in through the character of Eunice, who used to be a former lover of Peabody. These two men do not believe that the showgirls are worth their time and money. In the film they try to avoid them but keep easily being seduced and falling in love with them. It shows how women are just seen as objects and a body that one can use for entertainment, which is why they work in the show business. Gender roles in the film are seen as the women entertaining while the men are in control and are being entertained. When the three main actresses are looking for a job they have to pick one of them to dress provocatively in order to get jobs. The men are the ones with the money and need to be entertained. During their final show we see their silhouettes and them getting naked and changing are able to see a child trying to sneak a peek a the women. To me this represents men acting as children trying to get women and to entertain them by their dancing and dressing.

Q3.

The song from the film that I chose was the final number; “My Forgotten Man”. In the whole musical number we are able to see a woman walking up and down the street. The story tells of a woman weeping about her husband not having a job and being a bum on the streets peddling for money. We are able to see some women in the window singing the same chorus: “Once he loved me, I was happy, took care of me…Bring him back.” Then we see a shot of a man about to get arrested by a cop for peddling and the man shows what appears to be a soldier badge and is let go. This lets us know that it is a veteran of the war that is left with nothing. The message that this song brings is a social critique of the great depression and the government not taking care of World War I veterans and the Bonus marchers during the great depression. We are able to see soldiers marching and walking all proud and then standing to the flashy truth of them bleeding and being traumatized and carrying dead bodies with them. This is to show the truth of what really happened to them when they came home. They show in the number soup kitchens and many of them without homes as the women are looking through the window weeping and wailing with their children for their husbands and sons to come home. The main singer in the number mentions how if you (referring to the government), forgot about the soldiers than you also forgot about the women and families they left behind and depended on them. The song ends on a sad note with the idea that many people were not taken car of by the government and this last song helped solidify that idea that people had in their minds.  

Q4. What does this film reveal about American society during the height of the Great Depression?

           

            Ideals were a big theme in the film. American society was battling through the Great Depression and many people had ideals of what they wanted to do and have. In the film we are able to see how Trixie wants to have limos, fur, and luxuries. In the film she is seducing Peabody and wants him to buy her things as a way for her to escape the depression, hence why she was called a gold digger. Many people wanted to become gold diggers in order to explain how the times were tough and that many people were looking to get out of the suffrage. Another thing that the film reveals is false ideals about how money can come at any moment and that people should bask in what they have. The beginning musical number “We’re in the money”, to give people hopes that the depression will not last and that hopefully there will be more money coming in. The false ideals was in the beginning with the ideals that money was everywhere and the women were putting on this show to entertain and get people to thing positively about the great depression and then throughout the film we see that everyone is actually struggling and at the end of the film we see the real ideals of people and what they really think about the government and society. 

Why Change Your Wife? (1920)

Gabriel Bahena

How does the film relate to Chapter 19 in Foner?

The film is a great example of what it was like in 1920s for women. In the chapter Foner tries to explain how there was a sudden change in the way that women were represented and treated. With the federal government finally expanding during this time, it affected the lives of millions of Americans. With new regulations, the emergence of new federal agencies began to expand big businesses and higher wages and better work conditions came into effect. This was represented in the film through the character of Robert Gordon. In the film, to me, was a symbol of someone that had luxuries during this time and portrayed as someone that was well off. An example of this is during the beginning of the film Robert makes a remark to his wife about how he just spent money buying an item. His wife, Beth Gordon, comments on how he shouldn’t be spending his money on meaningless things and spend it on something more meaningful. This relates to the chapter when discussing propaganda. Ads and newspapers were portrayed through the character of Sally Clark. She is a walking billboard, and is a symbol of how the times are changing and that that is what women should look like and changing the ideas for both men and women. When Robert divorces Beth and marries Sally it can be seen as him giving in to the propaganda and giving in to the new ideals that the 1920s was bringing about. Theses are just some examples of how the film relates to the chapter.

Q1: Who does the character Beth Gordon represent in terms of tradition, fashion, beauty, consumption and the meaning of how a woman should and should not behave in the early 1920s?

The character of Beth Gordon in the film Why Change Your Wife? (1920) Represents an old fashioned ideal of women before the 1920s. The 1920s began with an era of flappers. This was a way for women to show their individuality and to show their rights. Beth in the beginning of the film was portrayed as not materialistic and had ideals about love. Consumerism was a big part in the film. Sally was all about being a flapper like woman and being always in fine perfume and a smoker to show how she was her own boss. Beth’s husband, Robert, tries to change her into something she is not. In the film he buys her the same dress that Sally is wearing earlier in the scene. This infuriates Beth and she cries out about Robert and his ideals. How his ideals include becoming a different woman for his own satisfaction. Then after the divorce Beth begins to hear other women gossip about her and how they pity her for not being like them. Beauty was seen as women dressed very provocatively and sexualized images. The best way that this is represented is through Sally. She is very materialistic. She makes Robert take her to fancy hotels and buy her luxurious things. She herself is drawn to beauty. Beth tries to help Robert quit smoking to help him with is health whereas Sally smokes with him. Sally is materialistic and is not concerned about love but more about her and her personal being. Beth is seen as old fashioned and not caught up with the new changes of women in the 1920s.

Q2: Who does the character Sally Clark represent in terms of tradition, fashion, beauty, consumption and the meaning of how a woman should and should not behave in the early 1920s?

Sally Clark was represented as a new individualized woman. She is a symbol of a woman that is free and does not have a man in her life to control her. She was a flapper like woman and dressed very provocatively and sexualized clothing. In the scene when she is first introduced you see her dress up in this black luxurious clothing. She is also seen wearing exotic perfume. Later on in the film Sally is seen as materialistic when she convinces her husband Robert to take her out into a fancy vacation to relax where she can enjoy herself. She is very concerned with wealth and tries to use that to her advantage to get what she wants. One thing that I found very interesting about the way that Sally is portrayed is very sexist. I say that in the way that she is over sexualized and very manipulative. She is also supposed to be a symbol of a woman that has rights to vote and other things. The film is sort of a way to tell people of what would happen if women were like Sally. Sally would be the symbol of what women would be like if they had rights and also very portrayed as bad and a reason why women should be tied down to her husbands and very hard to control.

Q3: How are male gender roles portrayed in Why Change Your Wife? Use at least two well-detailed scenes from the film to make your argument.

Male roles are portrayed as very controlling in order to keep the ideals of women’s rights out of reach. Robert Gordon was the male lead in the film and was portrayed this way. Robert was very materialistic in the film. “I married a WOMAN” was one of the remarks that he made in the film. This was to show that he wanted Beth to become someone else. Robert went out and bought her a very sexualized dress. This to me was as a very big symbol of trying to still control women around the time when women were given the right to vote. Beth was a symbol of a woman that had been oppressed by men and was trying to get her rights that she deserved. Later on in the film when Robert and Beth see each other at a vacation she states, “The more I see of men, the more I like dogs.” This was as a way to show what she thought men were worse than dogs. Men in this film were portrayed sort of like dogs in that they only did what they wanted for themselves and their own happiness.