The Fantasy: Dominant Culture in Film is Transforming For The Greater Good

Lulu Nix

Professor Sinowitz

ENG 255F: Romantic Comedy 

5/6/20

The Fantasy: Dominant Culture in Film is Transforming For The Greater Good

 From the beginning of high school to now, I have always been infatuated with romantic comedies. For example,  during my freshman year of high school I was obsessed with books by John Green. After watching the film adaptations of his books, The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and Paper Towns (2015), I came away with such high expectations that some cute boy would charm his way into my life and completely transform it. Now in college, my perspective has changed as I realized that a guy is not going to be the sole reason why my life changes. Tamar Jeffers MacDonald, has demonstrated to me that within film, there has been a dominant culture that is in the form of a fantasy which has been recycled in so many stories over time. This fantasy exists in past films like It Happened One Night (1934) and Roman Holiday (1953), where male leads have been shown as the more dominant characters who are charming, handsome, but they sometimes do not end up with the woman of their dreams for the better. Meanwhile, the female co-stars seem as if they are just there to provide other needs for the male lead and only get to share their own thoughts or ambitions toward the end of the film. I have come to learn that this fantasy has changed now in more recent films like Say Anything (1989) and When Harry Met Sally (1989), where the female characters are finally able to demonstrate how intelligent and capable they are of getting what they want and how they are on equal or even higher ground than the male characters. Furthermore, now that I have reached the end of this course, my expectations of experiencing a charming, fairy-tale love has lowered but these films have also informed me that the generic “boy meets girl” narrative has shown to become outdated now as the female characters are the ones who are able to showcase more of their presence and dominance on screen. 

Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we? At the beginning of this course, I was not entirely sure what I was going to get out of it. As I previously stated, I love romantic comedies but I really had never thought about their purpose in such an in-depth way before. However, things changed once I read Jane Austen’s romantic novel from 1813, Pride and Prejudice. Not only is this novel a certified romantic classic but it introduced me to a love story that I had never experienced in literature before due to the historical context. Society during this time had full control over how young ladies should behave and if they act a certain way then they will attract a potential future husband. More specifically, in this story,  marriage can be seen as a financial proposition in that men have a say in everything, they can provide a household while women are left to create and uphold the family dynamic.  However, in terms of Elizabeth and Darcy’s  relationship, things are a bit unconventional. Although Darcy comes from a wealthy family, that is not the central reason as to why Elizabeth fell in love with him. I think that why readers over time have been infatuated with their relationship is because their rocky friendship ultimately turns into love. Which I know for even myself  that was surprising to discover. Furthermore, I think that why Pride and Prejudice is so influential for readers is because the love between an independent person like Elizabeth to fall in love with a snobby person like Darcy is surprising. I also think that a charming outcome such as this makes readers fantasize about it in their own lives. 

Speaking of  charming and surprising outcomes, a film that carries on this fantasy of dominant culture is Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934). Within this era, it is known as the screwball comedy which strives to promote an equal partnership within a fast-talking narrative between the main characters. Throughout this film era, the “Hays Code” was implied in this type of romantic comedy in which films had to remain wholesome and sexual innuendos were slightly hidden on screen. This type of guideline is hinted at in this film in the last scene where we are told that the “Walls of Jericho” are coming down. As we know, the main male lead, Clark Gable’s character Peter, establishes his dominance very quickly as Claudette Colbert’s character, Ellie does her best to keep up with him. These characters are the audience’s main focus as they practically finish each other’s sentences and go off on little tangents with each other which I thought put them on a level playing field. However, within this film, all I can think  about is Peter’s dominant and mean behavior toward Ellie. While stepping into this unfamiliar environment,  Ellie is doing her best to fall in line with what everyone else is doing but Peter just will not lighten up around her. If I were her, I would not want to be around someone who treats me so poorly but I suppose Ellie sticks around for the help and protection from Peter. Furthermore, I think that the partnership that they grow to have with each other is what makes their relationship work because they bring something different to the table. Another source that I found to be very helpful in forming a deeper understanding of this narrative is James Harvey’s article, The Romantic Comedy.  He writes, “Ellie, we  recognize,  goes farther than he ever could:  she is unconventional and he is not, for all his air of risk and bravado” (Harvey, 117). Throughout the screwball comedy and its attempts to create an equal playing for these main characters, it is still evident to me that Ellie strives to go on her own path but surprisingly goes back to Peter to continue their new romantic relationship and partnership. 

Now think about how nineteen years down the line, a similar film by William Wyler, called Roman Holiday (1953) was released. So what is similar about this plot in comparison to It Happened One Night? Well, this film is similar in the way it is a recycled romantic comedy plot that once again displays a form of dominant culture up until the end of the film. I wholeheartedly enjoyed this kind of storytelling within this film. I thought that the ending set a good reminder that the “perfect couple” that movies tend to portray do not always end up together and that is okay. Gregory Peck’s character, Joe Bradley mirrors Peter in that they both attempt to manipulate their wealthy, interesting, beautiful partner for a potential story for their job at their local newspaper. More importantly, both of these male leads share their need of wanting to dominate power over the female character by telling her how to act and conform to everyone else's standards. I think one of the reasons why I liked Roman Holiday so much is because Princess Anne, who is played by Audrey Hepburn displays her own dominance at the end of the film.  In a similar way to Ellie, Princess Anne decides to run away from her royal, privileged lifestyle to see how the other half lives and get a taste of freedom for once. When she gets taken under the wing of Joe Bradley, she is able to experience a more enlightening side of the world that she might not have otherwise seen if she had not snuck out.  I thought that this experience definitely made her become a more empathetic person once I reached the end of the film. I also thought that Anne was able to showcase her maturity and independence by making the decision to return to uphold her responsibilities as Princess.  Although this type of ending was not what any of us had in mind as Joe and Anne do not end up together,  I like to think that this happened for the best. I thought that both of these characters had to go their separate ways in order to continue growing as people just like in reality. 

One film that not only demonstrates how much the dominant culture in film has shifted over the years, but it is now one of my favorite romantic comedies is Cameron Crowe’s film, Say Anything (1989). I thought that this particular film is a great example of how much this genre has changed. But there is some male dominance from Diane Court’s father (John Mahoney) as he tries to navigate Diane’s (Ione Skye) future. While she is in the midst of graduating high school and applying to go to a prestigious internship abroad, he is secretly embezzling money from his job at a retirement home. With all of this going on, Diane soon meets Lloyd Dobbler (John Cusack)  and her world changes after that. I think what drew to this film is that both of these main characters are different but they balance each other out. Diane is intelligent and has a plan for her future while Lloyd is quirky and goes with the flow. From the scene where Lloyd calls Diane to ask her out, I could tell that he really cared about her but it takes Diane a while to feel the same. With that in mind, I feel that Lloyd and Diane’s character dynamic is a more honest portrayal of love compared to the other films I have seen. However, there comes a turning point in the film when Mr. Court uses his dominance over Diane to get her to break up with Lloyd. Diane is so convinced by her father’s reasoning that she goes through with his wishes. But by the defeated look on her face, it is obvious that she might have made a mistake. After her father is stripped of his dominance and is sentenced to go to jail for his crime, Diane has no one else to turn to. At the end of the film, I thought Diane made the right decision by going back to Lloyd. Throughout the film, he constantly displayed his love for Diane and proved to be the most suitable person who would be there for her. Not to mention, he allowed her to be herself and never tried to control her like her father did. Furthermore, I believe that Diane displayed dominance of her own by deciding to go abroad to pursue her future with Lloyd. 

Last but not least, the final movie I would like to mention is Rob Reiner’s iconic film, When Harry Met Sally (1989). This is another film that has had a big impact on me while going throughout high school and now college. I think it had something to do with Billy Crystal’s character Harry and his theory about how men and women cannot be friends without sex getting in the way. This theory was just so straightforward and I had never heard of such a line in any other film. Not only are people able to relate to this theory, but it gives the audience something to think about while watching the film. I realize now that this theory could definitely not have been discussed in past films like It Happened One Night or Roman Holiday as the Hays Code would forbid it. It is evident to me that Harry believes in this theory but I think that this all changes when he becomes closer friends with Meg Ryan’s character, Sally over the years. Both of them are similar in some way to the other couples I have mentioned because at one point they are on the same level with one another. However, I am reminded that there are moments in these films where the female leads like Sally or Diane are the ones who are intelligent, voices of reason in the relationship which sets a new standard for their partner to follow along with. The way I see it, savvy female characters like Sally are too good for characters like Harry. However, they end up together because I think that the differences in their personalities is what makes it work and I do not think their friendship ruined their relationship, I think it made it stronger as they went on to end up together. Sally is so independent and indecisive at times but chooses to be with Harry because he seems to be the only one who understands and appreciates her for who she is. 

This genre of romantic comedy has taught me so much in  the last five months.  I personally never thought there was so much to  know about this type of literature or even film making. I have learned so much from this dominant culture that I have grown up reading in books or in films where male characters sweep the female characters off  their feet and they lived happily ever after. I swooned over narratives like that time and time again. But as I have grown up more, I have realized that stories are now centering around female leads and their goals and ambitions. Furthermore, these female characters are leading the way in terms of intelligence and boldness that now their male co-stars have no choice but to follow along.