Schatz & Written on the Wind

"The audience was, on one level, shown formalized portrayals of virtuous, long-suffering heroines whose persistent faith in the American Dream finally was rewarded with romantic love and a house in the suburbs. Beneath this seemingly escapist fare, however, Elsaesser glimpses the genre's covert function 'to formulate a devastating critique of the ideology that supports it.'"

This quote reminded me of the part in Written on the Wind where Lucy and Kyle are first meeting, and Lucy says something along the lines of  "I'll walk down the aisle and end up in a house in the suburbs with some children" and Kyle responds with "no, you are much too smart for that." This is a nice introduction to a critique of the American Dream/Romantic Love plot device.

 

Written on the Wind

"Ideally, the family represents a 'natural' as well as a social collective, a self-contained society in and of itself. But in the melodrama this ideal is undercut by the family's status within a highly structured socioeconomic milieu, and therefore, its identity as an autonomous human community is denied-the family roles are determined by the larger social community. The American small town, with its acute class consciousness, its gossip and judgment by appearances, and its reactionary commitment to fading values and mores, represents an extended but perverted family in which human elements (love, honesty, interpersonal contact. generosity) have either solidified into repressive social conventions or disappeared altogether" (Schatz 153).

  

"The family's status is enhanced by its role within the community, whose economy and social climate it controls either directly or through benign neglect... the socioeconomic lifeblood of the community generates much of the tension" (Schatz 161).

Quote and Question: Schatz

Question: is Elsaesser suggesting that the American Dream is merely an illusion and exploited through film to give people a false sense of hope and security and catharsis?


"Elsaesser recently said that Hollywood's most effective melodramas would seem to function either subversively or through escapism--categories that are always relative to gthe given social and historical context."

The screenshot of my quote keeps on getting taken down, but I will have it in class.

Written on The Wind

Melodrama as Socioeconomic Commentary in the 50's

“First, it is a reestablished constellation whose individuals roles (mother, father, adult, adolescent, child, infant, and so on) carry with them large significance. Second, it is bound to its community by social class (father’s occupation and income, type and location of the family home, etc.). Ideally, the family represents a ‘natural’ as well as a social collective, a self-confined society in and of itself. But in the melodrama this ideal is undercut by the family’s status within a highly structured socioeconomic milieu, and therefore, its identity as an autonomous human community is denied - the family roles are determined by the larger social community”

Schatz & Sirk

Melodrama as subtle social commentary

Schatz in Landy:

-No other genre films, not even the "anti-Westerns" of the same period, projected so complex and paradoxical a view of America, at once celebrating and severely questioning the basic values and attitudes of the mass audience. (150)
-Beneath this seemingly escapist fare, however, Elsaesser glimpses the genre's covert function "to formulate a devastating critique of the ideology that supports it". (151)
-...this is precisely the function I am proposing for popular movies. They permit us to look without looking at things we can neither face fully nor entirely disavow. (152)

Sirk's Written on the Wind:

Written on the Wind

Throughout Written on the Wind, the character of Marylee undergoes so many changes that the first impression we get of her is nearly the complete opposite of her final persona. She is introduced as promiscuous and rambunctious, and as the film progresses she is overcome with jealousy due to her love for Mitch. But in a dramatic moment during the trial, she decides to have mercy on Mitch and tells the truth about her brother's death. We are shown that after all of her scheming, she really is a human and she truly cares for Mitch.
Do these changes make her more or less relatable and appealing to the audience or does it make her character just seem less authentic?

In the Schatz reading, Written on the Wind is mentioned as one of the more unconventional films of the 1950's for stepping outside of the typical romantic narratives that came before it:

Because of a variety of industry-based factors, as well as external cultural phenomena,
the melodrama reached its equilibrium at the same time that certain filmmakers
were heginning to subvert and counter the superficial prosocial thematics and
cliched romantic narratives that had previously identified the genre. No other genre
films, not even the "anti-Westerns" of the same period, projected so complex and
paradoxical a view of America, at once celebrating and severely questioning the basic
values and attitudes of the mass audience.

The mitial success of romantic tearjerkers reflected the collective capacity to stroke the
emotional sensibilities of suburban housewives, but recent analysts suggest that the
'50s melodramas are actually among the most socially self-conscious and covertly
"anti-American" films ever produced by the Hollywood studios

Sirk - Melodrama and Music

"In the strictest sense of the definition, melodrama refers to those narrative forms which combine music (melos) with drama. Hollywood's use of background music to provide a formal aural dimension and an emotional dimension and an emotional punctuation to its drama extends back to the "silent era". (Schatz, 148)"

In the 1950s, though Sirk's melodramas were well received commercially, they were criticized by reviewers who claimed Written on the Wind was boring and predictable, a potboiler designed to cater to popular taste.

How does Sirk's use of music in Written in the Wind work to foreshadow the movie's narrative?