Comparing The Big Sleep-Characterization Of Vivian And Carmen

805 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: movies and its influence

The Big Sleep - Characterization of Vivian and Carmen in the Movie and the Book



The characterization of Vivian and Carmen changes drastically depending on whether you are reading the book or watching the movie. The production code forces the women in the movie to become more socially acceptable-Carmen was not crazy and Vivian was not blatantly seductive. Changes that the production code forces on the characterization of the women causes the movie to be somewhat lack luster. The book was full of painstaking description of the women that the movie completely left out.



The production code of the day did not allow the characters do be described as crazy or sexual. The production code expressly forbade it. Even …show more content…

In the book, one of the scenes had Carmen lying naked on Marlowe's bed when he came home. Marlowe had to threaten to throw Carmen out-naked- before she agreed to leave. It really reinforced the characterization that Chandler had used for Carmen. Carmen is very crazy and very sexual. The same scene, in the movie, is shot with Carmen waiting in Marlowe's house fully clothed. He does not have to force her to leave and she does not act nearly as crazy. The production code causes the movie to lack punch because it takes away the precise characterization that Chandler used to describe the women and the situations. The scene is so watered down that it loses the impact that it needs to make the proper impression on those who are watching …show more content…

After reading the book, however, the visual representation is one more thing that causes the movie to lose its impact. In the book, she is described as "baby-like" and as a spoiled brat. In the movie, she is atleast dressed up as a beautiful woman who may be a little spoiled but who is able to, for the most part, take care of herself. This is not the way that Chandler wanted Carmen to be. Carmen is supposed to look atleast a little bit crazy. The changes in Carmen's character pale in contrast to the changes that the movie made to Vivian's character.



If one watched the movie without reading the book, one would never notice the additions of the scenes in which Vivian was involved. The movie develops a relationship between Vivian and Marlowe that changes the entire dynamic of the story. Chandler describes the relationship between Vivian and Marlowe as mainly professional with the exception of one minor indiscretion on Marlowe's part. Vivian and Marlowe end the movie kissing. Instead of being Marlowe's equal as she is in the book, the movie turns Vivian into the romantic interest who had gotten into some trouble covering up for her sister.

Show More
Related

  • The Westing Game Movie Vs Book Analysis

    300 Words  | 1 Pages

    Second there is more detail in the book than the movie. Well, I think that more detail is better because the more you know the better you understand the movie or

    Read More

  • Patrick Lencioni's The Three Signs Of A Miserable Job Analysis

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over time, this dull pain can erode the self-confidence and passion of even the strongest people, which in turn, affects their spouses and children and friends in subtle but profound ways… Though it may be difficult to quantify, the dissatisfaction of employees has a direct impact on productivity, turnover, and morale, all of which eventually hit a company’s bottom line hard,” (p. ix –

    Read More

  • Like Water For Chocolate - Movie versus Book

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...d coloring of certain images. The novel, however, puts much greater emphasis on the imagination and creativity, and on the main character Tita. The novel really makes the reader feel Titas pain and grow with her as she discovers her freedom, whereas the movie failed to achieve this. Moreover, the movie tends to ignore the significant of 3 integral motifs, cooking, tears and sensuality.

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried & A Soldiers Sweetheart

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, details involving the characters and symbolic meanings to objects are the factors that make the novel better than the movie. Leaving out aspects of the novel limits the viewer’s appreciation for the story. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person will not overlook the intense work that went into the making of both. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.

    Read More

  • Tuck Everlasting

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie is, most likely, done well enough to intrigue its intended audience. It captured the theme and story line of the book. It falls short, though, when compared to the beautiful, sensitive and contemplative prose of Natalie Babbitt. One could only hope that a viewing of the film will lead the watcher to try the book and be delighted all the more.

    Read More

  • Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson of The Great Gatsby

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...vie, the actresses that played them actually fit the role. Women usually do not have impacts on things, but in this novel, major things happened as a result of these women. These things include dishonest marriages, love affairs, wealth, power, and jealousy. This goes to show that women are not always the innocent ones in novels, or any other type of literature.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Low Staff Morale In The Workplace

    1880 Words  | 4 Pages

    I am a shift leader for Walgreens Inc. I work at one of the financially worst stores in the district. The possibility of the store being close is even greater because the store cannot meet sale goals. Naturally, the heaviest burden is places on the team members. For example, team members losing hours, causing team members to lose sales, more responsibility placed on team members, and less chances for team members to recharge and relax. Eventually, these changes in the workplace dynamic could cause severe reductions in team members’ morale, in an otherwise normally positive and happy staff. Therefore in this paper, I will provide ground breaking research that explains the issues of low staff morale and propose ideas for coping with

    Read More

  • The Real Meanings of Jihad

    2587 Words  | 6 Pages

    The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1). Often, media depicts Jihad in the same manner—as a vicious clash between two very different peoples, each of whom believes that righteousness, and in many cases God, is on their side. From this interpretation and our daily media intake, one may reasonably assume that Jihad refers to nothing more than violent acts, or “holy wars.”

    Read More

  • The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler’s First Novel

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    The rolling hills and untouched prairies of the Old West were, by and large, replaced with modern infrastructures and communities by the time Raymond Chandler and Thomas Pynchon got around to writing The Big Sleep and Crying of Lot 49. As the “New West” became the “Noir West” liberality transformed into something more along the lines of uniformity. The now more urban landscapes of the Noir West began to call for a different kind of toughness, one based on mental rather than physical strength. It wasn’t enough to be strong and free spirited anymore; being a “Cowboy of Noir” required more mental acuteness than anything else, as both authors (Chandler and Pynchon) demonstrate with Philip Marlowe and Oedipa Maas.

    Read More

  • Erotic Objectification: Equally Degrading

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...noted to consist of more sexual themes than it did thirty years ago, a fact that changes the way erotic objectification can be analyzed as it can be considered to be more frequent and general but therefore also less purposely objectifying concerning the characters sex.

    Read More

  • Animal Farm by George Orwell

    1119 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ed when used to shift the balance of power. The problem therefore stems from its ill use by the pigs, Napoleon and of course Squealer to gain authority and power over the animals. Orwell really proves throughout the book that rhetoric really is a problem. He demonstrates how easy it is to confuse the animals into believing what they are told when they do not understand the concept. It works as an effective means of portraying the message, ‘Rhetoric is a problem’. Squealer uses Rhetoric to confuse the animals on the farm into thinking that they remember something that didn’t happen. He also tricked animals into believing what Napoleon says, and he had a perfect audience to listen to him, an uneducated, loyal group of animals. George Orwell really managed to articulate the message he wanted to get across with the use of language in its most powerful form ‘rhetoric’.

    Read More

  • Nightjohn: Comparing The Book And The Movie

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book of Nightjohn and the movie of Nightjohn are very different from each other.

    Read More

  • To Kill a Mockingbird: The Book vs. The Movie

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall, the movie and book have many differences and similarities, some more important than others. The story still is clear without many scenes from the book, but the movie would have more thought in it.

    Read More

  • Individuality vs Community in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...re many similarities when it comes to technique, characterization, themes, and ideologies based on the author's own beliefs and life experiences.  However, we also see that it appears the author herself often struggles with the issue of being herself and expressing her own individuality, or obeying the rules, regulations and mores of a society into which she was born an innocent child, one who by nature of her sex was deemed inferior to men who controlled the definition of the norms.  We see this kind of environment as repressive and responsible for abnormal psyches in the plots of many of her works.

    Read More

  • Cinderella, Pretty Woman and Feminism

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pretty Woman is a modern take on the classic Cinderella story where a poor misguided girl meets her prince and her life is dramatically changed. This film has fairy tale elements, but the biggest element in the movie is the use of sex; Vivian, the main character, is a prostitute. She meets her “prince” and is swept off of her feet, but what this really means is that she is bought for an entire week by a handsome, wealthy business man. One would assume that he was buying her for sex, but this is not your average prostitute transaction. This movie has a lot of third wave feminism ideals. Third wave feminism deals with using the female gender and sexuality to further the cause and portray their views. The ultimate goal of this paper is to show that Vivian Ward (portrayed by Julia Roberts), is the poster girl for third wave feminism.

    Read More

More about Comparing The Big Sleep-Characterization Of Vivian And Carmen

Open Document