What Are Gender Roles In The Blue Angel

581 Words2 Pages

The Blue Angel is a 1930 film that was directed by Josef von Sternberg. The film main stars were Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich and Kurt Gerron. The story of the film was based on Heinrich Mann's novel “Professor Unrat” that was published in 1905. The film illustrates the common social and sexual anxieties that the Germans were undergoing at that period of time. It also employs cinematic aesthetics alongside with new technology to create what would be considered as one of Germany’s first sound-supported films. Furthermore, it was the film that popularized its star Marlene Dietrich. The film is also known for combining elements of earlier expressionist works into its setting without becoming an expressionist film itself. It is important also to point out that the visual element has helped to balance the film easily against the backdrop the nightclub lifestyle that Lola leads the professor to fall into. …show more content…

Professor Rath, portrayed by Emil Jannings, is a sexually suppressed literature professor at a prep school. He was introduced as a sensitive, caring person. His job puts him in a high social status. However, the daily life of this gentleman was about to change when he discovered one day a postcard of a nightclub spotlighting a woman named Lola Lola among his student's papers. Lola, portrayed by Marlene Dietrich, was introduced to be a very sexually active woman. She was comfortable in her skin. She knows that what she does is not ladylike, especially to the bourgeois values, but she treats the fact with acceptance. The professor’s curiosity led him that evening to go check the 'Blue Angel' nightclub. The club was located in a rather poor neighborhood. When he saw her on stage singing with her legs exposed, his heart was captivated. Suddenly, he fell in love with

Show More
Related

  • The Other in Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Early years of film one can easily say that Germany lead the way in experimentation, with such striking examples as Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler. How when looking at two of these film, Nosferatu and Dr Mabuse the Gambler one can find a similar theme that run throughout. This theme is that of Weimar’s insecurity about outsiders and otherness different cultures. While both films have different stories at their very simplest both films see someone come into the idyllic lives of the protagonist not only wrecking their lives but the lives of ordinary people as well. It’s worth noting that borth Nosferatu and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler were filmed in the turbulent early 20’s of the Weimar period where Germany was still dealing with the aftermath of the war and outside powers such as France encroaching on German territory and at the same time political unrest had reached its high. With all these changes going on it easy to see why Germany might have felt that outsider were at work trying to remold modern Germany. This is why in these turbulent early years befor the Weimar Golden age we see such strong use of the other/outsider as a stand in for events taken place in Germany

    Read More

  • Irving Thalberg Analysis

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    It’s pretty near a classic in how to take a talker and then cut it to keep it moving ” (Vieira 113). Later, when Thalberg took on yet another talkie project known as The Grand Hotel he showed the same amount of influence and even changed the story to fit Greta Garbo’s persona. Instead of making her a pathetic promiscuous woman, he turned her into an alluring vixen changing the men from her bedmates to her admirers and stating that, “her playing with the three men is innocent” (Vieira 115). Thalberg was very particular with this picture and continued to put the writers through the ringer. It required constant rewrites and Thalberg rejected whatever didn’t fit into his idea of what the film should be but, failed to communicate the specifics of what he wanted. The most he could say was that he was after characterization, he wanted to use talkies to display humanity in ways that could not be done with silent films, he explained, “This is going to be one of the few pictures made in the new style. I’ll tell you what I’m getting in the pictures I’m making now. I’ve come to the realization that you have to endow a character with greater complexity than you ever had to in silent pictures (Vieira 197). ” His visions proved true and both movies were a great success however, his collaborative efforts did

    Read More

  • The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: Stereotypes and Priscilla

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film presents the stereotypical behavior of gay men that is evident in our society. Many of the costumes are designed to highlight the characters and the way they live. For example, Bernadette wears long flowing clothes usually white or an off cream. ‘She’ is an older ‘women’ and dresses to look like one with flowing skirts and tops with her hair done up simply.

    Read More

  • Passing

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Nella Larsen’s Passing, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry show us a great deal about race and sexuality in the 1920s. Both are extremely light-skinned women of African-American descent. However similar they appear to be, their views on race, a very controversial issue at the time, differ significantly. Clare chooses to use her physical appearance as an advantage in America’s racist and sexist society, leaving behind everything that connects her to her African-American identity. She presents herself as an object of sexual desire, flaunting herself to gain attention. Irene is practically the opposite, deciding that she wants to remain with the label of being black. She is subtle with her sexuality, never attempting to use her beauty to gain advantages. Linking these two women is a strange relationship, in which Clare and Irene both view each other in a sexually desirable way. Nevertheless, even with that desire for Clare, Irene obviously holds some contempt for her through jealousy, to the extent of wishing that she were dead. This jealousy is also based on social status. Irene is jealous of Clare’s ability to succeed, even though she may not know it. The root of Irene’s jealousy of Clare is in these three ideas of race, sexuality, and class, making Irene despise someone who she obviously also loves.

    Read More

  • Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Doubt by John Shanley

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ol. Through her actions, Mrs. Muller demonstrates that in comparison to her husband she is willing to be side by side with her son. She shows the portrayal of a comprehensive mother in a society where homosexuality was not accepted.

    Read More

  • Response to Metropolis

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fritz Lang's Metropolis is a very powerful movie with various underlying meanings that allow the viewer to determine for himself. The movie itself is extremely difficult and hard to follow, although the essay "The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Lang's Metropolis" written by Andreas Huyssen provided many helpful insights to aid in understanding the movie. Many of Huyssen's idea's are a bit extreme, but none the less the essay is very beneficial. His extreme views include ideas of castration and how it relates with the female robot, and sexulaity and how it relates technology. Although these ideas are extreme he does also provide many interesting ideas.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Gender In Down From Heaven By Colleen Wagner's Down From Heaven?

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    What defines gender? The sex of a person refers to their physical anatomy, their sexual orientation refers to whom they are attracted to. The gender identity of a person, however, is their internal sense of being male, female, neither or both. The way in which they manifest their masculinity and/or femininity is their gender expression. Society has no right to dictate a person’s gender identity or manifestation, nor does it have the right to confine them to any one of these. Too often does the public deem someone’s gender and expression the same as their sex, and treat them as such without consulting the individual. The play Down from Heaven by Colleen Wagner and the novel Annabel by Kathleen Winter depict the ongoing battle that society faces

    Read More

  • What Are Gender Roles In Butler's Dawn?

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    In both Neuromancer and Dawn other characters use gendered stereotypes to devalue both Lilith and Molly’s gender. Both women support multiple physical enhancements that serve to push them more into the masculine by enhancing their strength. Through these enhancements characters not only take Lilith and Molly out of the female gender role but take them entirely out of the female identity. Both women are dehumanized as unnatural. Case and Molly meet a man named Terzibashjian who remarks on Molly: “‘In Turkey, women are still women. This one...’ The Finn snorted. ‘She’d have you wearing your balls for a bow tie if you looked at her crosseyed’” (Gibson 87). Terzibashjian takes Molly out of the female category because of her augmentations. She doesn’t act or present in the same way as the traditional woman in his society. He uses this to take away her humanity and her female identity. The gender roles of his society make Terzibashjian think this way. In this way gender roles have influence the way other characters interact with these powerful women.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Metropolis and Blade Runner

    1551 Words  | 4 Pages

    Andreas Huyssen. “The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.” New German Critique: and Interdisciplinary Journal of German Studies. (1982)

    Read More

  • The Historical Context of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligar

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920’s German silent-horror film. Robert Weine, the director, collaborated with the German cinematographer, Willy Hameister to create this German Expressionist masterpiece. The idea was taken from the screenplay written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Meyer. It is also considered one of the greatest horror films during the silent period. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and its historical context in terms of the German Expressionist movement will be discussed further in the essay.

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier, Madamoiselle Reisz And Madame Ratignolle

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Madame Ratignolle, Madamoiselle Reisz and Edna are very different characters, all of them are unable to reach their potentials. Madame Ratignolle is too busy being the perfect Louisiana woman that she no identity of her own; her only purpose in life is to care for her husband and children. Madamoiselle Reisz is so defiant and stubborn that she has isolated herself from society and anyone she could share her art with. Edna has the opportunity to rise above society’s expectations of females, but she is too weak to fight this battle and ultimately gives up. While these three characters depict different ideas of what it truly means to be a woman and what women’s role in society should be, none of them can reach their full individual potential.

    Read More

  • Lettrism and Situationism: Examining and Comparing Expressionism Movements.

    2551 Words  | 6 Pages

    Art has been always seen as a form to express self emotions and ideas; an artist creates an idea and shapes it by culturally known objects and forms to send encrypted message. Through the times both, ideas and materials used, separates art in to different periods and movements. In late 40’s and late 50’s two art and culture movements emerged, one from another. The first one, Lettrism, was under the aspiration to rewrite all human knowledge. From it another movement, Situationism, appeared. It was an anti-art movement which sought for Cultural Revolution. Both of these movements belong to wide and difficulty defined movement of experiment, a movement whose field is endless. Many different people create experimental films because of the variety of reasons. Some wishes to express their viewpoints which are unconventional. But most of them have an enthusiasm for medium itself. They yearn to explore what prospects the medium has and wishes to open new opportunities to create and to explore, as well as to educate. Experimental filmmaker, differently from mainstream filmmakers, wishes to step out from the orthodox notions. The overall appreciation is not the aim that the experimental filmmakers would seek for. Experimenters usually work on the film alone or with a small group, without the big budget. They intend to challenge the traditional ideas. And with intention to do so Lettrism tries to narrow the distance between the poetry and people’s lives, while Situationism tries to transform world into one that would exist in constant state of newness. Both of these avant-garde movements root from similar sources and have similar foundations. Nonetheless, they have different intentions for the art and culture world and these movements...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Movie Moulin Rouge

    1933 Words  | 4 Pages

    Analysis of Movie Moulin Rouge In this essay I will be analyzing in depth four scenes from Baz Luhrmann's critically acclaimed Moulin Rouge that was released in 2000. I will be analyzing the opening sequence, the sequence in the Moulin Rouge itself, the two dancing sequences 'Like a Virgin' and 'Tango Roxanne' and the final scenes of the film. Throughout this essay I will be commenting on the filming techniques that Luhrmann uses and what affects these have on the audience, also I will be analyzing how the film is similar and different to typical Hollywood Musicals.

    Read More

  • The Bluest Eye Essay On Gender Roles

    469 Words  | 1 Pages

    Today’s society is reflected on gender roles that affect everyone on a day to day basis, but, in decades to come, our society will evolve and become powerful in our own beliefs of how our gender will be perceived. In the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, gender roles play a major role with African American women and how they perceive themselves as a lower class than the non colored. The masculine persona is that of a dominance over women, as characterized over the years from shows, movies, books, and celebrities. “Women are supposed to cook and do housework.” “Women are supposed to make less money than men.” Over the years, we as a society have changed many stereotypes of women and men and their gender roles. As the years go by, our society is considering and understanding that our role has nothing to do with our gender.

    Read More

  • Moulin Rouge: Gender Inequality

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s world, men and women are perceived equally by the society. In the past, authority and control define men while women are given the characteristic of helplessness. Men are able to get hold of high positions while women usually are subservient to them. In movies, we would usually see women portray roles that are degrading due to the stereotypical notions they associate with this gender group. Moulin Rouge, a movie set during the 1900s narrates the story of a courtesan woman, Satine, as she undergoes hardships to earn money, experiences love but unfortunately, due to her irrational choices, faces tragic consequences at the end. Satine is a symbol of how women are being treated by the society during the era before post-feminism, where men have superiority over women. As the plot develops, Satine transforms from a worthless prostitute to someone who is courageous and willing to face her fears in order to attain her aspirations. Psychoanalyst theory and feminist analysis are apparent throughout the film. The male gaze, fantasy and feminism are three topics that will be covered in depth in this essay through relating it to the movie.

    Read More

More about What Are Gender Roles In The Blue Angel

Open Document