Summary Of Symbolic Interactionism In Far From Heaven

deduce the norms of manhood in Far From Heaven correlate with those of the 1950’s. Men were supposed to be determined employees at the office and loving husbands at home. While their wives had deep same-gender friendships, they did not have similar bonds to other men. This concept can be seen in the party scene of the movie where Frank joked around with his colleagues. Apart from homosensual interactions, he typically engaged with men outside of work by drinking with them at bars.

The people in the film did not radically stray from the ways of appropriate masculinity and femininity put in place by their culture. Yet, both men and women in

The evident presence of material culture makes the film relatable to the theory of symbolic interactionism. According to Cherlin, symbolic interactionists focus on how people engage with one another and analyze parts of these occurrences. Symbols interpreted besides tangible items such as words, body language, and temperament are also looked as independent entities (Cherlin 30-31). A sociologist using this theoretical lense while viewing the film would focus on the palpable and abstract pieces of the sets and

Most of the evaluations made resulted in someone’s actions being determined as either good or bad. Such an instance occurred when Cathy had to pick up Frank from a holding cell. She was not angry in her initial reaction, and instead chose to act questions. Frank’s defense, however, was filled with rage. A different response to a troublesome affair was seen by the gossip spread concerning Cathy’s outings with Raymond. Due to the more taboo nature of the latter, the sanctions are more consequential to her social life. These two examples showed verbal communication as a symbol of culture in Far From Heaven. Unspoken symbols played an equally, if not more vital, role in the