By Faith Topolski
Contributing Writer
Movies from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s may at first appear to be out of date and completely irrelevant to today’s movies and current events. Upon further inspection, though, it’s clear this isn’t true.
The themes, ideas and motivations presented in films from the “Golden Age of Cinema” are still relatable and prevalent in discussions today.
One of the many issues faced is women’s rights. There are multiple movies with central female characters attempting to step out of traditional roles and trying to fight against the patriarchy.
Just one of many examples is in the movie “Adam’s Rib.” Katharine Hepburn portrays a defense attorney who is married to the assistant district attorney played by Spencer Tracy. They end up pitted against each other in court as Katharine Hepburn’s character defends a woman who attempted to shoot her husband and the woman with whom he had supposedly been having an affair.
While Tracy’s character is arguing that it doesn’t matter who it is, the law must be followed and should not be changed for any particular case, Hepburn’s character fights against the malice the defendant faces because she is a woman. Hepburn points out that had the woman been a man, she would have been commended for defending his home and family. She tries to convince the court that women have just as much right to do what a man would do by bringing in women as witnesses and examples.
The women Hepburn places on the stand are from all walks of life. Each one has done or does something incredible that might be thought of as something a man is more likely to do. One works in a male dominated field and another shows physical strength greater than a majority of men. They break the mold that women should be focused on the home, which has seen major improvement through the years with more women entering fields like engineering.
For instance, one woman is a doctor and has multiple degrees from many high-level institutions and from different countries. Another woman is strong enough to hold five men in the air and proceeds to lift Tracy’s character literally by the seat of his pants (she lifts him by his belt and hoists him in the air) over her head. All of these women are Hepburn’s way of showing that women are on par with men and should be given equal consideration, which is something still being debated today.
Another aspect of old movies is that, like people today, characters thought they were living in the worst times and that everything was going downhill. They were worried about politics, the economy, money and how children were being raised with their newfangled contraptions. Just like today, these worries perpetuate through each generation; it goes to show that our problems today are not so far away from what people were thinking back then “in the good old days.”
topolsfl17@bonaventure.edu
