Detour: A Twist on the Classic Femme Fatale

In the film Detour by Edgar G. Ulmer, the classic stereotype of the femme fatale is altered to become the damsel in distress. In Detour, the femme fatale is portrayed by the character Vera. When we first see Vera, the main character Al Roberts (who has assumed the identity of the deceased Charles Haskill, Jr.) has agreed to give her a ride to Los Angeles. After she gets in the car, Roberts initially assesses Vera as a woman "who looked like she had been thrown out of the crummiest freight train in the world. Yet despite this I got the impression of beauty... a natural beauty. A beauty that's almost homely because its so real." His view of her quickly changes as it is not long after she joins Roberts on his journey to Los Angeles, that Vera realizes that Roberts is not Haskill (who was her ex-acquaintance) and she proceeds to blackmail Roberts to get what she wants. Vera and her threats to report Roberts as Haskill's killer become the main obstacles preventing Roberts from reaching his beloved Sue Harvey (the love of his life and the impetus for his sojourn from New York to Los Angeles).

However, as the story unfolds we start to see Vera in a different light. She has made Roberts her prisoner, every time Roberts is on the verge of ending their morbid union she finds some way to keep them together longer. This is first apparent when Roberts tells her of his plans to ditch the car (Haskill's car) and she points out the obvious fact that that would just put the police on his trail. She then convinces him that he must sell the car and that until this task was completed they would be together.

After reaching Los Angeles, Vera insists that Roberts and her get a rent a room where she convinces him that they must  pretend to be Mr. and Mrs. Haskill. She uses the guise that on the off chance that the car dealership calls, their using the name Mr. and Mrs. would not alert the dealership to their ruse. While in the room,  Vera comes on to Roberts and there is a mood that alludes to the notion that Vera may indeed be a very lonely woman who is stalling to spend more time with Roberts. She attempts to get him to sleep with her, and when he ignores her advance she returns to her former hostile self. More episodes such as this continues through out the movie, Vera softening to pull Roberts closer to her and then upon Roberts' denial, we see her coil back as if wounded because she cannot get him to show her affection. This is further showed when Vera corners Roberts and asks him if he likes her. He replies,"I love ya!" with a sarcastic tone in which she reverts back to her acidic demeanor. In this constant reporte, we see the director paint her as a woman who is lonely and will do anything to keep the company of a man, even if it means blackmailing him. Through the constant back and forth of Vera and Roberts, the audience's allegiance slowly shifts and we come to feel sorry for Vera. This sympathy for Vera is culminates when Roberts accidentally murders Vera by strangling her with the phone cord she as wrapped aroung her own neck in a drunken stupor. Thus, she has become a damsel who is need of saving from her own loneliness, but because of the atrocities she has committed (blackmailing Roberts) due to her loneliness, she becomes the source of her own death.

Freaks: A Demonization of Those Who Are Different

 

Tod Browning's Freaks takes place in circus and centers around a man named Hans who falls in love with a woman named Cleopatra. It just so happens that Hans is a dwarf and leader of the side-show performers and Cleopatra is a "big" (normal-sized) woman and trapeze artist. Cleopatra fools Hans into believing that she has also fallen in live with him, and concedes to marry Hans after she finds that he has a fortune.  When Hans' side-show friends find out that Cleopatra has only married Hans for his fortune they punish her.

Some critics argue that the story is a demonization of difference and not a defense of equality. Personally, I agree. Throughout the entire movie, the"freaks" were constantly being displayed as different and I feel that Browning did a great deal of work to establish that they were not "normal". In doing so, I think that he did a great job of presenting the two very different extremes in which the"freaks" (in this case people with physical abnormalities) faced: 1) they were thought of as docile and child-like, unable to fend or defend themselves; 2) they were monsters capable of hurting and turning other "normal" people into "freaks" like themselves.

In the beginning of the movie, he portrayed the sideshow acts as docile and child-like, almost as if they were helpless and could not fend for themselves. This was established by the scene in which Madame Tetralini (the owner of the circus) takes some of the "freaks" out for exercise, during which  they run into a gentleman and his groundsperson. The gentleman proceeds to tell Madame Tetralini that she and her "freaks" must get off his property. She explains to the gentleman that the "freaks" are in fact "children from my circus...When I get the chance I like to take them out in the sunshine and let them play like children." While she is saying this, the pinheads (three of the "freaks") flock to her for protection like child would to their mother's skirt. This scene reinforces the docility and weakness of the "freaks", painting them as people who cannot fend for themselves like a "big person" can.

In contrast, the ending of the movie paints the "freaks" as dangerous and deadly things to be feared. After Cleopatra has married Hans, she (with the help of her lover the strongman Hercules) begin poisoning Hans in hopes of taking his fortune. When the other "freaks" find out they set out to make her pay. In final scene, there is a big storm and the freaks are seen walking on their hands through mud and rain, crawling and creeping toward Hercules and they set out to murder him. After murdering Hercules they chase the screaming Cleopatra as she runs through the woods. The movie ends with Cleopatra being turned into the very thing she loathed, a freak, by the very same "freaks" of whom she made fun. Thus, the "freaks" have turned from docile, weak children to horrible, vengeful monsters who must be feared. This part of the movie probably played on the real life fear that many people during that time had: "freakism" is contagious.

I think Browning's Freaks mirrors the social constructs of the lives of people who where thought of as different back then. The fact that the story takes place in a circus also probably speaks to the fact that for many people who were physically different, the only place for them was in a circus during the 1930s. Although there are parts in the movie in which Browning tries to paint the "freaks" as normal, the fact that the movie is named "Freaks" and that even the humane "big people" refer to the sideshow acts as freaks only further demonizes the physical differences of the sideshow acts. Therefore, I think Browning's Freaks is a just a demonization of physical differences; painting those with physical abnormalities as too weak to fend for themselves and thus dependent on "normal" people or as scary monstrosities that are to be feared due to their ability to turn you into a freak just like them.

From Gags and Stunts to Punchlines

In the movie Sherlock Jr., Keaton uses visual gags and stunts to amplify the comedic aspects of the movie. In my opinion I think he does it quite effectively. I think that because there was no audio associated with the movies in the 1920s, there had to be more expression the get a reaction out of the audience. This calls for the exaggeration of the facial expressions and movements. Also the continuous use of gags and stunts tells a story. This is quite the contrast in contemporary comedy because of the usage of audio in films now. Audio in films has made it possible so that less exaggeration is needed in contemporary films. This has led to the comedic evolution from gags and stunts to punchlines. In today’s modern world, I think many people would find the over exaggeration that Keaton uses in his movies over-the-top and not very funny. I think the only times that visual gags and stunts are used in contemporary movies are when there are words said before or after the gag or stunt is done. Thus, the gag or stunt is used to emphasize a specific point that is being made not to tell a story.

Introduction To Me

My name is Noelle Jones and I transferred from North Carolina A&T State University. I am a Biochemistry major who wants to work in hair R&D. I would say my taste in movies was largely impacted by my grandmother. I remember watching the Imitation of Life with her (the 1950s) version while also watching Legends of the Fall (she made me close my eyes when there was nudity). She was a crime/ thriller movie fan and so I became one. I also have my older brother and cousins to thank for my taste in movies. They introduced me to the  gangster movies like Scarface (remake with Al Pacino), Goodfellas, and the Godfathers. I think because of them I love any gangster movie and have to see anything with a great deal of violence. As I have gotten older, I have also learned to pay attention to the score of a movie. A great movie can be ruined with a horrible score, so a great movie for me has to also have a great score. I would say I will watch anything directed by Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorcese, or Clint Eastwood. There are probably more directors, but I can’t think of them now. The thing I am most interested in this class is exploring the different ways we will look at movies. Also these movies are probably ones in which I have not seen so I am excited to have my horizons broadened.