Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos - Essay Example

?Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos Introduction The 1925 Anita Loos’s greatest and well-remembered novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes received critical acclaims from both literature legends and cinema pioneers as the book also had a film adaptation in 1953, starring Marilyn Monroe. The novel conceptualizes the story based on “popular culture’s frivolity and idiocy” (Frost 292). The story, which highlights the gold-digger character of Lorelei Lee and her luxurious hobnobbing and fondness to rich and famous men, marks an indelible impression in popular culture and modernism history. The novel takes a narrative of Lorelei’s personal account as she wanders, shops in fancy stores, and dines with men of recognizable popularity and fat pockets. Featuring a satirical approach in presenting a popular culture’s stereotypes towards blonde women during the 1920s, Blondes is said to be amusing, mirthful, and gay, but “full of shrewd observation and devastating irony” (Frost 292). Anita Loos: Experience and Life in Understanding the Novel Anita Loos was early exposed in the world of theater when his father worked as a theater manager after becoming unemployed as a newspaper publisher. Also, she earns knowledge about acting when she starts the craft from her early childhood up until her teens (Szpytko 1). Most of the time, she happens to be the center of attention every time she joins a particular play, and her father is extremely proud of her (Loos and Beauchamp 9). Aside from acting once in a while, Anita is also considered as a “child prodigy” as she started writing scripts when she was 12 although reports told that she was already 24 years old when she sold her first book (Loos and Beauchamp 11). Also, when she reached 20 years old, she is already considered as a “professional screenwriter,” who prolifically worked in over 60 silent films and talkies (Szpytko 1). Moreover, her influences are invariably philosophy readings and the society pages of the New York newspapers (Loos and Beauchamp 11). The early 1900s is characterized as the age of Jazz and the “Roaring Age of Twenties,” the phenomenal “flamboyant flapper,” and the age where baring skin becomes a trend (Szpytko 1). During that period also, Anita Loos wrote scripts and stories, which she submitted to various film companies including Biograph production, Mutual production, and D. W. Griffith’s affiliated film outfit (Loos and Beauchamp 13). As a curious child, teen, and young adult, Anita has a penchant for examining the lives of the upper class Americans (13). She also has a series of rich boyfriends, which she admittedly dumped and sent to tears when she got bored of the relationship (14). Hence, Anita considers herself “a failure as a gold digger” (14). However, the significant experience she had when she was young was when H.L. Mencken, a formidable journalist of the early 1990s, to whom she devoted admiration was in fact had a penchant for blonde women. She characterizes one particular blonde woman as empty-headed, leaving her puzzled as to why men compete over a blonde’s attention. As a result, Loos makes careful conversations with herself regarding the status of blonde women in the society. Right then, Loos thinks that blonde women must belong to a certain kind of class that can be considered a privilege. Her novel speaks of this contention. Some aspects of Loos’s story reflect in her masterpiece as the theme of the book reveals women’s fascination over a diamond “that lives forever,” which is both an analogy of women’s inclination towards beauty and material possessions, and a satirical approach in stereotyping women particularly those who are blonde (Snodgrass 335). Anita’s encounters with rich men and the timing of the Great Depression all contribute to her amusing yet meaningful depiction of women in her age. Knowing the author’s background somehow gives readers a deeper understanding of the issues that surround the plot of the novel. It gives readers an added perspective in digesting the novel’s meaning using her experience as a reference. Historical Context that Affects and Influences the Blondes According to Frost, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes comes at a time when the American and European audience are glued to the topic of “cultural distinction” particularly in distinguishing pleasures (293). Loos’s style in writing the novel is inspired by people’s varied perceptions toward the female physical attributes specifically the common representation of blonde women as pleasing, visually attractive, curvaceous, and materialistic, and are therefore, “culturally corrosive” while others see this issue as “edifying and worthwhile” (293). Loos’s Blondes is an implied art of satire as she names Lorelei, the main character in the novel, after a German mythology’s Rhine Maiden, the “figure around whom Horkheimer and Adorno shape their Enlightenment dichotomies” (Frost 294). These dichotomous include “modernism versus mass culture, mind versus body, bourgeois intellectual versus proletarian laborer, and masculine rationalization versus feminine pleasure” (295). “Making it New” Anita Loos’s novel is considered a breakthrough in the long standing separation between popular culture and the one that concerns a selective audience or the total opposite of mass culture. During that time as well, film and literature know their boundaries in which crossing over each other’s dimension is nearly impossible. However, Loos’s novel transcends beyond the conventional. Loos’s style in scriptwriting and novel writing appears like the texts are spoken. These appear as if they are orally said. A portion of the text in the novel “invokes all the narrative cliches associating debased writing and pleasure…” (Frost 303). Moreover, Loos is distinct in doing away from the perspective of “hypnotic spectatorship” (304). The latter entails the use of visually appealing images found in the novel. However, the novel bears a unique and different attack in its style, and the irony that comes with the making of a beautiful and sexually appealing character that looks dumb with her poor usage of correct spelling. According to Frost, other writers perceive it as “uncrafted bodily speech” while Loos purposefully makes this piece plan to have that intended effect (306). Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a showcase of a new picture in novel writing such that the main character causes self-indulgent blunders, errors, and shows a sort of embarrassing symptoms of illiteracy. The use of homophones is also well-crafted, such as the use of the word ‘sheik’ for ‘chic’ committed by Lorelei, which creates an effect of amusement to the readers. Examining the Novel from a Feminist Point of View On the basis of the feminist perspective, Blondes presents some more pressing issues about women and their situations during the 1920s. There is a distinction between the two women characters in the novel, namely, Lorelei and Dorothy. Instead of using and focusing on a single character as the central attraction of the story, Loos uses the two to depict a “satirical doubling” (Callahan 25). This strategy is used to present and “articulate” in caricature the “dualisms” of that particular era. Character wise, Loos is able to represent women who want sexual pleasure instead of money like Dorothy. This can also mean the representation of women who are independent, aggressive, and assertive-- traits that are considered the epitome of the “New Woman” (Callahan 25). On one hand, Lorelei represents women who use their bodies and beauty as commodities in order to get what they need and want, and more often, something that they love to flaunt. Technically, Lorelei is also considered as the “New Woman” who only wants to invest and commodify her “sexuality” for some material possessions. Lorelei, therefore, wants money and not sex (Callahan 25). Furthermore, although displaying some intended instances of dumbness, Lorelei is never a dumb. In fact, she appears to be sly, wise, and mischievous. She manipulates people, men to be exact, and uses them to get what she wants and feels satisfied whenever she gets them. She is frank and honest by admitting that she does not like London, and she speaks her mind. This is the kind of women empowerment that Loos wants to portray in the novel. Lorelei’s character is a slap against the Jazz Age’s characterization of women as a source of sexual pleasure and a stereotypical regard to women as not thinking individuals. According to Bauer, Loos’s portrays women’s lives in her novel as “being prescribed by the contradictions of their contemporaneous political and economic scene” (55). When talking about the issue of feminism, it is impossible to disassociate corporate ladder or capitalism in the picture. In fact, the mere mention of commodifying women’s sexuality suggests that the society during the Jazz era sees women as purely for alleviating sexual longings of men and an accessory comparable to luxury cars. Anita Loos challenges sexist thinking by using a character that boosts of inclination towards the plight of feminists for that matter. Loos usage of gender norms in most parts of the book gives an in-depth meaning to feminism. Irony and unseen mischievous agenda of the main character play vital roles in conveying the author’s message (Walker 12). Moreover, Dorothy’s role is also notable from a feminist standpoint. Dorothy is a perfect epitome of a woman who tries to skillfully change and rework relationships. Hence, it is true that Loos tries to present subtle issues of Dorothy, and women’s queer attitudes and behaviors from a conventional point of view. Examining the Text from an Economic Standpoint Furthermore, the novel also portrays the current economic situation of the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, and the boom of capitalism. It is also a critical observation to note that there is a link between sexuality and the age of capitalism, especially because the era is characterized as patriarchal in nature. The novel, from an economic standpoint, reveals the unequal opportunities given to men and women when it comes to employment. Women are only regarded as decorations during events; this is an unlikely truth that is both experienced by Lorelei and Dorothy. The bigger picture is that, women have different attitudes toward the increasingly depressed economy. While Dorothy just shrugs her shoulder and takes the economic misfortunes into something humorous, Lorelei shows that she needs a man who can provide for her whims and caprices. Although Keun associates Dorothy’s role as a mere “sidekick” of Lorelei, she has enormous portrayal in explaining the texts of the novel regarding the economic situation (169). The Great Depression and the eventual rise of capitalism usher in an era of women empowerment in the form of autonomy. The economic situation at that time also suggests that some women are contented to be accessories to men and wait for them to offer them something. This set-up, from a reader’s point of view, suggests a win-win situation between a man and a woman. There are no losers in this set-up, especially when it comes to the mutual benefits. Furthermore, consumption plays a significant role in the text by emphasizing that women use all the necessary manipulation to get what they need and want. However, this is not the usual categorization of women in the lower ranks. Stereotypes are not all degrading to either sexes, for instance, placing women below men because they do not earn money and simply receive it from men. However, from an economic point of view, men also need women in their discreet needs in the same way that women adore diamonds and fancy clothes. Consumption here can be explained both in terms of physical and sexual needs, which both parties are in need of. Theme Analysis and Author’s Thought Organization The Blondes embarks around the theme of irony and comedy, which hides the cloak of subtle issues regarding feminism. Irony in the sense that there are two juxtaposed characters, which are equally appealing women, but have different perspectives regarding their being flappers, as well as the comedy shown in Lorelei’s honest mistakes in grammar and spelling. The fusion of the two characters yields uniqueness and seriousness of the novel. They journey of Lorelei and Dorothy is highlighted when they sail all the way to Paris. When they arrive, they witness the pangs of the Great Depression that affected both the US and British economies. The story goes on with Lorelei very much impressed with Coty, Cartier, and Eyeful Tower. Upon hearing these words, anyone will start to be either amused or criticized. Off to have a good time in Paris, Lorelei hooks up with a French nobleman who hardly spends a fortune on her. The quest does not stop as Lorelei engages in a secret affair with Sir Francis Beekman, who bought her a diamond tiara. Beekman’s wife reacts furiously when she knew that her husband gave a gift to some sort of a flapper. Her usual reaction is also a reflective of women’s attempt in asserting their rights as wives. Moreover, she makes all the necessary plans in order to steal the diamond tiara in which Lorelei already anticipated. All throughout the novel, Lorelei’s wise head is subtly shown, and this time, she makes it that all the ploys masterminded by Mrs. Beekman will turn futile. Certainly, Lorelei allows Louis and Robert to bring home the fake tiara and keeps the real thing. The novel’s plot speaks for the manner with the way it is written. This is because Blondes is written as a personal account; the narration has an effect of disorganization. Lorelei talks about their journey to Paris along with Dorothy and then later go back to Mr. Eisman, the rich man she is first attached to in the novel. Loos intends to keep it that way; this is to keep the readers’ minds somewhat disorganize by giving them disorganization in the text. It makes the novel very personal yet full of depth and subtle comedy. On top of it all is the pressing issue of women and racial stereotypes. These two issues, gender and racial stereotypes, are intermingled and interrelated in understanding gender, especially from the point of view of feminism. To paraphrase Michael Hames-Garcia statement, class, race, sexuality, and gender are all interrelated in understanding an individual’s identity (2). Conclusion Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is Anita Loos’s almost-perfect feminist book. The characters depict queerness much more the scenario in which they are involved. More importantly, this novel is an effective medium of expressing women’s disapproval and enlightenment to people who have hasty generalizations toward blondes and women in general. While it appears to be at some point hilarious, it nevertheless sends the message across. It bears of an understanding of how women become who they are by carefully examining the circumstances, the time, and the social conventions that shape them the way they are. Works Cited Bauer, Dale M. Edith Wharton’s Brave New Politics. Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1994. Print. Callahan, Vicki, ed. Reclaiming the Archive: Feminism and Film History. Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2010. Print. Frost, Laura. Blondes Have More Fun: Anita Loos and the Language of Silent Cinema. Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 2010. Print. Hames-Garcia, Michael. Identity Complex: Making the Case for Multiplicity. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. Print. Keun, Irmgard. The Artificial Silk Girl. Trans. Kathie von Ankum. Berlin: Ullstein Buchverlage, 2002. Print. Loos, Mary Anita, and Cari Beauchamp. Anita Loos Rediscovered: Film Treatments and Fiction by Anita Loos, Creator of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. California: University of California Press, 2003. Print. Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006. Print. Szpytko, Gisela. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: Penguin Readers Factsheets. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2001. Print. Walker, Nancy A. A Very Serious Thing: Women’s Humor and American Culture. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1988. Print. Read More