Analysis of How the Some Like It Hot Conveys about Gender Inequality in the Society - Movie Review Example

Analysis of How the Movie “Some Like It Hot (1959)” Conveys About Gender Inequality in the Society

Some Like It Hot is one of the leading American comedy films, featuring prominent actors such as Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemon. The comedy film has been produced and directed by Billy Wilder. In addition, the main characters of the film bring to the light the different perceptions towards sex and the role of women in the United States in the period of 1950s, especially social oppression of women. In particular, the film’s plot portrays a sexist society that is dominated by male chauvinism, with gender equality being irrelevant in the movie. Although some characters such as Monroe and Curtis engage in romantic scenes and stick to heterosexuality, gender inequality and divergence perceptions on women has been widely portrayed in Some Like It Hot.

Gender differences and divergence perceptions in the film is exemplified through representation of women as sex objects. The film conforms to the fetishists male gaze insights of most comedies, especially through Monroe’s manifestation. The depiction of women as objects of pleasure is clearly illustrated by Monroe when she sings “I Wanna be loved by you” (Some Like It Hot). Throughout the movie, Marilyn Monroe who acts as Sugar Cane is portrayed as an object of the male sexual gaze. Although Sugar appears to trigger the objectification through her tight clothes and facial expression, her image has an irresistible impact of male desire that is common in the society today. Most importantly, to illustrate how women are seen as sexual objects that are interchangeable, Sugar is described as an attractive lady without intelligence. The male characters and audience see Monroe’s female innocence as a replication of a desirable woman without desires of her own. That is, women brains are not significant to the men as bodies are. The naming of the character of Monroe as Sugar convey how the audiences are supposed feel about her. Guilbert claims that Wilder chooses to regards women as sex objects when Daphne’s annoyance is associated with Beinstock’s pat on her buttocks to assist her board the train (83). Therefore, the characters reveal sexual objectification as a typical male superiority towards women, that in turn contributes to the irony of patriarchy in the film and the society as well.

In addition, patriarchy has encouraged sexual objectification of women as widely exemplified by Joe and Jerry through their visual pleasures and obsession from women. By disguising as women, Joe and Jerry experience the reality of objectification of women when they are harassed by men (Guilbert, 82). Further, Joe and Jerry represent how the female body is important for men after via their disguise as women, whereby by stating that “with those legs? Are you crazy” Joe’s main concern is how they look and the acknowledgement of male gaze notion (Some Like It Hot). However, the two characters demonstrate the fetishist male stare when they appear to gaze at Sugar’s legs and buttocks as she approaches them. Besides, the film symbolizes how both female characters and the disguised female characters stimulate the audience’s gaze. Some like it hot is a representation of how film comedies force women to function as mental drags in order to attain their identity in the play.

Gender-bending and cross-dressing of the male characters is a clear illustration of how men have replaced and assumed women roles in the society. The patriarch society perceives women as weak and helpless, and thereby in capable of fulfilling their roles in the society. According to Scott, men can effectively substitute women both as individuals and as sexual partners (134). This is portrayed by the characters Joe and Jerry, played by Curtis and Lemmon, who are forced to escape from the murderous mobsters and in turn disguise themselves as women, Josephine and Daphne, and join an all-girl orchestra. Considering the preference from the director of the film who shares the same characteristics as his male counterparts, it is possible that he gave the female characters to Curtis and Lemmon, thereby discriminating against women. The cross-dressing and blending of characters show how the society has allowed men to take over women roles, and the women have been denied of their functions in the current century.

Cross-dressing is also directly related with male chauvinism through males’ ridicule of women fashion. As Jerry and Joe struggle with their women identities, they tend to complain about wearing impractical attires made for women. On the stage of the station, Jerry expresses his challenges of walking with lady’s shoes, “How do they walk in these things? How do they keep their balance?”. Guilbert reveals that the reference to lady’s shoes as high heels by the male character exhibits the perception that the heels disable women and make them physically weak instead of instilling them with power (83). The complains from the two cross-dresses exposes the male prejudice linked to fashion, the view of women’s capability by men.

Following the unfair treatments and perceptions from men, Sugar chooses to refuge on a band. Sugar decided to join the society syncopators in order to evade from men oppression. In the film, the Society Syncopators is thought to be a female band, which serves as a feminist refuge against a male dominated society (Guilbert, 100). When Daphne suggests that “we girls should stick together”, she is promoting the coming together of women in contradiction of male control. Therefore, patriarchy has forced women to seek refuge from their female counterparts and has inspired women union.

While Curtis supposedly plays the romantic love scenes with Monroe and adheres to heterosexuality, he conveys the gender dominance and diverge perceptions about femininity. Particularly, through the romance scenes, Curtis demonstrates that the male must struggle to control the females both sexually and psychologically in spite of Sugar’s viewpoints. Although Joe finally manages to change his perception about male dominance on women, his subjectivity in the sexual relationship with Sugar is quite evident (Carver, 128). Joe also exhibits his male superiority when he manages to seduce and have an affair with Sugar despite his deception. The female characters in the film often give the impression of sexual submission in relation to their male counterparts. Consequently, Joe’s character reveals the idea that male is dominant and in charge of women’s sexuality and emotions.

To expose gender inequality, the film shows how the female characters recognize their male counterparts as sexually aggressive. When Joe and Jerry are in drag, they experience all manners of sexual disrespect which they seem to dispute. Through their impersonation as women, Jerry gets pinched in the elevator by Osgood, and runs back to Joe burning with resentment (Tremper, 200). Even though they are men who are disguised as women, they express their anger towards the injustices suffered by women. For instance, Jerry regards Osgood as “Dirty old man” while Joe insists that men do not care hurting women and feel obliged to doing so. The disrespect to Jerry indicates that women are victims of gender oppression.

In conclusion, gender differences and perceptions are clearly evident in the film Some Like It Hot and the sexist society today. The society is controlled by chauvinism with men seeing women as sex objects, taking over the roles of women, and dominating women both sexually both psychologically. Moreover, the unfair treatment and sexual aggressive by men have encouraged gender inequality experienced in most films and in the real world currently. This film functions as a depiction of how gender inequality towards women has was common in the periods of 1950s and has still remained prevalent in the American society even today. While gender suppression was a fixture of the 1950s Hollywood films, the concepts of gender differences and divergence perceptions are normally employed in films to stimulate characters’ attention and feelings. Therefore, gender inequality is an important feature that should be included in any film since it reveals the different gender perceptions about different individuals in a certain period of time.

Work Cited

Carver, Terrell. "Sex, gender and heteronormativity: Seeing ‘Some Like It Hot’as a heterosexual dystopia." Contemporary Political Theory 8.2 (2009): 125-151.

Guilbert, Georges-Claude. Literary Readings of Billy Wilder. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009

Scott, Andrew. Comedy (2nd ed.). Routledge, 2014.

Some Like it Hot. Directed by Billy Wilder, Performances by Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, United Artists, 1959.

Tremper, Ellen. I’m No Angel: The Blonde in Fiction and Film. University of Virginia Press, 2006