Comparative Study Some Like It Hot


The film Some Like It Hot is best known for its exploration of gender roles. Joe and Jerry, two luckless musicians, dress in drag and become caught up in a series of complicated love affairs with members of the same and opposite sexes. The film audience of 1959 would have been a little shocked by the behaviour of Jerry and Joe when they reinvent themselves as Josephine and Daphne. However, America was becoming more liberal in the late 1950s, and the playful exploration of gender roles reflects that.


One of the most interesting aspects of gender roles in Some Like It Hot is the view of masculinity. In the world of the text, it is expected that hot-blooded males would do whatever it took to try to get a woman into bed. Joe is not presented in a negative light for trying to take advantage of Sugar by pretending to be a millionaire. This reflects the social setting of the world of the text, both when the film is set, in the 1920s, and when the film was made, in the 1950s. Joe’s behaviour would not be tolerated so readily if the film were made today.


Another key aspect of the film is the fluidity of gender roles. At the conclusion of the story, Osgood Fielding, confronted with the fact that his beloved Daphne is, in fact, a man, is unfazed. He loves who he loves and simply smiles happily, saying ‘Well, nobody’s perfect’. The script ends with the comment that Osgood and Daphne’s story is ‘for another day’ and that the public is not yet ready for it. The film pushes the boundaries of the traditional gender roles but is not quite ready to embrace a same-sex couple.


Persepolis


Persepolis also challenges gender roles but in a different way to Some Like It Hot. In Iran, Marjane is restricted by her gender in a way that none of the characters in the film is restricted by theirs. Whereas there are social pressures on men and women to behave a certain way in the film, in Persepolis there are legal pressures on both genders to conform. Marjane dreams of being ‘an educated, liberated woman’ but fears she will never have the opportunity under an oppressive Islamic regime.


When Marjane’s school principal notices that Marjane has broken the ban on wearing jewellery, the principal tries to confiscate her bracelet. Marjane hits the principal and is expelled. Frightened that Marjane’s rebellious attitude will land her in further trouble, her parents send her to Vienna to continue her studies. Marjane returns to Iran after her time in in Europe, but she finds life in her home country increasingly unbearable.


Whereas Jerry learns that gender doesn’t matter at all when it comes to true love, there is no neat conclusion for Marjane. The final straw for Marjane comes when she visits a colleague at home and discovers that he speaks for his wife, effectively preventing her from taking part in conversations, and makes it clear that he thinks a woman’s role is in the home. Marjane decides to return to Europe, where she can be herself. Challenging gender roles in the world of the text may be the right decision for Marjane, but it is not an easy one to make. She must leave her beloved family behind forever. As Marjane says in the final line of the book, ‘Freedom had a price’. There is none of the easy acceptance of challenges to gender roles that we see in Some Like It Hot. As a result, the ending of the graphic novel is much sadder than the ending of the film.


The Spinning Heart Each of the texts features challenges to traditional gender roles.


The Spinning Heart presents a world in which men and women are expected to stick to traditional gender roles. These gender stereotypes are challenged, just as they are in the other two texts. The results are as disheartening as they are in Persepolis and show none of the liberated attitudes that we see in Some Like It Hot.


Even though gender restrictions are not legally enforced in the world of The Spinning Heart, as they are in Persepolis, societal pressure makes it clear how people are expected to behave. Men like Trevor, who don’t fit the masculine norms of the world of the text, are viewed with suspicion. Kate is delighted to find a trained Montessori teacher who will work for low wages but her husband believes she is ‘mad for taking on a fella’ in her crèche. When we consider the liberal and relaxed attitude Osgood shows when he learns ‘Daphne’ is really a man, we see how restrictive and backward the world of The Spinning Heart is by comparison.


The strict gender roles in The Spinning Heart and Persepolis are similar in the way working men and women are viewed. Kate thinks her husband may be jealous of her success in business, because men ‘can’t bear to be second to a woman in any way’. This is similar to Marjane’s colleague telling her that when his educated wife married him and had a child, she naturally became a full-time, stay-at-home mother. When Denis was out of work, it was Kate’s profits that kept them going but this ‘nearly killed him’. Kate is impatient with Denis’s old-fashioned attitude and wishes he would snap out of his sulk. The strict gender roles in the world of the text leave many of the men emotionally stunted and both genders deeply unhappy, but, as in Persepolis, there seems little hope of any real change.


364 King Lear and Comparatives


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