Option One – Cultural context Some Like It Hot


At the start of Some Like It Hot, the values of the characters are based on their own individual needs and desires rather than any consideration for the greater good of society. However, as the film progresses, we see a change in attitude and a shift towards more selflessness and tolerance.


Early in the film, Joe, Jerry and Sugar are out for what they can get and don’t seem to care how much they lie or cheat. Joe wants to get Sugar into bed by any means necessary, even if he lets her down in the end as so many of her previous boyfriends have done. Jerry and Sugar want money and security and are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their aims. Jerry even goes so far as to allow Osgood to believe he is a woman and accepts his proposal of marriage.


However, the characters’ attitudes and values change. Joe, Jerry and Sugar all learn that there are more important things in life than money or sexual conquests: Joe sees the hurt he will cause Sugar if he continues to deceive her; Sugar realises that she loves Joe despite his lack of money; and Jerry becomes increasingly fond of his cheerfully determined suitor. Indeed, it seems likely that he and Osgood will continue to have some kind of relationship despite Jerry revealing that he is not a woman.


The film, which initially seemed to promote that the pursuit of one’s own goals was paramount, ends with the message that loving people for who they are rather than what they can provide for you, and being open-minded and tolerant, is what makes life worth living.


Persepolis


While the change in values in Some Like It Hot is positive, there is no such shift in attitude, nor such an uplifting message, in Persepolis. Marjane struggles to cope in a country where values are imposed on the populace by a harsh and oppressive regime.


The Islamic hardliners are focused on merging the personal and the political. They intrude on all aspects of the citizens’ lives, stopping people in the street for wearing what they see as inappropriate clothing and forbidding unmarried men and women from socialising freely. Unlike the film, in which tolerance and kindness triumph, the values of the Islamic regime are concentrated on restricting personal freedoms and severely punishing transgressors.


Marjane and her friends try to circumvent these rules by throwing secret parties, but even in their homes they are not safe from the oppressive ruling party. Guardians of the Revolution see them having a party one night and arrest them. However, the government officials are open to bribery and the young people are bailed out. This becomes a regular occurrence until one of Marjane’s friends falls from a roof to his death while being chased by the authorities.


In the film, openness and honesty become increasingly important to the characters. They become more focused on the welfare of others than pursuing their own ends; however, in the graphic novel there is little chance of any change in the value system imposed by those in power.


Unfortunately for Marjane, this means she cannot tolerate living under such an oppressive regime any longer and leaves her home country to study and work in France.


The Spinning Heart Values are subject to change in some texts more than in others.


In The Spinning Heart, we see a problem with the value system that we also see at the start of Some Like It Hot: the real needs of society take second place to individual greed. This attitude changes over the course of the film, but we see no such hope in The Spinning Heart.


The novel covers the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008. During the boom years, Irish society began to turn away from the old value system (largely imposed by the Catholic Church). People felt a social and financial freedom they had not known before. The downside of this was a focus on individual needs rather than those of the wider community. Greed held sway, and people like Pokey Burke lined their pockets at the expense of others. As in Persepolis, a society that is not concerned with the greater good creates unhappiness.


Dissatisfied and rudderless, the inhabitants of the town lack a coherent set of values and a strong support system. Violence, which Jim Gildea believes is never far beneath the surface in Irish life, reappears with a vengeance. A child is kidnapped and a man is murdered. These incidents are shocking enough to warrant official investigation, but many other casual acts of violence go unreported or unpunished. As in Persepolis, there seems to be little hope that this situation will change. There are those, like Bobby and Triona, who believe that love is the most important thing in life, but they are in the minority.


A shift from selfishness to selflessness lifts the characters in Some Like It Hot from unhappiness to love and understanding, but Bobby and Triona are swimming against the tide of their society. Sadly, as is the case in Persepolis, the characters are crushed by a flawed value system rather than effecting change, as they do in the film.


Leaving Certificate English 365 Excellence in Texts


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