Some may argue that the movie The General conforms to traditional patriarchal gender roles. Annabelle Lee, the heroine, is kidnapped (albeit inadvertently) by hostile soldiers and needs the heroic exploits of her lover to rescue her. She is portrayed as submissive to her father and brother, ineffectual in plotting her own escape (such as throwing a stick of wood into the train furnace or failing to stop the engine so her lover can board it), and often exhibiting domestic inclinations ( as when she sweeps the engine with a broom).
Do you agree with this picture of Annabelle Lee -- or is it more complicated? Is Annabelle a stereotypical damsel in distress or is she a more progressive figure? Is there something about her a feminist could admire? What is this film saying about gender roles?
Annabelle Lee is depicted as a traditional damsel in distress in The General, a stereotype commonly found in films of the early 1900’s. She is shown to be woefully inept at all aspects of her rescue. It is shown that Annabelle Lee cannot operate a train, understand the burning of the bridge, or even speak against her capture. She is shown unwittingly being kidnapped, which is understandable, however she takes no action against her capture when discovered and doesn’t even yell or speak out against her captures. She willingly submits to the Northern soldiers, hindering her chances of escape. Then she would’ve alerted the soldiers when the protagonist attempts to rescue her, except he gagged her. This frame becomes symbolic of the role she is meant to play in her rescue. Unfortunately she doesn’t conform to this role and only further hinders her escape. She throws meaningless sticks into the engine and leaves behind her rescuer. The only scene where she is of some help is the instance where she ties two trees together over the track. The pursuing train must slow down and remove the uprooted trees. However, this wasn’t the desired effect of Annabelle; she wants the train to get stuck on the rope, an impossibility given the strength of the rope. The only instance of Annabelle actually helping is an accident. Annabelle is the stereotypical damsel in distress, who is submissive to men, that if too often found in the films of the early 1900’s. We can’t simply insert our modern feminist values into examples of past cultures in order to affirmative our current beliefs; we must recognize the limitations of our values and culture, and legitimize them elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteIn The General, Anabelle Lee is depicted as a complex character that falls into the stereotypical damsel in distress archetype. Throughout the entire film, she is either shown as a defenseless character needing to be saved by her male counterpart, or as pitifully inadequate, constantly putting others lives’ in danger. In one of the beginning scenes, Anabelle is accidently kidnapped and taken by member of the Union Army. Since The General is filmed through the perspective of the confederates, the union army is the enemy figure who captures the damsel in distress. While being kidnapped, Anabelle Lee made no attempt to better her chances of being rescued; instead she sat there submissively. Once she is rescued by her lover Johnnie Gray, one of the first things she does is grab a broom and start sweeping the steam engine floor. Although this could simply be seen as a gag in the filmmaking community, it also gives insights to the gender roles prevalent in the early 1900 films. As the film progresses, Anabelle Lee begins to take the lead with the steam engine, but is then shown putting her rescuer, and the main character of the film’s, life on the line by starting a fire behind the train, previous to Johnnie Gray getting on the train. Although this film is characterized as a comedy, and the male main character also makes many foolish mistakes, the degree, severity, and way in which Anabelle Lee goofs up leads the audience to believe she is a stereotypical damsel in distress. Feminism cannot be seen throughout this film, and it is not expected to be seen either due to the era in which The General was created.
ReplyDeleteAnabelle Lee in The General is definitely a more progressive role, especially during the 1920s. The 20s in America was a time when women started to come out of their conservative, meek shells and began to explore their possibilities as women. Anabelle may be portrayed as delicate and perhaps dainty, however, she is definitely a heroine in this film. One of the arguments in this post is the film portrays Anabelle as submissive to her father and brother. I would venture to say that, yes Anabelle is “submissive” to them, but not because she is a women and they are men. First of all, all children (sons or daughters) in all time periods (including today) who have healthy relationships with their parents are submissive to their mom and dad. Anabelle’s obedience and kindheartedness towards her father does not stem from an issue in gender roles; it’s simply because he is her father and she respects him like any son or daughter would. Secondly, throughout the film I can only think of one strong interaction between Anabelle and her brother and that is when he goes to enlist in the war and she gives him a kiss. Giving someone a hug or a kiss, especially when it’s family and they are about to go to war, does not mean submission; it means that she loves her brother. Loving and respecting her father and/or brother does not make her weak or submissive in any way. The very same feelings she has toward her family are held by men as well. Throughout the film, Anabelle does heroic things that are 100% progressive. She burns down a bridge (even if it is on accident, she was the one who got the job done), she teaches herself how to drive a train in an attempt to save her lover, she pulls the spike from in between two carts in order to heroically separate her and her lover from the “bad guys.” I think that, regardless of the filmmaker’s beliefs toward feminism, Anabelle being portrayed as a heroine is also a part of the comedic aspect of The General. She’s just as clumsy and heroic as Johnny Gray. She may not be Gal Gadot in the modern interpretation of Wonder Woman, but she is absolutely a progressive figure of her time.
ReplyDeleteIn the film The General, Annabelle Lee is portrayed as the stereotype of a damsel in distress. Throughout the whole movie, she relies on other people, especially Johnnie Gray, to free her and bring her to safety. During her time as a captive, she spends no energy attempting to free herself, but rather stands idle and accepts her fate. Even though Johnnie Gray does save her, during their escape she does nothing to help, besides tying the two trees together which slowed down the Northern soldiers for a minute or two. Though this worked out, she meant for the rope to stop the train, not the trees that got stuck under the train as a result of running straight through the ropes. After Johnnie Gray does everything he can to save her, she nearly loses him and gets him killed. The film shows Annabelle Lee as a helpless woman when she has no idea how to control the train which makes Johnnie Gray have to run back and forth until he finally reaches the train and regains control. Another way she nearly ruins everything is when she sets the bridge on fire before Johnnie Gray even has a chance to get back on the train. Although some of these scenes may be seen as a joke, they still are making fun of how women cannot do anything right and are more harmful then useful. This film is not meant to convey a message of feminism due to the time it was made and its target of being humorous.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Annabelle Lee is a completely stereotypical damsel in distress and does nothing to even come close to being a progressive figure. In so many ways her abilities and intelligence are undermined. The only trait she is portrayed to have that shines a positive light on the damsel in distress stereotype, is courage/bravery. I must admit that while she may not have had a choice, she does show a great deal of courage in her battle to get home. A great example of this is the fact that she is always trying to help Jonnie Gray, the engineer. Yet while her courage breaks the stereotype of a damsel in distress, her ineffectiveness in everything she does quickly repairs it. First of all, while there is nothing wrong with receiving help in order to accomplish something, and it doesn’t make her less of a “man”, the fact that time and time again Jonnie has to save her shows that she is truly a damsel in distress and cannot save herself. Also when she is seen, for example, failing to stop the train, she is yet again depicted as not only helpless but also unintelligent. Lastly with regards to gender roles, she is yet again not breaking any stereotypes. From sweeping the train engine to being thought of as a prize for her hero, she is never depicted as a strong, intelligent, or independent. As a result of the qualities that Annabelle Lee possesses, I think she along with other woman are portrayed by the movie as quite frankly idiots who need a man in their life to reach their full potential. I think it does not break any stereotypes and is certainly not progressive.
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