Movies

Giant
A film directed by George Stevens and starred by Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, depicted the life and culture of Texas in the 1950s.  The story primarily revolved around three lives.  Bick Benedict, the Texan owner of a vast ranch of 595,000 acres.  The socialite Leslie, who came from Maryland and later became Bicks wife.  Jett Rink the handyman of the Benedicts who later struck oil in his tiny land and became very wealthy  even wealthier than the Benedicts.

The story began with Rick going to Maryland to buy a horse.  There he found himself enchanted by the beauty and style of Leslie and realized he was to leave with the horse and its owner  as his wife.  Rick brought Leslie to the vast nothingness of Texas the brown bushes and the dusty winds.  Leslie took to herself the mission to prove to Rick that she is now a Texan and is very willing to adapt to the harsh life Texas has to offer.  Also depicted in the film is the racism and ill feelings towards the Mexicans by the Texans  which Leslie found repulsive.

The story also tells about the handyman, Jett, who, by a fortunate-unfortunate event, was blessed with a tiny part of the huge Reata ranch (the ranch owned by the Benedicts).  Jett refused to trade his land for money twice its value.  The film emphasized the importance of land over money as was evident in their dialogue and the decision Jett made.  In his Little Reata, the name he gave his property, did he build his home.  It was not so long until he found out that the land, despite of its bareness, contained something more valuable than gold.  Oil.

On the second half of the story, we see Jett Rink now very wealthy.  He owns a huge oil company, an airline business, and a hotel business.  Rich.  Rich.  Rich.  Now Jett Rink is more powerful than the American politicians who are constantly surrounding him trying to gain his favor.

The story reaches its climax at the party hosted by Jett and with him and Bick on their stances for a fist fight.  Jett could barely hold himself upright due to being very drunk.  Bick realized one thing about the very drunk Jett and said Youre not even worth hitting.  Youre all through..  Jett was left in the party all alone, bitter, and miserable.

Written On The Wind
A film directed by Douglas Sirk and starred by Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone.  Similar to Giant, the film depicted the lives of a wealthy family who owned one of the oil businesses in Texas.

The story centered on four persons, Kyle Hadley the playboy  alcoholic son of Texas oil baron Jasper Hadley Marylee Hadley the self-destructive nymphomaniac sister of Kyle Mitch Wayne the every loyal best friend of Kyle Lucy Moore the New York City executive secretary who became Kyles wife.

How far can a friendship endure when both men fall in love with the same woman  In pocket books and love stories, the woman usually chooses the better man.  But in reality, as was portrayed by the film, it is the one with the money and power who always wins the girl.  Although Lucys character portrayed a woman who prefers not to be lavished by gold but instead sees through the gold and finds the diamond inside Kyles heart.  The two fell in love and got married while Mitch secretly suffers the pain of his unexpressed love for Lucy.
Marylee on the other hand witnesses all this and seeks to capitalize on the situation to gain Mitchs attention and affection.  She practically falls at Mitchs feet begging him to love her as she loves him.  Marylee remembers the childhood moments with her confessing her love to Mitch.  She finds ways to steal Mitchs time so they can spend time together hoping Mitch will be able to reciprocate her feelings.
But Mitch loves Lucy.

The story reached its climax with Kyle depressed and drunk over the news that he had a low sperm count.  Lucy learning it was wrong after the doctor announced her to be pregnant  But despite the news, Kyle was already buried in his despair and his mind muddied by alcohol.  Accusing Lucy of having an affair with Mitch and that the baby was not his but Mitchs, the struggle began and eventually ending with Kyle lying on the dirty pavement outside their mansion with a bullet in his belly.  Dead.

Comparative Analysis
How do these two films compare and contrast regarding the manner that they have portrayed the rich in the 1950s era  Probably the answer to that question is that they are not so different in their portrayal of the rich.  If we look at the two main characters of each film, Jett Rink and Kyle Hadley, they had everything.  Money, power, name, connections, popularity, bright future, and most specially they had the luxury of time.  They were both young and vibrant with men and women falling at their feet.  Surely they couldnt ask for anything more.

Yet they feel they have nothing.  Inside they are empty and miserable.  Miserable that they felt they didnt have the love of the people who mattered most to them.  Jett Rink later on confessed that the cause of his despair is the painful fact that the only woman she has loved became Mrs. Benedict.  Kyle, on their first conversations with Lucy, confessed about his being a failure in the eyes of his father and how he thinks the limelight was stolen by his best friend, Mitch.

The two films portrayed the rich in the 1950s to be those whom everyone envy and would kill to be in their shoes  at least on the outside.  In the inside these rich people, if misguided, are more miserable than the beggars on the streets.

Female Archetypes
If we look at the two female heroines in each film, Leslie and Lucy, how do they compare and contrast  Not very much, I would say.  In general each character is portrayed as an individual full of integrity, honesty, compassion, and love.

Leslie, despite of the bareness of Texas and despite of the ill-treatment she received from her sister-in-law, was still determined to be a good and loving wife to her husband.  She was determined to be strong  even physically  to prove to be sufficient for her husband and that she could withstand the harsh demands of the Texan life.  She also displays her abhorrence to racism and sexism.  She was polite, grateful, friendly, and helpful to their Mexican servants despite the fact that being such is unheard of in the Texan culture.  She was extremely offended when being brushed off during her attempt to join the mens conversation on political events.  She portrayed a concerned and caring mother, a loyal and loving wife, and a good friend.

Lucy on the other hand portrayed a character of dignity.  Despite Kyles display of fortune and wealth during their first date, she displayed her respect for herself.  As Mitch said, If she wasnt (different), shed be spitting on your eye.  explaining to Kyle how she wasnt like the other women Kyle has been involved with in the past.  Her display of dignity was strongly proven when right after the moment Kyle turned his back, she hurriedly left the beautiful suite Kyle rented for her and headed to the airport.  This however intrigued Kyle more and soon found himself to be truly and sincerely in love with Lucy.

Social Criticism
The film Giant illuminated the life in Texas during the 1950s.  This included the life of the wealthy  those who owned hundreds of thousands of acres of land, the poor and lowly life of the Mexican servants, the racism towards the Mexicans from the Texans, the friendship and camaraderie that existed within the community, and the overall culture of the Texans even the gender roles and restrictions.  The film also showed the fortune and wealth that the oil business provides.  The film showed the improvement of  not only the land owners lives but also  the community and the people within it.

The film also told about the war and how it affected the lives of the wives and families that were left behind to wait.  There was even a part in the story that was narrated in a very subtle manner.  I am not sure if it was the directors intention but for my interpretation it told about the story of the Mexican boy.  This little boy, who somehow impressed Bick Benedict, grew up to be a fine man.  He joined the army, went to war, and later came home inside a box.  It was a subtle narration of how the war went on with fewer Americans dying but more Mexicans and African-Americans coming home inside a box.

The film emphasized heavily on racism.  Since from the beginning of the movie with Bick Benedict coming down from the train and scolding one of his Mexican servants, his constant plea to Leslie not to associate with the servants and befriend them, to the fist fight with a cook who refused to serve their Mexican customers.  In the end the hero of the story, Bick Benedict, realized the fault of racism and decided to mend his ways by standing up for the Mexicans.  The film also ended with Leslie expressing her admiration towards her husband for defending those whom the Texans considered to be the lesser race and telling him that at that very moment did she realize that  you (Bick) were at last my hero., and that Well, after a hundred years, the Benedict family is a real big success..

Structural Analysis
With Douglas Sirks works in the 1950s and the trend of the melodrama, a question arises whether the film Giant falls under this category

Considering the elements and factors involved that comprise a melodramatic story, the film Written On The Wind displayed plenty of it while Giant displayed only but a few.  Since the main element of a melodrama is the melody and  or the musical scores that accompany scenes which the director feels or wants to accent in order to touch the audiences emotions, Giant only has a few of these musical accompaniments.

The film was almost bare and at times dragging with very lengthy and slow-paced conversations with almost just two camera angles.  The audiences were not primarily moved by the melodies accompanying the scenes but rather with the main story itself that runs through in the dialogue.  The power of influencing the audiences emotions did not heavily rely on the obvious advantage of musical accompaniments.  That power was achieved by the story telling that film director George Stevens has so effectively inculcated in the movie.

The film Giant, with its subtle narratives and story telling and with all factors to consider, would still fall under the category of the 1950s melodrama.  Quiet similar to the second film, Written On The Wind, Giant touches the emotions of its audience with such power as to remain in our hearts for decades.