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Mildred Pierce
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There are three main purposes of the Women's Film and according to Jeanine Basinger, the author of "The Genre" she delineate that placing a women at the centre of the story universe to reaffirm gender stereotypes that a women's place or job is just being a women and nothing more. Lastly to provide a temporary liberation being romantic, sexual, luxury and visual. (Basinger, J, 1993) I suppose I have established that Mildred is the perfect candidate for a women looking for temporary liberation because in my opinion Mildred best represents a women who provide a temporary liberation because Mildred from the beginning was barely getting by with her husband Bert. He in essence stated and paraphrased to Mildred that they are bankrupt and has left his job. One can see that Mildred at first was optimistic of the situation and that could turn around, but once Bert had left the house and was no longer supporting the family in ways as the breadwinner. Mildred had to step up for her children's sake and future. After going through bills she immediately saw that she was financially taut with Bert in the house. She took a job as a waiter, something Bert didn't like neither wanted for his wife at the time because she had been working in the kitchen her whole life since her and Bert married at the age of 17. She quickly became the best waitress to having hopes of opening her own restaurant and starting a romantic relationship with Monte in a few months. She also has many occasion in which Wally will sexually press himself on Mildred (only evident when he hears Bert has left her) giving her the sexual freedom of having more than one many vying for her attention. With her and Monte together she slowly get engulfed with luxury and excess. She also spoils her daughter Veda, more so then she already had by (Monte taking her to the beach house, expensive dinners and fresh flowers).This is evident with her financial liberation from her husband, Bert, Owning property and becoming a businesswoman, new romance, sexual freedom and luxury.
There are four categories of Women's Film that Molly Haskell's classified:
- Sacrifice
- Affliction
- Choice
- Competition
The Movie ‘Mildred Pierce’ specify a Film Noir movie for its lightings, themes, and cinematography. Themes of Film Noir Movies include despair, crime, murder, intrigue. It is so obvious in the opening scene that ‘Mildred Pierce’ is a Film Noir movie where Monte was murdered and led us to think that Mildred was the one who did the crime but in the end, when the truth was revealed where Veda actually was the one who shot Monte. The storyline used flashbacks and Mildred’s voice as the narrator for these flashbacks. The story revolves around the sacrifices and problems of Mildred being a mother and a wife. Every choice that Mildred makes just brought her despair and it seems that there was no hope for her no matter how hard she tried. Even the ending of the movie was not in Mildred’s favor, she trying to cover up Veda’s crime but failed. Most of the scenes took place at night including the murder of Monte, the death of Mildred’s daughter, the interrogation, and the busy hours at Mildred’s restaurant. Apart from that, the lightings inside the house were minimal usually from table lamps creating a gloomy look with heavy shadows and the faces shrouded in darkness.
The role of Butterfly McQueen as Lottie, Mildred’s maid, the racial stereotype “Mammy” role in the movie fits perfectly. The Mammy role is indicated as a black de-sexualized image seen in familial isolation (DelGaudio, 1983, p.1). In the movie, Lottie was the only black person in the movie and it never mentioned whether she had any husband or any children. The mammy role is more associated with members of the white group rather than members of her own race (DelGaudio, 1983, p.1). This fits Lottie’s character for she was a black maid who serves a white family. In the South, the Mammy role’s primary concern is taking care of the children and relieving the mistress from difficult work (Parkhurst, 1938, p.351). In the movie, Lottie was seen not only as a maid in Mildred’s family, but also as a baker at Mildred’s restaurant showing that Lottie is truly loyal and ready to help to her mistress anytime.
The gaze of Mildred steams between the male and female gaze. In my opinion, the male gaze is the most outstanding and powerful, not in the sense that a male comes off as more powerful, but coming from female character in a film noir was unexpected.The film noir set a narrative of two gazes and the first actually being the male. This gazing to me was not evident until after the end when comparing the change of character in Mildred. In the opening scene in which Mildred is at the beach house of Monte while he's dead on the floor she allows Wally in, which is a change in from her former character. She almost gazes through him, almost as a man would at a seductive female. She entices him sexually only to seem to frame him with the murder of Monte. Mildred also has her female gaze of romance and love with her children and Monte in the film. Showing the audience that she is capable of the standard female gaze. Beside her role as a femme fatale would be one due to a character change. From female to male gaze. Once she changed it seemed that she would pick up the idea of killing Monte or at least to her defence have the cold calculation kill power of a man. Mildred easily comes off as one who conflicts with her co-conscious and un co-conscious though and translate them into gaze.
Place, J.A., and L. S. Peterson, “Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir, in Film Comment (New York), January-February 1974
