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?
The movie The General does play into traditional gender roles, and often uses them to make the butt of a joke. Throughout The General Buster Keaton incorporates a series of practical jokes as well as well as some knocks on his character and Annabelle Lee, the female protagonist. When making fun of Annabelle Lee, he often uses stereotypical things of the time about women to tell his jokes. One example of this is when Annabelle Lee is throwing wood into a fire, and finds a piece that has hole in the middle, and throws it away. Obviously this doesn’t matter when you’re burning wood, but it was admittedly funny to see her be a perfectionist in that scenario. While this may be humorous, it doesn’t challenge any stereotypes of the time, and furthers the stereotype that women shouldn’t do that kind of work. To the film’s credit however, some of the other jokes in the film that some see as sexist, are merely realistic. There’s a scene where Buster Keaton jumps of the train, and can’t catch back up, so Annabelle Lee tries to figure out how to stop, but doesn’t until he’s ready to get back on in another segment of track. This scene isn’t sexist because viewers are meant to assume that she hasn’t controlled a train before, and not many people can expertly work a train on their first time aboard. Lastly, the thing that isn’t necessarily sexist, but the ‘damsel in distress’ scenario seems like it was used simply because it was a common plot of the time, and while it in itself may be considered sexist, it being used by The General shouldn’t be seen as sexist in itself.
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ReplyDeleteAs a women Annabelle played two separate roles in the film. The first was the typical “damsel in distress”. She is visibly upset because she views Johnny as a coward as he cannot get into the army. Here she makes a judgment without knowing what Johnny is truly made of and that a uniform doesn’t make the man. She is again portrayed as a vacuous stereotypical housewife as they are escaping on the locomotive and she is sweeping the car and throwing out imperfect firewood. Upon returning from saving the confederate army she immediately goes to comfort her father and is again disappointed when the general does not recognized Johnny Grey’s heroism. It is not until the end of the film when Johnny is promoted to a lieutenant in the confederacy that Annabelle sees his actions as trues heroism. The second role she plays is a woman with strong character, decision making capabilities and courage. After Johnny saves her from the house and she realizes what he is trying to accomplish, she immediately becomes his partner in the mission and her patriotism and admiration increases. She again exhibits her independence and quick thinking along with courage when she decides to put the train in reverse to go back for Johnny. As Annabelle begins to understand the importance of their mission she becomes a more progressive figure and exhibits independent thinking and individual courage. Disappointingly even though she knows in her heart that Johnny is a hero, she doesn’t acknowledge it until he is promoted and recognized as a hero at the end of the film.
ReplyDeleteI believe Annabelle Lee is a more complicated character than aforementioned as a damsel in distress. Firstly, she is not truly kidnapped on account of her lack of strength or intelligence; it is merely due to coincidence. And I would argue that Annabelle Lee’s incompetence when driving the train is just to add to the comedy of The General because there are times when Buster Keaton’s character, Johnnie, is just as clueless. For example, when he is picking up parts of a wooden fence to use as firewood, he throws them up on the back of the train and is oblivious to the fact that they fall off a few seconds later. The lack of awareness adds to the comedy in the movie, and I think that goes for characters of both genders here. Annabelle Lee also does help when escaping the Northern soldiers by creating obstacles and learning on the job. She ties a rope across the train tracks in order to temporarily hinder the Northern train’s progress. And while she does sweep the engine with a broom, she willingly feeds the fire with wood. Overall, I think Annabelle Lee is a progressive figure since she is an accomplice in many of the actions that end up lead to her and Johnnie’s escape. It is only when the film tries to be funny when the gender roles are the most apparent. For example, the times when Annabelle Lee sweeping the engine or ineffectively driving the train are moments in which The General tries to get a laugh out of the audience.
ReplyDeleteAnnabelle Lee in the movie The General falls victim to the patriarchal constrains during a time period when being submissive was the forced reality of women. I believe that Annabelle for the most part is a wise young lady with set standards of the man who she wants to fall in love with. She is not a complete damsel in distress due to the fact that she knows how to conduct a train and was able to tie a rope across the railway to trap and slow down the northerners. However, when Johnnie Gray is rejected from the army she is not supportive and instead looks at him as less of a man because of his lack of confederate uniform. She is quite stubborn and does not see Johnnie as the hero he is until the end of the film. Even when Johnnie saves her and they are escaping through the rainy woods she attempts to walk in her own way and not follow Johnnie. At first it seems as though she is not fully appreciative of Johnnie saving her but her efforts to help build their lead on the train did not go unnoticed. Average Johnnie was not enough for Annabelle to love, she wanted a confederate soldier on her arm to fit the stereotypical wife so it was not until after he help win the battle across the river till she could truly love him. Furthermore, the patriarchy and stereotypes of southern women win in The General as Annabelle Lee falls victim to the constraints for men and women during this time.
ReplyDeleteThroughout most of the movie, Annabelle Lee is the typical ‘damsel in distress’ and is useless in her escape, but she has moments in which she is more progressive. Form the beginning, Annabelle is seen as submissive and subservient to her father and brother, as she obeys them. She is also easily captured and does not do much to fight against her kidnappers. During her rescue by Johnnie, she is basically useless and tends to slow them down, risking recapture. During very few parts of the movie, however, she is slightly more useful and progressive. For example, she agrees to be shoved into a canvas bag and carried around by Johnnie in order to escape. Many women of her standing, based on her nice dress, would not consent to be put into a bag and schlepped around, but she is. Annabelle is even a key part of the plan to remove a pin from between the train carriages that allows them to escape in the newly freed train. After this point, she is again rather useless and even starts sweeping the train during a tense moment instead of really helping. However, after many failed attempts, she somewhat learns to drive the train and becomes more helpful and even saves Johnnie at one point. Although throughout most of this film, Annabelle Lee is basically useless, she has some instances in which she exhibits traits that a feminist could admire. She is rather brave, as she does at least try to help Johnnie with the train, and she does play some role in their escape. This film does not have the typical gender roles, as Johnnie is not a normal buff hero and Annabelle is not a completely helpless damsel in distress, although it does follow some stereotypes, especially with the heroine.
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