Gender Roles

One of the reasons The Scarlet Letter is still relevant today is that gender roles still play a large role in society. The double standards that can be observed between men and women can create problems for both. One example of these double standards is how a man can sleep with many women and be cool, but women are looked down upon for this same behavior. In the James Bond movies, James Bond sleeps with several girls in almost every movie, yet both men and women perceive him as powerful and attractive. If James Bond were female, sleeping around would most likely be unacceptable and audiences would see it as weakness. There are many other ways that women are hurt by gender stereotypes, but instead I want to address how men are negatively impacted by these stereotypes as well.  Men are expected to be tough. Society looks down on a man who talks about his feelings. If a man is upset because of a comment made about him, it is not his place to have a discussion about it. A man is not supposed to share any of his feelings. He is allowed to get upset, but having a reasoned discussion will cause him to be perceived as “girly.” The issue of gender equality has been getting more attention is recent years, but there is still a long way to go before the issues discussed in The Scarlet Letter cease to be relevant to this modern era.

Allow me to play you out...

(in this song the male singer longs for a girl that is hardworking and intelligent, not just attractive)

Unfair portrayal of minorities

In class we discussed how Tonto was portrayed in a racist manner in The Lone Ranger TV show. We talked about how in order for this Native American to be portrayed favorably, he should be promoted to the status of hero along with the Lone Ranger himself, not just a side-kick. In this particular instance, I agree with this strategy. However, it is important to remember that making a minority a powerful character is not always the proper solution when it comes to a fair portrayal. For example, in the show Community, Britta is a strong female character. She is a former anarchist attending community college. The rest of the cast refers to her as "the worst" and she tends to be hypocritical and pretentious. She is not a "strong character" because she is a person with power, she is a strong character because her flaws give her a strong characterization. We don't necessarily need women and minorities to be portrayed as powerful, we just need them to be as dynamic and layered as possible. Another example is in the show The Wire. Omar is a black, gay character who steals from organized crime.

In the first season, his boyfriend is killed which is how the audience knows he is gay. If someone were to start watching from the second season, he would not know Omar's sexuality because it is not essential to the story from that point. He is one of the best characters on the show, neither because he is gay nor despite the fact that he is gay. However he is not a great person, he still is a criminal. I guess my point is this: regardless of a characters race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. they can play any character, good or evil, intelligent or stupid, independent or submissive, as long as they are well written and well portrayed instead of becoming a character archetype.

Allow me to play you out...

Racism in Huck Finn

"Good gracious! anybody hurt?"

"No'm. Killed a nigger."

"Well it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt." -Quote from Huck Finn 

When I read this line I was immediately reminded of Reservoir Dogs, as I had re-watched the movie only days earlier. Early in the movie, the main characters meet up after a diamond heist. The following exchange occurs:

1. Mr. Pink: You kill anybody?

1. Mr. White/Larry: A few cops.

1. Mr. Pink: No real people?

1. Mr. White/Larry: Just cops.

In the beginning of the movie, the criminals are introduced as normal, funny people. However it is in scenes such as this one later in the movie where the audience better understands how crazy these characters are. The obvious contradiction in both quotes is that cops are real people just as blacks are. In Reservoir Dogs the inclusion of this line points out that criminals like Mr. White and Mr. Pink don't think like normal people do. They have created a block in their mind, they can justify killing cops because they view it as a wholly different beast than killing innocent bystanders. In the same way, not thinking of blacks as people allows for them to be treated so poorly. Why should Mrs. Phelps feel remorse for the death of a black man? If she was allowed to feel remorse for that, she could possibly also come to feel guilty about the cruelty of slavery. The conclusion to be drawn here is that racism functions in the same way these criminals do, it warps reality to keep people from understanding fundamental truths. In this one line of dialogue in Huck Finn it is stated how even Mrs. Phelps, who is generally portrayed favorably, has fallen into this trap.

Allow me to play you out...