Monday, February 10, 2020
Gold Diggers and Social Climbers
The Lady Eve portrays the ambitions and schemes of the lower classes to achieve their piece of the American Dream and the anxieties of the upper class to be hoodwinked and cheated by the lower classes. Jean Harrington and her con artist partners will lie, cheat, and even feign love to get their piece of the pie. Charles Pike and his family navigate in a rarified world of expeditions, ocean liners and suburban Connecticut mansions, free of mingling with the hoi polloi, and they flee any whiff of scandal. Yet, somehow Jean and Charles fall in love and even are happily partnered at the end. Is social mobility possible in this movie, at that time (1941)? Can people from different classes find common ground? Do the well-to-do have a reason to fear the lower classes? What is the movie telling us about the politics of class and wealth?
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ReplyDeleteSocial mobility is possible even in 1941 when the movie, the Lady Eve, took place. Although Jean Harrington and her father are using methods of lies and deception to reach their end goal of joining the upper class, they are shown to be successful as so throughout the movie although others might not perceive as such. To be part of the upper class requires that the monetary and also social status criteria be met in order that an individual or couple can be deemed as part of the “upper class”. Jean and her father are seen on a cruise ship traveling from South America, gambling away large sums of money, and even attending extravagant dinner parties with fancy clothes throughout the movie. This shows that joining the upper class was not the problem for the Harrington family but rather fitting in was the issue. Through Jean’s cunning and manipulation, she is able to get Charles to fall in love with her. This love, however shallow, is a two-way consensual transaction that shows that the supposed lower class that Jean represents, truly can find common ground with the upper class. The wealthy have reason to fear for their wealth as cheating and exploitation is a common theme throughout the movie but it is not to the point that stranger are to be automatically labeled as such. The love that Charles falls into with Jean repeatedly show that this transaction between the two is not something that is entirely Jean’s manipulation but there is something real underneath all the lies. The Lady Eve is painting a picture of political class and wealth as something malleable and ever-changing, a revolutionary cycle with someone constantly fighting to gain the top spot. Although Jean’s methods are questionable, her motive is clear and this shows that social mobility, however hard, is possible. After watching the Oscar’s awards I was inspired by Joaquin Phoenix when he accepts his award and gives a speech ending with the thought that, "we're at our best when we support each other not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other towards redemption." (Joaquin Phoenix) The thought that people of all sorts are all growing and learning together is something representative of common ground found within all classes and wealth. The love that is experience by Charles is not just reserved for the upper class or the lower class but is a shared commonality that brings the two closer together in their troublesome romance adventures.
ReplyDeleteSocial mobility is possible in 1941 as shown in The Lady’s Eve. Throughout the film, the Harrington family is shown attending fancy parties and wearing dazzling, expensive-looking clothes. At the same time, they are gambling huge sums of money and are scamming people. Jean is seen busy trying to con Charles and ends up getting him to fall in love with him. This already shows how a lower class member has been able to connect with a person from a higher class. I think the film shows a sort of “hidden” message that class doesn’t matter when it comes to love. Even though deceit was used for Jean to get Charles to fall in love with her, class never came into question in the film. This proves that two people from different social classes can fall in love. The upper class has a reason to fear the lower class through the cons and deceit that Charles goes through from being in a relationship with Jean. The dynamic between Charles and Jean shows how loose wealth and social status plays a role in love affairs. Charles portrays the good side of partners when it comes to relationships. He always stays honest with Jean and never lies or cheats with her. He never questions her class or social status and continues to love her for who she is.The film tells us that class and wealth are held very loosely in the 1914s as per the film. In terms of love between two individuals, social class and wealth hold no bounds on the love between Jean and Charles and their future romantic adventures.
ReplyDeleteIn the time of The Lady Eve, the world was plagued by the enormous class divide between the rich and poor as the American Dream only seemed to help those who started wealthy. The Lady Eve counters this belief with a story of love around a rich heir and lowly con artist. The scandalous union between Jean Harrington and Charles Pike portrays the idea that class movement is possible even between those of different backgrounds. The first act represents Jean as a fellow well of citizen and only when it is discovered that she is a con artist does Charles break up with her. Following their break up, Jean takes on the persona of a princess from England to try and entice Charles again as revenge. They end up married and Jean then ruins the relationship through constant teasing and they divorce. To end the film Charles finds Jean as her normal self again, a con artist that swindles people on cruise liners. This is when they truly fall in love. The film states that the idea of wealthy people sticking to their clan does not work out either ending in a messy divorce or deceptive lies causing a break up. But when it is all uncovered Charles still falls for the real Jean, finding the most common ground between humans, love. The Lady Eve tells the audience “so what?” why does it matter that they are different we are all the same in the end and are still united by the same ideas and that we need to move on from the old ideas of class and wealth.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, “The Lady Eve”, social mobility is possible in 1941 as shown by Jean and Charles’ relationship. Jean is a lowly con artist who works with her father and friend to scam wealthy business people who think they’re good at cards. Charles Pike is a newfound billionaire after finding out he’s inherited his father’s ale company. People from different classes can find common ground if the lower class acts as though they belong with the upper class, seen in the film as Jean, her father and friend act as though they belong to the upper class. Jean and her father dress in fancy clothes and have a nice suite on the boat and act as though they have much more money than they do have which allows them to get close to Pike. If they were wearing simple clothes and didn’t stay in a nice room, Pike would have a harder time connecting with them and giving them attention because there is a lack of similarities in their lives. With a lack in similarities comes a lack of trust by the upper class because they think the lower class really just wants to get a piece of their wealth. As shown by the sign about professional gamblers, the upper class are worried about lower class citizens that will to do anything they can to make money, even by scamming the upper class. Through the film, the upper class’s fear of being robbed and the lower class’s intentions of robbing spark tension between the classes over money, which create the separation between the classes.
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