Sunday, March 29, 2020
I've Got You Under My Thumb?
Early Summer is the story of a society in which women are expected to marry before the age of 29, often in arranged marriages negotiated by their family, especially fathers and brothers. Yet at the same time, Noriko rejects the candidate chosen for her by her boss and family and -- on the spur of the moment -- agrees to marry a family friend. What is this movie saying about patriarchal structure, marriage, and women's liberation in the modern Japan of the 1950's?
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Throughout the film, there are various times when we can see a patriarchal society reflected in how people treat women, yet every time the woman does not seem affected by it to show women's liberation at the time. One example is when Noriko's family tells her boss that she chose to marry someone else. In this scene, her boss seems to be very confused and makes remarks that patronize Noriko. Yet her family does not agree with him and just nod and smile and move on. Even though his boss seems very extreme, it seems like her family only acts out or respect, but ultimately, what he says is silly and lets Noriko make the decisions she wants, even if goes against tradition. Additionally, Noriko takes role to a classic house wife, even though she is not married, but takes on the tasks or household chores and aids her younger siblings. In the relationship between her and her siblings, who are both younger boys, we see that she acts more like a maid to them who serves them lunch and follows their commands. This could be seen as traditional roles for women at the time, yet every time this happens, Noriko smiles and nods and seems very unaffected by them. Moreover, since they are little kids, when they order around Noriko, it seems childish which shows how that type of treatment is now outdated and immature. In summary, while various male figures in the film Early Summer seem to reflect a patriarchal culture, the unserious response to that treatment shows that it is childish and no longer a norm, in order to reflect the liberation of women in Japan at the time.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, Early Summer, the director, Ozu, admonishes and attempts to defy patriarchal norms of the time through the character Noriko and her interactions with other characters. In Japanese culture during the time this movie is set, marriages are often arranged by the father or older brother, and many women are expected to be married at a pretty young age. A main character of the movie, Noriko, is however 29 and unmarried for much of the movie. Her family and friends around her are confused and slightly upset that she has not yet found her match at her age, which is something that would usually be emblematic of a patriarchal society. However, the way Noriko interacts with everyone in the movie actually lends more credence to the idea that it is okay to be married when it is right and defy the rules of society. Throughout the course of the film, many people remark on her status as a single, one of these people being her boss, who offers to set Noriko up with someone he knows, an aging businessman. Throughout the film, Noriko seriously entertains the idea of marrying this Mr. Manabe, however, she eventually decides against it and marries someone she has known since childhood and who is divorced with children. To marry someone who has children is seen as a downside by Noriko’s family, so this move to marry whom she really wants defies the patriarchy in two regards. She not only rejects the traditional role of arranged marriages in partnership but also defies ideas in Japan as to who a suitable lover is. Not only does Noriko at the end of the story defy the ways in which marriage and love play out according to the patriarchy, she also defends her status as an older single throughout the movie thanks to Ozu. People who mentions her status as a single range from her boss to her family to her married friends. All of them seems to think of it as something deficient and all have eccentric and slightly strange opinions on what it means to be single. Ozu, through his direction, attempts to make these people critiquing her lifestyle seem silly and out of touch all the while having Noriko smile and laugh off their opinions as she continues to live for herself. It is quite evident, through Noriko’s body language that she is independent and not concerned about what people think of her marital status. Not only does Ozu promote the idea that people can marry whenever they want, but he also promotes the idea that people should be able to marry whomever they want to through the character of Noriko. This direction of the movie is quite progressive and is in direct defiance of Japan’s patriarchy during the period as it promotes more freedom of life and love.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the film, there are many examples of a patriarchal structure present in the way women are treated by other characters in the film. The difference is that the women in the film seemingly act unaffected to whatever actions or comments they are faced with by others. For example, Noriko plays the “maid” role by handling household chores that could be traditionally seen as jobs that women would hold back then. Towards the kids in the film, Noriko acts as their babysitter rather than a family member. The kids usually make snarky remarks towards her and she proceeds to smile and move on without any sort of retort towards them. She serves them with sandwiches and in return receives no sort of gratitude from the kids, which could possibly be because they are young kids and can’t differentiate between right and wrong yet. Noriko’s unaffected reaction to these remarks brings to light the liberation that women experienced at the time. The behavior by the children comes off as a nuisance and immature with no serious treatment needed for the kids to mend their ways. Another example includes when Noriko’s family tells her boss that she decided to marry someone else. The boss continues to treat Noriko’s situation condescendingly while the family continues to quietly listen, most likely out of respect. But, the boss in the end allows for Noriko to make her own decisions and doesn’t proceed to force Noriko or hold a grudge against her. This once again portrays the sense of liberation that women experienced back then with situations as such. Mostly the men would be responsible for determining who the daughter would marry, but in this case Noriko’s family ended up somewhat supporting Noriko’s decision and not forcing anything upon her.
ReplyDeleteWhat is this movie saying about patriarchal structure, marriage, and women's liberation in the modern Japan of the 1950's?
ReplyDeleteEarly Summer depicts a clear patriarchal society but also shows how it is being challenged. The thing that stood out the most to me was the fact that the women were ALWAYS smiling. It seemed very strange to me because it happened throughout the entire film and seemed unnatural. I wonder if that is a way of showing the facade that these women felt they needed to portray and could not show their true emotions as the men did. Because men like Noriko's brother would often lose his temper and the women would have to calm him down, these women always had to be the calm caretakers for the men and children. Noriko challenged this patriarchal society by rejecting the man her family wanted her to marry. I think this action took a lot of courage because it went against tradition and expectation however Noriko didn't seem to care that much about keeping up with that tradition. When Noriko agreed to marry a family friend without much hesitation I believe it wasn't because she really wanted to get married, it's because she knew she would be helping out her family friends by making them happy and she got to make this decision for herself.
Early Summer clearly shows a patriarchal society that is controlling over all of the women. I found it very interesting how many times the two little boys were extremely rude to the women. For example when the boy wanted new train set and the lady said that he doesn't need it. He continues by calling her mean names and calling her stupid. She just stands there smiling as if this boy had just complimented her when in reality he was being very rude to her. I also found it very interesting how in this movie when the men would talk about their spouse they would always say my wife even if the person they were talking to knew their wife very well. I think that this shows that they think there is some sort of ownership that they have to these women. I did not realize how patriarchal this movie was going to be. The women would always serve the men in this movie and would always be the ones to do the chores around the house. Like when the one guy came home from work his wife came right down stairs and helped him get dressed and served him tea. I saw through this film, a clear image of a patriarchal society.
ReplyDeleteFinding Noriko a husband is the major focus of the film. Between the arrangement with an older associate of her boss, the teasing by her married friends about her not having a man yet, and her parents and brother pressuring her to find someone soon, there is rarely a scene where marriage isn’t the topic of conversation. Upon first glance Early Summer appears to be pushing against the traditional values of Japan at the time by having Noriko constantly reject the marriage proposals and arrangements suggested by her parents and brother. Rather than directly giving in to the wishes of her parents or deciding to remain single, she chooses to marry a family friend. While her family is happy that she finally has chosen someone to wed, they believe that he is the wrong choice and that Noriko would be much better off with her boss’s associate who is much older than her, but makes good money and would allow her to stay in Tokyo rather than moving to rural Akita. The choice to marry a family friend may seem in opposition to traditional beliefs and be only out of love, but the choice to marry him was made rather spur of the moment after being asked by his mother. It leaves Early Summer in a strange middle ground of transition, where the pressures to traditional beliefs are still ever prevalent, but moving against it isn’t impossible. I believe that accurately demonstrates where Japan was during the 1950s. There was still a tight grip on the traditions of the past, but these traditions were being challenged, creating a divide between the younger and older generation and leaving those in the middle to find their own way. For Noriko, that was to compromise, finding someone to marry while also having the choice be completely hers without input from her parents or brother.
ReplyDeleteThis was done by Katelyn Shakir my account just keeps kicking me out.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the film Early Summer, depicts a patriarchal society that is underway of being abolished. Throughout the film there are multiple situations where the uprising of women is shown. One of these scenes is shown when there are two women and a man sitting down and eating. This scene particularly shows the strength that women are starting to have because as the man is rude to these women as insulting them, they are not hesitant to say something back to the man. This is important because in a patriarchal society, a woman would never think back to insulting a man. Another scene was when Noriko decided to marry someone beyond her families wishes. During this scene not only did Noriko defy her families wishes, but she did not even as for their opinion. Looking deeper into that scene as well, Noriko’s brother had brought her downstairs to have a talk with her parents and to yell at her. Although her brother takes role of what a patriarchal society is, her mother is the one who ends the conversation and tells her husband to go back upstairs to go to bed. Another important scene was at Noriko’s job. Noriko was not present, but her friend had dropped by, the guy Noriko works with was insulting her friend, but that being said, the friend spoke up and told the man to stop. This film all together was created to reflect the uprising of women in society. Throughout the film a patriarchal society is shown, but it is depicted as weak and not controlling as a normal patriarchal society would be.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Early Summer, it is apparent that old fashion marital ideals are held true to the people, although this is a time of change for their people, and it is fair to say some of the old customs may slowly be going by the wayside. Everybody is accustomed to the way that marriage usually works in this society although when Noriko decides to make a decision of her own, it is not frowned upon as much as it would have been twenty years prior. For a long time society has been moving away from a patriarchal past, and this film documents a time of change in Japan, and goes to show that this change can still lead to happiness and a successful family. By no means was this then the only option in the future, but it gave more empowerment to the people who needed it most in this time.
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