Tuesday, October 26, 2010
SP The Day of the Outlaw
The role that Helen Crane plays in The Day of the Outlaw mirrors quite similarly the role of the fifties’ housewife. As a young woman in love with Blaise Starrett, Helen struggles to maintain her faithfulness to her husband, a duty which surmounts her own personal desire to be with Starrett, the man with whom she really should have been with. Likewise, women in the fifties were bound to their role as the housewife, taking care of the children, doing laundry, and cooking. Even with the desire of joining the workforce, as some of them had gotten the taste of while being a “Rosie the Riveter,” women were condemned to return to their lives of homemaking. Women during this time were not given any social status, and were merely objects in men’s lives, as depicted when the gang throws around the four women during their Saturday night social. Furthermore, Bruhn is set against letting his men entertain themselves with the women because they would be a distraction – not because it would be inappropriate or harassment. In addition, Starrett claims that much of the action in the film is “too rough for the women;” the women are told repeatedly to stay indoors – just as women were encouraged to stay at home during the 1950s – and are violently confronted when they attempt to leave. Not only are women’s rights restricted, but their lives are centered around serving men. The woman of the fifties was meant to serve her husband when he got home, and take care of the entire home. This dynamic is reflected in Helen’s role, when she offers herself to Starrett “in any terms [he] wants, as long as [he] doesn’t hurt [her] husband.” Helen sacrifices her own free will for her husband, which emphasizes the complete dedication that the role of the fifties woman was supposed to have for her husband.
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The Day of the Outlaw illustrates the confined and controlled role of women in American society during the 1950s, and how little opportunity they have outside of the home. The initial setting of the film alludes to the conditions that women feel in their roles – the town is isolated and in the middle of nowhere, far from other towns, and is dominated by men. The fact that there are only four women in the entire population shows that the women have little influence or power in the town. Once the gang comes into town, the women are one of the first demands that they have – they are referred to as men’s property, and as objects of pleasure, not actual people who should be respected. This indication compares to the role of women in the 1950s – they were housewives, meant to serve their husbands and take care of their children, and that was all. Any activity outside of those was considered untraditional for a woman, and therefore they were prohibited from doing so. The Saturday night social that Bruhn and his gang have gives a clear illustration of women in this film: objects of pleasure thrown around like ragdolls for the entertainment of men. The only empathy that Bruhn shows for the women, which leads him to forbid his men from actually having the women, is because they would be a distraction to their plan, not because it would be inappropriate or harassment. In addition to their powerless positions, the women are confined to the indoors, just as women were encouraged to stay at home during the 1950s. When they attempt to leave the buildings, they are not only stopped, but violently confronted, showing the adamant opposition men have to the idea of women leaving their place as housewives. Not only are all the women’s rights restricted, but their lives are centered around serving men. The woman of the fifties was meant to serve her husband dinner when he got home and take care of his house and children when he was away. This dynamic is reflected in Helen Crane’s role, when she offers herself to Starrett “in any terms [he] wants, as long as [he] doesn’t hurt [her] husband.” Helen offers to sacrifice herself for her husband, which emphasizes the complete dedicate that the role of the fifties woman was supposed to have for her husband. Such a strong presentation of the faithful and dutiful wife in The Day of the Outlaw is odd on the Western genre, but as the issue of women’s rights becomes stronger in society, it manifests the opposite – the traditional role of women – so strongly in this film to reinforce the value of the submissive woman.
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