The movie Othello had many interesting scenes that seemed to be related to other scenes in the movie. Many of these scenes happened when she was a male character. Then a similar situation would happen to Othello as a woman.
One particular scene was when Othello had fell in love with young lady. He really cared for her and cherished her. The girl decides to leave Othello. Othello beg for her to stay and tell the lady that he adores her. When the girl leaves the she is depressed and heartbroken. After a while Othello had anger towards all women.
A scene that was similar to this scene was when Othello became a woman. One of the gentlemen asks for Othello hands in marriage. Othello declined and said some similar comments that the girl said to Othello when he was a male. Another scene that was in comparison was when Othello heart was broken, was when she met the guy that was the father of her child. She fell in love with him, but he soon had to leave her. When he left she handles it pretty well. She did not beg for him to stay like she did in the first scene.
Do you think that by having these comparisons have any significance? Also do you think the way that Othello behave in each situation contradict with gender roles?
I was thinking that that Othello behaved differently in similar situations. When Othello was a male he behaved one way, and when Othello was a female she behave in a different way. The thing that was interesting to me is that I expected for her be depressed and heartbroken in the scene when she was a female. These characterics are usually associated with women after someone leaves or break up with them. Othello expresses these emotions more when she was a male and barely expressed these emotions as a woman. It seemed to me that Othello was stronger when she became a female, this could have been from experience. I think that the movie was trying to show that emotions and behavior should not be associated with gender. We should not think that women are always emotional and that men show fewer emotions. It’s depending on the individual not based on what sex you are.
This was my interpretation of the overlaps in the movie let me know you interpretation, or let me know if you agree.
I think these overlaps are interesting because they are parallel situations, with only Orlando's gender (and consequently role in the situations) being reversed. The middle of the movie, in which Orlando changes from male to female is the focal point from which both sides can be seen as mirror images. On one side, Orlando receives the heartbreak created from a women leaving him, while, on the other side, she is the woman refusing to leave everything and go with her lover. Not only is this artistic on the part of the director, but it seems to imply, as you note, the performative qualities of gender. Orlando, both male and female, can best show us the ways in which gender is a social phenomenon rather than something unchangeable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Megan, that these situations are reversed because Orlando's gender is reversed. Its interesting though because in the first situation, when the Russian girl leaves Orlando, he is devastated and stays in bed for days. This level of emotion is typically considered feminine. Yet, when Orlando is female and the man leaves her to visit the U.S., she is composed and strong which is typically masculine. It is an interesting juxtaposition between male Orlando and female Orlando.
ReplyDeleteI think the performative qualities/characteristics of gender is very interesting. The movie really demonstrates that, like Orlando, gender cannot be categorized and when it is, those who do not abide by it are seen as outcasts. Those situations are reversed because so too is Orlando's gender, and as Ashleigh said, the emotions that are typical of a man, and those typical of a woman, are played around with and are not assigned to the "appropriate" gender. This shows that above all, these emotions/characteristics are human, and should not be judged on whether or not they are correct based on the gender that is experiencing them, and instead should be expressed if that individual is truly feeling them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all that's been said. I think the point of the movie was to show that there really isn't a thing called gender and the way they try to prove this point is by overlapping gender stereotypes such as when Orlando lied in bed for days after the Russian woman left him as Ashleigh pointed out. If it wasn't for these overlapping gender stereotypes it would have be much harder to get their point across. I found it interesting how the class was so focused in the beginning as to whether or not Orlando was a male or female. I myself was guilty of this. It was like we couldn't be content unless we could categorize him. I think that also was a point of movie as well to show that it doesn’t matter whether or not Orlando was male or female.
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