An Analysis Of The Projections In The Film And Novel Of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes By Anita Loos

Overview of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

The novel ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ by Anita Loos is but a broadcast of the emotions and thoughts expressed in text format contained in the personal diary of an actress and aspirant to a higher social status Lorelei Lee. The book revolves around the transformation of Lorelei, a small town girl from America on her travel to the continent of Europe across the Atlantic in the cities of London and Paris. The novel recounts of how her attitude changed and how she started to perceive the men in her life as mere stepping stones for her to expensive gifts and a source of leading a lavish lifestyle for her. She was sent over there to pursue her studies in Europe, instead she found interest in a promiscuous life. In the novel the stark difference in the worldview of Lorelei and her friend Dorothy is quite evident, in fact had Dorothy and her levelheadedness not been a part of the novel then establishing the charm of Lorelei would have been difficult. The basic purpose of Anita Loos was to convey the fruitlessness of snobbery and the fascination for living a life of lavishness.

The novel was made into a film in the year 1953, and the role of Lorelei Lee was played by Marilyn Munroe. Several distortions have been made in the film. Dorothy and Lorelei both were into the glamour industry and they sail off to Paris on Lorelei being pursued by Gus Junior. Dorothy and Lorelei both spend a happy time there in Paris shopping, dining at chique restaurants and lodging at luxurious hotels. The friendship between Dorothy and Lorelei has been shown in quite positive light and they approve of each other’s choices. Dorothy goes to the extent of breaking up with the man who wanted to pursue her as he was trying to spy upon Lorelei. Hard times fall upon them and they have to earn their living by working at bars and at restaurants as the source of luxury has been cut off. However they do not leave each other at their hard times and they do not leave each other and struggle till the end until they secure their future. The film is a comedy as the friends reconcile with each other at the end and they lead a happily marfied life forever.

This is in a nutshell about the film and the novel in a synoptic view. In the following sections the analysis shall be dealing with the thesis statement of locating the difference in the projections in the film and the novel.

Analysis of the Difference in Projections between the Novel and Film

“A kiss on the hand may feel very, very good, but a diamond and sapphire bracelet lasts forever.” This particular quotation from the novel shows at the face value that the central character of the novel, Lorelei is what is in common parlance referred to as a gold digger. That is a woman who dishes herself out to the men for sexual favours against the promise of a lavish lifestyle. The character of Lorelei has been vulgarized to such a level that it is conceiveably impossible for a reader to think of her as a good woman. However the critics point out that the character of Lorelei has been deprived of autonomy and the face value of what has been made to project by Lorelei is taken a bit too much literally without analyzing it in a nuanced way. Hence the net result has been that the character has been highly misunderstood. The account of the literary critiques underneath says it all. ‘Anita Loos’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes constantly acknowledges tensions between the intentions and actions of its protagonist, Lorelei Lee. Some literary critics and authors have speculated in depth the reasons and/or effects of Lorelei’s humorous oblivion, coming to the conclusion that Loos creates this character as a parody for the reader. This article asserts instead that readers should grant Lorelei autonomy, thus giving her more credit than she is generally given at face value’ (Saeed). This shows that the sole intention of the novel is not to emphasize on the promiscuity of the central character.

“Don’t you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You might not marry a girl just because she’s pretty, but, my goodness, Doesn’t it help?” This particular quote from the film shows that the factor of promiscuity of the character in the novel has been maintained in the film as it is and that is a reflection of the conception of sexuality and gender in the post second world war Amnerica. This quote exemplifies it all,‘social class identities are integral to some of the most highly sexualized images produced in post-war Hollywood film. It considers the tools of intersectionality to analyze the juxtaposition of social class and gender identities that are integral to the construction of many sexual images.’ (Rosen and Press). The intention is to feed upon the popular culture and serve to the masses what they prefer the most instead of trying to trying to do justice to the novel. However, the scene of marriage and the cherishing of humble life in the film shows that the transformation is aimed at catering to the masses and they prefer films which do not have a sad ending.

Futility of Snobbery vs Post-WWII American Conception of Gender and Sexuality

There are definitely reasons as to why there have been transformations in the film. Primarily, total reproduction of the novel into the film as it is would have been considered by public as not something new and would not be received well by the audience. The factor of novelty would have been lost. Secondly, the film was supposed to cater to a wide range of audience and the novel is limited to just those persons who cherish and appreciate reading. Naturally certain aspects have been changed from the novel just to maintain the novelty of the film and to provide the audience something new. The commercial interests are quite glaring in the projection of the film.

According to Laura Mulvey’s theorization, the woman bodies have been treated as commodities and fetish for the men in both the film and the novel, and that is reflective of the mystery that the sexuality of women comprises of. In the novel it has been projected that a womn who is bod and outrageous and sexually explicit compared to a woman who is serious and down to earth. In the film, the same thing has been projected in a different way. Only the aspect of attractiveness of women has been given priority without making any room for the seriousness of Dorothy in the novel. The objectification of women is quite evident.

Conclusion

Thus it becomes very clear that by merely watching the film it is impossible to make an idea about what is originally penned down in the novel, as the amount of distortion is quite evident. Anita Loos had made few grammatical changes and had presented the sentiments and the anecdotes in an unadulterated form without providing any personal viewpoint of her own. It was an exact representation of the feelings of the person named Lorelei Lee. The film on the other hand had to conform to factors such as the outreach to the audience and the commercial value of the film is much more important than that of a novel. The novel was not composed in order to make it saleable rather it was to thrill the readers. Hence the difference lies in the projections in the film and the novel, as they have different sets of agendas. However the novelty of the film and the novel cannot be compared and to consider one better than the other is not justified.

References

Saeed, Amanda. “Lorelei’s Guide to a Lady’s Luxury: The Secrets of Social Mobility in Anita Loos’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” (2018).

Rosen, Marjorie, and Andrea Press. “Sex, class, and trash: money, status, and classed “dreams” in classical hollywood cinema.” Media and Class. Routledge, 2017. 68-82.