miker wrote:
"It might have been a popular plot back then [women exposed
as men], and it's still dredged up occasionally. It was used
by John Evans (I think I have the author's name right) in one
of his Halo novels. It was fairly obvious and, like you, I
thought it stupid."
Howard Browne writing as John Evans.
As for the gender shift plot, gender was becoming an
increasingly contentious issue in the era of Spillane and
Evans, although often in the other direction, that of women
acting like men. During WW II, the Rosie the Riveter campaign
told women they could, even should, do men's jobs in
factories, but when the boys came home, new government ads
told them to give up their newfound independence and return
to the kitchen.
And, of course, part of the problem with femmes fatales is
that they did not know their compliant place in society, that
they acted like men. And the men they controlled were often
emasculated, and unworthy of respect because of it. So it's
not hard to see literal gender shifts as the exaggerated
version of the more figurative battle.
I just watched the beautiful DVD reissue of Beyond the Valley
of the Dolls. It's amazing how good a look Russ Meyer gets on
such a small budget. Anyway, . . .
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
It's got a deranged climax scene where a guy turns out to be
a chick. As the threatened "Jungle Lad" says when
"Superwoman" (as the drugged out Z-Man is now calling
him/herself) rips open his/her ruffled shirt to expose
breasts, "You've been a broad all along, a goddamn ugly
broad." In the commentary, screenwriter Roger Ebert (yes, the
movie critic) says that it just came to him as he and Meyer
were writing the final scene, so there are no previous hints
or foreshadowing of the final reveal. As brilliantly over the
top and parodisitic as this movie is, the idea must have been
floating around the pop culture of the time to just pop up
and seem so right, work so well.
Mark
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
--------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in
Yahoo! Groups email.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/6pRQfA/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/kqIolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:
rara-avis-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 03 Jul 2006 EDT