What a Difference a War Can Make: How Mildred Pierce Reflected Changed Gender Dynamics in Noir

What a Difference a War Can Make: How Mildred Pierce Reflected Changed Gender Dynamics in Noir

Film Noir films are defined by their archetypes, such as their lighting, ethos, and pathos, but perhaps most important is the archetype of its characters. These films hold a standard of having rough, ridged men as a protagonist that slowly spirals down some sort of destructive, existential spiral. However, as Janey Place describes in her essay “Women in Film Noir,” the female characters in these films are split into two categories: the spider woman and the nurturing woman. These female archetypes can be further broken down into two simple terms: evil and good, respectively. Noir films generally have very little use for shades of grey in their female characters. This lack of use stems largely from the general point-of-view used in a grand majority of these films, which is dominated by a male landscape. This domination by men over women is what helps to make 1945’s Mildred Pierce a standout piece of film noir cinema, because its protagonist is not a man, but rather a woman. In this paper, I will discuss how Mildred Pierce managed to subvert the gender relations of film noir, such as The Big Sleep, and the time period surrounding its release by placing power in the film in the hands of a woman.

To properly understand what made Mildred Pierce’s placement of power so remarkable, it is imperative that context is established. The film was released in September of 1945, in the same month as World War II ending. Of course, during World War II, women began to take on more power in the American labor force, and in society as a whole. This shift in power dynamics, that occurred while many men were overseas, helped to bring the struggles of women to the forefront of societal problems by simply putting them in a better position to make it known. Coincidentally, both Mildred Pierce and The Big Sleep were originally released as novels and later adapted into motion pictures. However, the latter novel was actually published the same year World War II began. This release date is important because it predates the shift in gender dynamics caused by the war. Furthermore, the change in release date also helps to account for The Big Sleep’s less than stellar treatment of its female characters in its original medium, unlike that which is found in the 1946 adaptation, or what is found in the 1945 adaptation of Mildred Pierce where more emphasis is placed on the power of women in society.

There are actually two powerful women in Mildred Pierce that are of importance: Mildred, and her daughter, Veda. Both of these women start in a lower position than men, only to rise above them through their perseverance. Although, the one that truly raises the most amongst society is Mildred, who at the beginning of the film seems to be a simple housewife; however, it is quickly revealed that she is really more of a breadwinner than her own husband by running a small neighborhood business out of her kitchen. This secret power that Mildred holds is important because in society she still is below her husband. As Sylvia Harvey writes in her essay “Woman’s Place: The Absent Family of Film Noir,” a “woman’s place in the home determines her position in society, but also serves as a reflection of oppressive social relationships generally” (36). The oppressive nature of Mildred’s marriage is further explored when it is revealed that her husband has been having an affair and he is set to leave her, instead of her leaving him. It is here where the shift in gender dynamics begins to play a large role in the film, because instead of simply giving up to her husband, she stands her ground and makes an effort to provide for her remaining family. Furthermore, Mildred’s decision to take action instead of bowing down defies both basic archetypes of film noir; Mildred is neither a full-on spider woman, nor is she only just a nurturing woman. Instead, Mildred unknowingly uses the two archetypes to her advantage throughout the film. She constantly emasculates the male characters in the film, such as in the scene where she uses a marriage proposal to Monte — that she instigated — as a business decision in an attempt to win her daughter back, as she knows she has money and power while Monte is in need of it; and instead of allowing him to give her a kiss, she raises the glass in her hand just before he can plant his lips.

When Mildred Pierce is compared to The Big Sleep — in book form — there’s a sharp contrast to the usage of female characters and their respective archetypes. The two central female characters in The Big Sleep are Vivian Sternwood and Carmen Sternwood. Both of these characters fall underneath of the web of being spider women, in regards to their archetypes. As Janey Place would write, each woman is an “evil seductress who tempts man and brings about his destruction” (47). As mentioned earlier, the original text of The Big Sleep wasn’t kind to its female characters, with author Raymond Chandler even going so far as to have his lead protagonist, Marlowe, tearing his “bed to pieces savagely,” before thinking, “Women make me sick,” after Carmen Sternwood laid naked in it the night prior in an attempt to seduce Marlowe (159). In fact, it is this female character of Carmen Sternwood that is presented in the worst light from Chandler, as she serves no other purpose than to be a sexed-up monstrosity that is at the heart of the book’s central mystery.

Even with Carmen being the ultimate villain at the heart of The Big Sleep, her power — albeit admittedly evil power — is taken away from her when it is revealed that she is mentally ill and needs to be taken away to be cured; this gives the impression that Carmen is not to blame for taking action against others, but rather that her mental illness holds all of her autonomy throughout the story. This taking away of autonomy clearly goes against how Mildred is presented in Mildred Pierce, for it is Mildred’s taking of action that drives the core plot forward. Furthermore, Carmen’s lack of true autonomy fits in nicely with the state of women’s power at the time of The Big Sleep’s publication pre-World War II. These moments of women’s mistreatment are not truly to be found in Mildred Pierce. Where Carmen in The Big Sleep merely throws herself constantly at Marlowe, Mildred in Mildred Pierce constantly denies her wannabe suitor in Wally Fay. With these denials toward Wally, it’s shown that Mildred is making herself a woman free to choose whomever she desires to be with.

Once more there’s a clear distinction in the way gender dynamics are represented between The Big Sleep and Mildred Pierce. A lot of this clear distinction stems from the time periods both texts were released. The Big Sleep represents an older pre-World War II way of thinking — of having women be nothing more than fodder for the male protagonist to move through and/or sleep with. Whereas Mildred Pierce looks at a world in which a woman can actually progress from under the thumb of others, specifically the thumb of a man. While the latter film would not go on to completely revolutionize the film noir landscape, it remains, even in 2013, an important moment of showing women can be something more than a man’s plaything.

Works Cited

Chandler, Raymond. The Big Sleep. United States of America: Vintage Books, 1992. Print.

Harvey, Sylvia. “Woman’s Place: The Absent Family of Film Noir.” Women in Film Noir. Ed. E. Ann Kaplan. London: BFI Publishing, 1980. 35–45. Print.

Place, Janey. “Women in Film Noir.” Women in Film Noir. Ed. E. Ann Kaplan. London: BFI Publishing, 1980. 47–68. Print.