Gidget

For my community event I decided to go down to the Raven and take in a classic movie. There were a few other things that I would have rather done for this paper but my schedule along with my kids schedule didn’t coincide very well. So here I am in the Raven sitting with a pint waiting for the flick to start. I have never seen the whole movie but I have had the chance to catch a few scenes on cable from time to time, and honestly I am a little worried that I won’t be able to find a way to tie Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale to this girl power movie of the 1950’s. We shall find out after, see you then. It’s a shame there is no popcorn.
Gidget is a young girl with plenty of determination and a booming personality. She goes to the beach with some older girls to sunbathe and try to pick up on boys. That is when I noticed the first attribute that resembles The Handmaid’s tale. While the girls are at the beach the boys that are there completely ignore Gidget and the rest of the girls. Just like in The Handmaid’s tale: the men hardly pay attention to the women unless they want or need something. Yet every time the women have their back turned the men are usually looking them up and down; still living somewhat like they used to, only inside their minds now.
The way that the men act towards Gidget and the other girls is in a very sexist and superior way, just as in The Handmaid’s Tale. Although the way that they treat her resembles the way that they act in the movie rather than that of the book of The Handmaid’s Tale, but being that this is a movie I hope that it is ok to compare both a little. Another similarity is how the boys named her Gidget, combining the words girl and midget. This is not unlike Atwood’s book and how they gave all the handmaid’s combined names like Of-Fred, Offred.
Gidget just like Offred is willing to do whatever she needs to do to get what she wants. From playing the boys against each other to try and land the one she wants or begging her parents for the money to buy her surfboard. Of course this is not like Offred and using her body to stay alive and out of the colonies, but it has the same principals behind the idea.
One more thing that I noticed, and while being complete speculation on my part I couldn’t stop letting the thought cross my mind: Is Gidget’s best friend who I don’t think was ever named gay just like Moira. Of course in the 1950's even if she was gay and was supposed to be in the movie, they would have never insinuated that in that back then. Although you look at the way she is so butch and rough and tough. Always dressed tomboyish and usually not doing anything feminine when we see her. It might have been a strong insinuation back then.
All in all it was a decent movie. It was probably much better in 1956 and of the best quality then, but for this day and age it wasn’t the best. Yet that is what made it a challenge. I had to look past all of the bad acting, fake scenery, and old film to find the story behind the movie. I am glad that I came to watch this flick and I hope that I tied it together enough with The Handmaid’s tale for your liking. This definitely wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but I think it turned out well.



For some reason no matter how many times I try to insert a link it will not insert it! So once again here is the URL

For more on Gidget: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gidget