"I take two steps forward; I take two steps back. We come together cause Opposites Attract". So sang Paula Abdul and the Wild Pair on Opposites Attract. While Woman of the Year may not be that peppy, it fits the story of mismatched newspaper columnists. Held as a romantic comedy, I found Woman of the Year a disappointment given its lofty reputation.
New York Chronicle's foreign affairs correspondent Tess Harding (Katharine Hepburn) makes dismissive remarks about the need for sports during this, no ordinary time. This draws the ire of her fellow Chronicle reporter Sam Craig (Spencer Tracy). He takes umbrage at her haughty suggestion that baseball be suspended for the war's duration. Craig, the Chronicle's sports correspondent, writes a terse article berating Harding's snobbishness. Harding gives as good as she gets in print. This internal battle of the sexes is too much for their editor, who orders both to knock it off.
Once they meet in the flesh, both see that there is more than meets their eyes. Craig is quickly smitten with Harding. She in turn seems to take a shining to Craig. Soon, they start seeing each other socially. This is not easy for both, especially Craig. He is more comfortable with his sports pals, especially ex-boxer Pinky Peters (William Bendix), than with her intellectual polymath set. Sam especially detests Tess' snobbish secretary Gerald How (Dan Tobin). They are very different people. They are also very much in love.
They marry, delighting her diplomat father William J. Harding (Minor Watson) and her favorite aunt Ellen Whitcomb (Fay Bainter). Despite getting married in a fever, Tess stubbornly refuses to alter anything about herself. She will continue supporting cause after cause. She will take little note of how little time they spend together. She has little issue having Yugoslavian refugee Dr. Lubbeck (Ludwig Stossel) crash their wedding night even if Lubbeck was unaware of the nuptials. Over and over, Tess continuously puts her own needs, wants and careers ahead of both her marriage and her husband.
One would think the low point was when she brings a Greek child refugee to live with them without so much as asking Sam. That, however, is slightly higher than what she does when she wins "Woman of the Year". Sam has finally had it and promptly leaves. A surprise wedding from her maiden Aunt Ellen prompts Tess to rethink things. Could she manage as just Mrs. Sam Craig or is there a way for her to be Tess Harding Craig?
There is a story about Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn's first meeting prior to making Woman of the Year. Hepburn stood 5'7" and wore heels when she met the 5'10" Tracy (though I suspect that he was shorter). She apologized for standing slightly taller and said that she would be more careful about her footwear. Woman of the Year producer Joseph Mankiewicz, who was with Tracy, looked at Hepburn and said, "Don't worry, Kate. He'll cut you down to his size".
Woman of the Year is the first of an eventual nine pairings of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. I can see what made them work so well as one of the great screen duos. They are a strong blending: her patrician air and his average man manner. Tracy and Hepburn balanced each other quite well. It is to where I wonder if both were playing versions of their real-life themselves. Woman of the Year shows how despite their differences there was an immediate and longstanding attraction.
Ring Lardner, Jr. and Michael Kanin's Oscar-winning screenplay is quite clever with the wordplay. After finally meeting, Sam rushes to catch up with the leggy Tess. As she stands on the staircase, he starts going up. "Isn't the sports department downstairs?", the WASP Harding asks. Sheepishly replying that it was, she asks, "Well, aren't you going in the wrong direction?". He looks at her and replies, "Maybe I am".
Perhaps it is just me, but I found double meaning in that exchange. Sam is saying that he is going in the wrong direction physically. However, could he also be suggesting that his pursuit of Tess might also be going in the wrong direction?
After all, Sam did not take advantage of the situation, and they were not together until after their quickie wedding.
Woman of the Year has been celebrated as a female empowerment film, showcasing the woman as the dominant figure. Therefore, the final scene of Tess' total ineptness in the kitchen seems to disappoint viewers. I have a different interpretation. I did not find Tess Harding empowering. I found her horrid.
Repeatedly, Tess Harding shows how callous, self-centered, snobbish, indifferent and insensitive she can be. And those are her positive attributes. Over and over again, we see how Tess repeatedly not only refuses but does not even consider making any adjustments for Sam. I think it is unfair to say that marriages involve the woman making all the changes to please a man. Marriage is a compromise where two people fine-tune their individualism for a joint life. Woman of the Year, it seems, celebrates someone who will not rather than cannot change.
Sam expects someone to be at the apartment to babysit while they are out. Tess tells Sam that there will be no one. She expects Chris to be fine alone and unsupervised. She also seems genuinely puzzled over why Sam is so angry about all this.
Let us go over what has transpired. Tess became a traumatized orphan's ward to save face. Tess did not discuss bringing said traumatized orphan into the home she has with her husband. Tess did not even consider discussing bringing in said traumatized orphan into their home. Tess had no issue leaving said traumatized orphan alone and unsupervised for hours on end so she could attend a dinner celebrating her. She thinks that said traumatized orphan can easily fend for himself should he wake up to find an empty house.
And this is what people say is empowering?
I hope that people bemoaning the ending that shows Tess to be clueless in the kitchen could be just as upset about Tess' horrendous mothering skills. At least Joan Crawford had someone stay with the children while she was out.
There is strong but small supporting work from Fay Bainter as Tess' loving but at times frustrated aunt. She shows Aunt Ellen as aware that independence is good, but a man beside you is just as good. William Bendix was fun as Pinkie, forever regaling anyone within earshot of his glory days in the ring.
As for the film's ending, I do not see the controversy the way others do. Hepburn shows a surprising ability for physical comedy. I did not see this kitchen scene as her losing power to a man. I saw it as a snobbish woman, who had everything done for her, finally having to figure out things that most of us know. She was going to leave a child alone for hours while she went to a party celebrating her greatness. Her getting a little egg on her shoes seems small in comparison.
As I finished Woman of the Year, I did end up liking it. I liked how Sam Craig took down Gerald Howe (Dan Tobin), Tess' smug secretary. We did not see it, but we got the gist of it. I think its reputation is overrated. However, there was more to like than dislike. I do not think that Tess Harding Craig was a true Woman of the Year. Maybe Woman of a Season.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Views are always welcome, but I would ask that no vulgarity be used. Any posts that contain foul language or are bigoted in any way will not be posted.
Thank you.