Beth Ann, Simone and Tyler, the hostess of three different generations of a house, face the cheating of their husbands, what should they do? Beating the mistress violently, crying, making trouble, and hanging yourself makes the dog restless, ruthless revenge, or slashing the love with a knife.
The heroines of different ages make completely different choices as the plot develops.
But their choices are far more than just personal decisions. The unfaithful marriage they face is only one of the thousands of problems encountered by women in society under the background of the era . Behind the betrayal by men, there is hidden repression and discrimination against women in the entire society .
"Deadly Woman" selects three most typical periods in the United States, the 1960s, 1980s and 2019, spanning the second and third feminist movements in the United States, and uses marriage issues to tell the social and life problems faced by women in it. , which outlines a complete history of the development of American women's independence consciousness and the road to peace rights from the subtleties.
Women in the 60s: Habitually resting on their laurels
Beth Ann's first attitude and reaction to marital infidelity was to find a way to get rid of the mistress and keep her unfaithful husband.
She mistakenly regarded the external cause as the internal cause, instead of treating the symptoms. Later, she found out that in addition to the current junior Epili, her husband had cheated countless times in the past, including even the husband's assistant she was very familiar with.
The marital dilemma faced by Beth Ann is a typical husband cheating on the third wife. The family structure and gender status of her and Rob are the common middle-class family templates in American society in the 1950s and 1960s. The husband is not only the economic pillar of the family, but also dominate the relationship between husband and wife.
At the beginning, Beth Ann was obviously a typical female representative who did not have an independent consciousness in the United States at that time. She had a traditional heroine-style marriage attitude and female attitude. The focus of her life revolved around her husband and family. Although she was young I pursued art (piano) when I was young, but gave up easily because of her husband's words.
You can find examples of this situation in countless American TV dramas with the same background, such as "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", which has become popular in the past two years. Of course, Mickey is a Jew living in New York's Upper West Side, and her clothes are naturally more sophisticated than Beth Ann), and her husband is also cheating in marriage.
But in some details, the audience can still see that this independent attitude exists in Beth Ann's bones. Confronting the neighbor's domestic abuser is a very good example.
At the beginning, the line in the 1960s felt the most dull and inactive, neither the excitement of the threesome in 2019 nor the stunning feeling of Lucy Liu in the 1980s.
But if you jump out of Beth Ann's personal situation and look around the entire American environment in the 1950s and 1960s, you will find that the future plot development of this line is very worth looking forward to.
Because the 1950s and 1960s in the United States was a very active and open era.
In the United States, where the economy has developed rapidly after World War II, especially headed by New York on the east coast, various ideological trends continue to meet and collide, including racial movements, anti-war (Vietnam/North Korea) ideological trends, and anti-cultural movements and other civil rights movements.
Echoing this is the birth and rise of second-wave feminism in the United States.
As early as 1949, the French feminist Simon Beauvoir published the work "Second Sex", which was regarded as a classic by a new generation of women. The book mentioned in the book " Women are not born women, but only become women after birth. . ” played a huge role in promoting the second feminist movement, including the United States.
American women's awareness of independence and equality has been further developed, and they seek more equal treatment in the political, economic, commercial, and even cultural fields. (such as Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961), political activist Gloria Marie Steinem (founded in the 1970s) "Ms." magazine raises flags in feminist movement) …
Not to mention Betty Friedan , who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1964, and her book "The Feminine Mystery" caused huge social repercussions when it was published:
She likened the family to a "comfortable concentration camp", described the "invisible troubles" women faced, and called on women to break through the shackles of the family and go into society, ending sexism against women.
Rob and his standard requirements for his wife are the "invisible troubles" that Beth Ann faces.
The women of this era are actually very energetic. They not only know their own personal values, but also have the courage to go to the streets to fight for their rights. They are completely different from Beth Ann at the beginning, more like the little three April That way: No matter what level of education, insist on personal financial independence, have the courage to try new things and go to social activities, dare to pursue dreams (singers) that are considered unstable or unrealistic by society, and take the initiative to strive for opportunities.
Compared with love, they put the realization of career and personal value in a higher position.
Therefore, under the guidance of April, Beth Ann slowly moved towards a very surprising direction. She gradually regained her independent consciousness and realized that as a woman, she actually has more choices in life. Unconsciously, the focus of her life has gradually shifted to other places, instead of revolving around her husband, rekindling her love for the piano, giving up watching baseball games with her husband and choosing to support April's singing song. Show is one such example.
The slow change of Beth Ann's attitude towards her husband is the process of her independent personality slowly forming.
80's Women: The Front Lines of the Affirmative Action Coalition
Unlike Beth Ann who tried her best to maintain the stability of her marriage at the beginning, Simone, who found out that she had been cheated into marriage, chose to develop a year-end relationship with Tommy, who was only 18 years old, and this was her third marriage.
But at the same time, she maintains a friendship with her husband Carl that goes far beyond the relationship between husband and wife.
No actress is better suited for the role of Simone than Lucy Liu, who, as Carl said, knows her charisma from the way she walks.
Compared with the dynamism of the 1950s and 1960s, the 1980s in the United States seemed a bit bleak and retrograde.
Under the influence of the second-wave feminist movement in the 1960s, the status of American women has been further improved, including ushering in the first female Supreme Court justice in American history, Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981. . But in all aspects of culture and life, we still face very serious invisible discrimination.
In the context of the US economic recession, conservatives took the opportunity to attack that the freedom issues raised by feminists should be responsible for the US economic recession and social moral corruption.
At the same time, the 1980s was the decade of the AIDS outbreak, which was not only a process of disease discovery and fight, but also a LGBTQ rights movement. Women's affirmation groups have been further boycotted by conservative anti-gay forces for siding with LGBTQ groups.
At the same time, the " equal feminism " that was the mainstream was also under the siege of the new concept " discriminatory feminism ".
The latter believes that men and women are not only physically different, but also have different thinking patterns, and believe that men and women should not be treated with the same standard, because the two are inherently different, and "equal feminism" will only make Women move closer to the existing patriarchy, which is not conducive to the exploration of women's own characteristics.
The idea of "distinguishing feminism" was not problematic in itself, and was also supported by a considerable number of scientific research theories and experiments at that time. But it has a fatal danger that it is very easy to be used and distorted by traditional conservatives, thereby hindering the final realization of equality between men and women.
Therefore, the plot of Simone and Carl in the play where love is sidelined and friendship is supreme is not just the unrealistic fantasy of the rotten girl on the "Kiyou"/"Kimi" soap opera, but a concentrated reflection of the real society at that time. , in pursuit of equal rights, women's groups have sided with LGBTQ groups.
Especially when the plot developed to Carl suffering from AIDS, Simone played by Liu Yu showed unlimited spiritual and strength support, which made the audience feel heartache and sadness.
Women of 2019: Open Sex Doubles Jealousy?
Jealousy in a one-to-one relationship is direct, strong and "reasonable", fear of being replaced, fear of the other party's empathy; jealousy in an open relationship is a bit embarrassing, since a third party has been allowed to join, admit jealousy Isn't it just slap in the face?
It would be an understatement to say that jealousy is the main storyline of Taylor, Eli and Jade's threesome in 2019.
Sexual sociologist Jillian Deri's "Refraction of Love" analyzes in detail the problem of jealousy that often exists in open sexual relationships. Through a large number of examples and data, it explores the relationship between jealousy in one-to-one relationships and open sexual relationships. different forms.
In the former, jealousy is mostly manifested in one party's fear of being replaced, and the other party's empathy. In the latter, individuals in triangular or even multi-angle relationships are more inclined to worry about the decline in the quality of their relationships.
Jealousy is a paradox in open relationships.
The book points out that jealousy is not a natural emotion, but the result of years of nurturing and influence by social conventions.
In a one-to-one relationship, you should (conventionally) feel jealous if there is a third person, whereas in an open relationship, the social rules associated with this tell you not to feel jealous.
Under the cross influence of old and new customs, this new type of relationship has created a new contradiction. The emergence of a third party makes you (actually) jealous, but at the same time makes it easy for you to accept it, because there are no customs to further Reinforce your jealousy.
This asymmetry of relationships and emotions will inevitably lead to out-of-control behavior. The breakup between Taylor and Eli is the best proof.
Open relationships began to be widely discussed in the United States in 1970. According to statistics in recent years in the United States, about 5% of the population has or is having open relationships. If there is no social and cultural pressure, the proportion willing to try open relationships will increase. About 8 times, the proportion of males is much higher than that of females.
While the diversity of new partnerships is becoming richer, it also raises questions about the limitations of the current marriage system. The changing attitude of modern people towards marriage is an extension of the discussion of open relationships.
The decline of the status of the traditional (single-spouse) marriage system is closely related to the transformation of the social and economic structure and the continuous improvement of the economic ability of individuals, especially women.
With the continuous improvement of women's social status and economic ability, the status of men as the only economic income pillar of the family is no longer as strong as before. With the change of the family economic structure, the status of the sexes also changes.
At the same time, the family that used to support social stability is no longer the basic unit of society. With the development of the globalized economy, especially the tertiary industry and the Internet economy, everyone has the opportunity to create an independent and lasting economic source. This new economic phenomenon also puts the economic cornerstone of the traditional marriage system in jeopardy.
Taylor is in the traditional legal profession and has a stable income, Eli is a screenwriter, and the economy is unstable, but once the script is successful, it will bring a large amount of income temporarily. As an outsider, Jade has no source of income at all. It became the foundation of this three-way relationship and the key to the change of attitudes of all parties.
As a stable source of family income, Taylor is accustomed to taking care of the entire family. Eli, who is lazy and once addicted to drugs, is also cared for and tolerated like a child, but he also needs to relax when appropriate, so he developed into Jade, who has basically no financial connection. A lover; Eli had a drastic reaction to Taylor's strength in the past because of the drug addiction and the sudden success of the script, and Jade played a role in fueling the flames.
The most fundamental cause of the problems encountered by Taylor, Eli and Jade is a new social and moral proposition arising from the development of modern economic relations: when individuals no longer need alliances (such as marriage) to ensure the quality of life, How should the relationship between people move forward?
From living around her husband in the 1960s, to holding hands with LGBTQ groups in the 1980s, to the discussion of open sexual relations in 2019, the three seemingly bloody plots of "Deadly Woman" actually show us the independent development of American women. The exploration of self-worth, the support for the rights of minorities in society, the pursuit of economic ability on par with men, and the ultimate pursuit of undifferentiated equality between men and women.
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