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His Girl Friday Essay

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Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday is a perfect exemplification of the “new woman” that was inspired by screwball comedy. She is considered to be “the fastest of the fast-talking dames” in cinema because of her quick wit and her trickery. Hildy not only has her own job, but also divorced her husband and is practically commanding another man to do what she pleases. Interestingly, Hildy decides that she’s done forever with the newspaper business and wants to settle down. Her explanation of what she wants is a rough description of a passive female weeper that she is anything but. “I want to go some place where I can be a woman….I want to be respectable, and live a halfway normal life.” Ironically, Hildy’s idea of a real women is backwards, and she is the full embodiment of the new definition. It is also interesting that Hildy's idea of becoming a “ real women” going to the country and having children and …show more content…

Hildy is so naturally talented and gifted in the journalism industry that she gains power and respect over the other men just by being good at her job. This is where I disagree with Kristin M. McAndrews’ declaration that trickery is a necessity for women to break away from gender norms, because Hildy is able to match the men in skill in such a way that they do not resent her but respect her. This unspoken authority is visible in shots where she is present with the other reporters. In many of the shots, Hildy is the only one standing up or the one closest to the foreground. This results in Hildy being above all of the men and looking down on them to speak. Hildy is also the focus of each shot, and the men are often used as objects to frame her. This is uncommon for a women to be in such a central role, and it is not completely achieved by trickery but through skill as

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