We have seen two films,
His Girl Friday and
Citizen Kane, in which the protagonists work in the newspapers business (Walter Burns is an editor, Hildy Johnson a reporter, Charles Foster Kane a publisher). What do these films tell us about the job of a reporter or publisher in the 1940's? What is the role or status of the newspaper at that time? How have things changed since that time?
His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane are about as different as classic Hollywood films can be, however they do offer an interesting reflection on the prevailing view of journalism in the 1930s and ‘40s. Indeed, a number of the lead characters in each film (Walter and Hildy in Friday and Kane, Leland, Bernstein, and quasi-narrator Thompson in Kane) are “newspaper men”, so both present a definite picture of the industry. While the movies generally depict journalists and well-intentioned and good people, they are often highly aggressive and will go to great lengths to present news to the public, lying, betraying, and causing problems with the law as necessary.
ReplyDeleteAt least as human beings, journalists are fairly well-treated by His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane. In Friday, reporter Hildy Johnson comes across as a rather nice person. Hildy takes her job as a reporter very seriously, working quite hard on her article defending convicted murderer Earl Wlliams. She is also shown to be a very personable individual, greeting almost everyone in the Post’s office by name and engaging in friendly conversation with all of the other reporters in the police office press room. She also dreams of relaxing and raising a family, living the traditional American life. In short, she is a decent human being. While Walter does not nearly live up to this standard of kindness (his schemes and trickery never cease to amaze), he does, in large part thanks to his portrayal by Cary Grant, appear to be a good person, at least deep down inside. He fights aggressively to save Williams from being hanged, and he always enjoys exposing corruption to the people. He also seems to know almost everyone, though more so they can help him in his ploys than to simply be nice. Walter’s love for Hildy is certainly sincere, at the very least, and the movie ultimately depicts him in a positive light. We may not want to work for him, but going to dinner with Hildy and him would likely make for a fun evening. The various men in the press room appear in a similar light; they are all generally nice and likable, but on the job they have no qualms about any sort of immoral behavior.
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The journalists in Kane also in general are presented as good, hard-working individuals. Thompson is almost a figure of pity at the beginning of the movie, as he is presented with the impossible task of determining the meaning of Rosebud. As he meets with the characters from Charles Foster Kane’s life, most of the conversations are filmed with his back to the camera, offering the viewer his perspective and thus turning him into one of us, an outsider to the complicated world of Kane simply trying to learn what he can. Thompson is always pleasant and agreeable, and he is a worthwhile, if not unmemorable, guide into Kane’s life. The members of Kane’s newspaper team are similarly presented as good people. Bernstein sticks with him loyally until the end, always having faith in his boss and his vision. His conversation with Thompson is incredibly friendly, and Bernstein offers some of the sweeter anecdotes in the movie (his parasail story, for example, is perhaps the film’s most touching moment). There hardly seems to be a grumpy bone in his body. Jedediah Leland also meets the viewer as an amusing old man, and seems to have served as Kane’s conscience, sticking with the old “Declaration of Principles” until the end. When Kane fires him, it is simply for doing his job by reviewing a performance; the man comes out of the affair looking to the viewer as an honest guy. Finally there is Kane himself, whose depiction is indeed far more negative. While Kane does start to exhibit some of his more unpleasant qualities as a young man, it is not until his entrance and exit from politics that he begins to be truly unlikable. Between his stated dedication to his declaration of principles, his frequent arguing on behalf of the working man, and his genuine enthusiasm for working at the paper, young Kane has the makings of a great guy, and the initial happiness in his marriage only makes this hypothesis more promising. However, between the collapse of his marriage, his poor reaction to Jim Gettys’ blackmail and attack, and his dominating manner in regard to Susan, the tyrant within the crusader emerges, and he loses this spark of decency. Still, in general, journalists seem to be fairly good people as presented in these films.
DeleteDespite their pleasant nature, the journalists in the movies are also shown to be aggressive and conniving, doing virtually anything at all necessary in order to find (or create) a story and remain ahead of their competitors. Hildy may be a good person, but she drives a hard bargain with Walter before she agrees to write his story. She then blatantly bribes a prison official to gain access to Earl Williams (an action similar to the one for which she and Walter lambast the mayor later) and carefully leads him into telling a story that will earn him pity. She may care about the truth, but she will use any means necessary to get it. The apex of this occurs when she and Walter intentionally keep Williams in a desk in the press room with the intention of smuggling him out later to release the full story of his escape and capture first.
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Of course, while Hildy plays along with this, the plot is really Walter’s doing. The man basically lacks any moral compass. He uses virtually every trick in the book to prevent Hildy from leaving to marry Bruce, including sending cronies to frame Bruce for robbery, counterfeiting, and harassment and to kidnap his mother. Walter can like and bluff without blinking an eye, and he has no qualms about using his influence to get him what he wants (whether that means agreeing to support candidates if they support a certain position or pretending to hire a writer so that he will leave a room). These actions may still not be as blatantly ridiculous as the rest of the press corps, who several times are seen calling their editors with completely contradictory versions of the same event. When Williams is finally captured, for example, each man’s story is not only untrue but completely the opposite of the others’ tales. These reporters may mean well, but they are ruthless operators, and they will do whatever they must to win circulation.
DeleteWhat other cinematic reporter is willing to create stories to increase circulation? Why, Charles Foster Kane. From his first days with the Inquirer, Kane encourages the publication of dramatic stories of uncertain truthfulness as a way of attracting readers (an approach known to historians as Yellow Journalism). Sometimes these are fairly minor reports, like the tale of a woman potentially murdered by her husband. However, these stories also include a war with Cuba. As Kane tells a correspondent, closely mimicking William Randolph Hearst’s infamous comment, “You provide the captions, and I’ll provide the war”. Kane will do close to anything to sell a story, also apparently using dramatic imagery against his opponents, such as Jim Gettys in a prison outfit on the cover of the Inquirer. The man has no scruples when it comes to pushing his message to the world. This trait is seen in other sides of his life as well, such as his establishment of an opera house for the purpose of making Susan a star and his completion of Jed’s article to prove his friend’s disloyalty. While Kane is an extreme case, the depiction of journalists is fairly consistent: probably well intentioned, but willing to gain a story by any means necessary, even if that means defying the law or starting a war. Talk about overdramatic!
I must admit, I am a little intimidated to write on this topic because of Russell's lengthy and detailed analysis, but I think I've found a few points of my own. While I agree with Russell when he is saying that newspaper men and women are portrayed as people that mean well but agree with the mantra that "the ends justify the means," I notice more being said about newspaper men than just this. In both films, there is an idea that the news almost consumes the person's whole life after a while and there is no room in their life besides their work in the newspaper.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in His Girl Friday, Hildy and Walter had a functioning relationship and there was even hope of them living a somewhat normal life until Walter got too involved in work and couldn't make time for Hildy. This is her main reason for divorcing him and she divulges this in the first scene of the movie. This idea is presented in Citizen Kane with Kane's first wife, who ends up hating him and even reading the rival newspaper "The Chronicle," just to anger him. This idea is especially seen in this film because of the style of montage that is used to present this. They are at the table and there is a montage of scenes that clearly state that the reason for his wife becoming upset is the fact that he can't pay attention to her and only enjoys his work. This idea is interesting and doesn't necessarily make Kane or Walter lesser people. It is admirable that they can be so passionate about their work and so passionate about giving the news, it's just unfortunate that it ends up consuming their lives.
In the movie, “His Girl Friday,” Newspaper reporters are portrayed as emotionless. They have one job, and that is to get a good story that people will read. This is very typical of the media in the early 20th century, and therefore is accurate as well as humorous. The humor comes from the stories that the reporters make up. After the scene where the alleged murder is found hiding in the desk, the newspaper reporters each come up with their own story. While the movie may over exaggerate for the sake of comedy, it is a somewhat truthful view of the corrupt newspaper businesses during that time. During the scene, each reporter comes up with a ridiculous story that clearly did not happen whatsoever, but would definitely catch the eye of a reader.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a second layer to the corruption of the newspaper system. This is of course, the way that the newspaper business corrupted Walter, and eventually became the reason that Hildy wanted to stay with him rather than her honest fiancé. At some point in the movie, it is made very clear that Walter cares more about the success of his newspaper than the happiness of Hildy. The irony comes from the fact that corrupting the newspaper has made him wealthy, but lost him his wife, and love is something money can’t buy.
Citizen Kane and His Girl Friday use the newspaper to help bring out the lives of the main characters, which create a sense that the characters are unemotional and detached from real life. The movies portray the life of a newspaper man as hectic and always unstable. For Hildy and Walter in his Girl Friday, they confuse their love for their love for each other, so much that they live their lives through the newspaper. Their real world is consumed by their investment in the newspaper. Walter’s attitude and lack of ethical truth is translated from the newspaper to his efforts in winning back Hildy. It is obvious how easy it is for the newspaper reporters to lie on the spot to create a better story, or to bend the truth in such a way that they write what they want and not what is true. This makes us believe that Walter is using his techniques as a lying reporter to win back Hildy. The film is showing us how the newspaper can corrupt one’s life and change who they are as a person.
ReplyDeleteWe also see this happening in Citizen Kane, as his life falls apart in efforts to save the newspaper business. Since Kane has so much money from the beginning, running a newspaper is not a business idea but a passion that he wants to fulfill. He lets the newpaper control him which interferes with his love life multiple times leading to divorces. He lives his life through the media and does not spend time caring about his relationships with real people.