The casting is brilliant. If at first no one had told me that Binging Up Baby would be a reversal of gender roles I would have thought it was a generic boy-meets-girl, and a series of events would be the main point of humour, though at the end they get together and live happily ever after. This is because Cary Grant is the epitome of the alpha male, while Katherine Hepburn is the epitome of the ditzy blonde. And obviously we have a prejudiced idea of how the characters would, and should, act.
The film blows that preconceived idea out of the water. Cary Grant, when we expect him to be well-composed and suave, turns out to be a bumbling socially awkward archaeologist. Katherine Hepburn, when we expect her to be silly and ungrounded, turns out to be a brave strong woman who would do anything to keep her man.
The alpha male is, surprisingly, portrayed by Hepburn. She has all the alpha male characteristics: she is stubborn, headstrong, cunning and charming. She also has a pet leopard, which subtly shows her 'alphaness' as she is able to tame it. The 'damsel in distress', funnily, is Grant. He is confused and led on a wild goose chase by Susan, he is basically led around, seemingly on a 'leash', by Susan. He is tame and sometimes cowardly in the beginning of the film.
Later, we see this change; Grant breaks free of the 'leash', it is as if he becomes the wild leopard. This symbolises that he gets back his 'manhood'; after always being controlled by Ms Swallow and later, Susan. He allows is alpha male side to show, and Susan becomes the 'beta'.
The romance is poignant since the two main characters meet. The sexual tension is apparent and the many shots taken to overcome the Hays Code is blatantly sexual, in particular when David and Susan both rip their clothing, and later press their bodies together to "cover up" and "maintain decency". This was a blatant expression of sex, as was apparent to mostly everyone. There was also a great deal of sexual innuendo in conversations and most prominently in the writing, for example, David's "bone", the symbol of his maleness, and also the thing he was searching for throughout the film.
The power relationship is complicated, since David has more power in the relationship if we go according to the Theory of Less Interest, which is that the less interested party holds more power. However I think in a way David is also interested in the relationship even though he denies it, hence in this case they would be equal. On other matters , however, Susan holds more power. She is the one who is able to convince David to do things he thinks are retarded (and still does it anyway), she is the one who manages to make David miss his own wedding, she is the one who in the end manages to keep David. Her status overpowers his in monetary value and power status, since she (technically, her aunt) has the one million grant that David wants for the museum.
The comedy was very well-done, not being too stupid or vulgar. There was a mixture of funny moments from the actors (David and Susan crawling around the ground looking for his bone), funny one-liners (when David announces sarcastically that he's gay) and the situations the character are thrown into (being locked inside a jail while a wild leopard prowls outside). I think that if any part of the comedy was over-exaggerated Bringing Up Baby would have been another generic comedy, otherwise easily forgotten. All this is, however, based on the fact that the idea of such a complete role reversal is, to the viewers, funny and unheard of, and thus humorous.
Another film comes to mind when I watched Bringing Up Baby. The Proposal, (starring Sandra Bullock) was also a rom-com about the role reversal of the two main characters. Again, it is the female lead that has more power over the male lead. It is only later in the film that the male lead regains his 'alphaness'.
In general I truly enjoyed Bringing Up Baby, mostly because it isn't a generic forgettable romantic comedy that is manufactured by the film industry these days. There were a lot of layers of meaning underneath the surface, and many hints and inside jokes that one only gets when watching the film a second time. And speaking of which, I wouldn't mind watching Bringing Up Baby another time!
This is a rather superficial essay, based, no doubt on your recollection of the film rather than written while it was fresh in your mind. You repeat the idea of "role reversal" and don't really explore the specifics. There was so much to talk about -- but you remain very general.
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