Monday, February 22, 2010
Beverley Yuen: Kiss of the Spider Woman
Kiss of the Spider Woman is Puig’s attempt to convey his simple message of not to make judgments or assumptions as things are not always as they appear to be. In short, it essentially exemplifies the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” In the book, people create friendships or fall in love with people that are initially unheard of. Valentin, a realistic and rebellious political activist, is initially irritated by the homosexual and fantasy driven Molina, but they soon become close friends that trust one another. In Molina’s story, created as an exit to the harsh world of reality that would distract Valentine and Molina, the setting is in France in the midst of World War II. The French star of a club, Leni, is infatuated by a high ranking German soldier, Werner, who returns her feelings. Despite being from warring, enemy countries, the two fall in love and protect one another. Leni takes back the map from the Frenchmen in order to protect Werner, and Werner shoots one of the Frenchmen before he kills Leni (the first attempt). Leni’s friend, Michelle, also falls in love with a German soldier and is carrying his child. Michelle is working undercover for the French, but betrays her country for this man, who genuinely returns the feelings as well. In both instances, the women trust the men despite being from enemy countries and then are betrayed and killed by people from their own country. At first glance, all of these relationships seem strange, unacceptable, or perhaps, taboo. One would usually believe that these relationships could not occur, but these examples show how people should not quickly make judgments or assumptions about people without getting to know them properly as they might just surprise them. In accordance with this idea, it is important to note that the people who one would think would be trustworthy are the exact opposite. One would think that Leni and Michelle would be in danger by being romantically involved with the Germans, or at least would be used in some way for military purposes, but it actually was the French, their own people, who killed them, while the “enemies” proved to be their allies; their saviors. While this is the main idea that Puig seemed to communicate through this film, there are a couple other messages suggested as well. In his attempt to juxtapose reality and fantasy by placing Valentin and Molina together, Puig manages to demonstrate how people often enter a world of fantasy in order to retreat; to avoid reality. When the conversation became awkward or serious or when either of the two was physically ill, then Molina’s fantasy WWII story would continue. They did not want to deal with conflict or pain of reality, so they would retreat into fantasy, reflecting how people often to the same; they retreat into books, fantasies, or television in order to avoid the troubles of life. The other message is about treating homosexuals normally, like equals. At first, Valentin treats Molina like a freak, but eventually he speaks to and treats Molina normally, like an everyday occurrence, which it was to him. Valentin is an example or a representation of how people should act towards homosexuals.
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Manuel Puig is an author that, although does not distort or blend binaries to subtly reveal ideas, manages to express his social ideas about gender in a straightforward way that has as much impact as a magical realist does. His work wastes no time in distortion or polite subtleties, just blunt truth. After pondering over the true intentions of Puig in writing this story, it would seem that the most important message he was attempting to make involved disputing the ideas that people must abide by the traditional gender roles that society has put into place. Puig immediately creates characters with distinct genders that knowingly and obviously act like the opposite gender. One of the main protagonists is a homosexual man named Molina, who behaves like a stereotypical woman with feminine characteristics, such as being emotional or nosy. It is clear and concise in seeing that a man is acting like a woman. Nothing is being questioned or distorted. Molina is an example of how genders can exhibit characteristics of the opposite sex. The other protagonist who lives with Molina in the jail cell, Valentin, is at first disgusted by this gender bending Molina; however, he eventually begins to disregard Molina’s outer appearance and treat him like a normal person and even as a woman at times. For example, when given the food for dinner, Valentin insists that Molina get the larger portion of food, reminiscent of a gentleman giving the larger portion of food to a female. Valentin represents what Puig hopes other people can be like: accepting of socially different gender behaviors. Molina even outright defends his womanly behavior by saying, “What’s wrong with being like a woman? If everyone was a woman, then there would be no violence.” Instead of the readers/audience questioning the acts of the characters as in magical realism, the characters (Molina) are questioning the readers/audience. It is also interesting to notice that the homosexual Molina wore a cross around his neck, which is a little ironic since God and the Christian religion disproves of homosexuality. This just shows that transcending traditional gender role and characteristics can even transcend religious beliefs. Puig gives the audience a tactile real example of a person with characteristics and behaviors of the other gender, showing that, yes, it is very possible. There are no underlying questions like in magical realism. Puig achieves his goal of illustrating the concept that people do not have to socially conform to traditional acts of their own gender; they should be able to act however they feel most comfortable.
ReplyDeleteIt could also be said that Puig attempted to convey the simple message of not to make judgments or assumptions as things are not always as they appear to be. In short, it essentially exemplifies the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” In the book, people create friendships or fall in love with people that are initially unheard of. Valentin, a realistic and rebellious political activist, is initially irritated by the homosexual and fantasy driven Molina, but they soon become close friends that trust one another. In Molina’s story, created as an exit to the harsh world of reality that would distract Valentine and Molina, the setting is in France in the midst of World War II. The French star of a club, Leni, is infatuated by a high ranking German soldier, Werner, who returns her feelings. Despite being from warring, enemy countries, the two fall in love and protect one another. Leni takes back the map from the Frenchmen in order to protect Werner, and Werner shoots one of the Frenchmen before he kills Leni (the first attempt). Leni’s friend, Michelle, also falls in love with a German soldier and is carrying his child. Michelle is working undercover for the French, but betrays her country for this man, who genuinely returns the feelings as well. In both instances, the women trust the men despite being from enemy countries and then are betrayed and killed by people from their own country. At first glance, all of these relationships seem strange, unacceptable, and even, taboo. One would usually believe that these relationships could not occur, but these examples show how people should not quickly make judgments or assumptions about people without getting to know them properly as they might just surprise them. In accordance with this idea, it is important to note that the people who one would think would be trustworthy are the exact opposite. One would think that Leni and Michelle would be in danger by being romantically involved with the Germans, or at least would be used in some way for military purposes, but it actually was the French, their own people, who killed them, while the “enemies” proved to be their allies; their saviors. While this is the main idea that Puig seemed to communicate through this film, there are a couple other messages suggested as well. In his attempt to juxtapose reality and fantasy by placing Valentin and Molina together, Puig manages to demonstrate how people often enter a world of fantasy in order to retreat; to avoid reality. When the conversation became awkward or serious or when either of the two was physically ill, then Molina’s fantasy WWII story would continue. They did not want to deal with conflict or pain of reality, so they would retreat into fantasy, reflecting how people often to the same; they retreat into books, fantasies, or television in order to avoid the troubles of life.
ReplyDelete