In Honor of May the 4th, along with my usual post for Audrey Hepburn’s birthday, my friend suggested that I do a post in honor of Carrie Fisher. Despite this being Star Wars Day, tackling the Star Wars franchise would be a task that requires far more time than one post. Because of this, I’ve opted to go with a perhaps lesser known film of Carrie Fisher’s, The ‘Burbs.
The ‘Burbs is a film starring Tom Hanks as it’s leading man Ray Peterson, trying to have a relaxing week off from work that turns into a mission to figure out what’s going on with his creepy new neighbors who never appear to leave the house.
The ‘Burbs is a film starring Tom Hanks as it’s leading man Ray Peterson, trying to have a relaxing week off from work that turns into a mission to figure out what’s going on with his creepy new neighbors who never appear to leave the house.
In a nutshell, Fisher plays Hanks’ wife, Carol, who wants him to go to the lake house instead of lounging around the house and being more tense when he returns to work than when he left. However, Ray’s vacation gets interrupted when his neighbor, Walter, goes missing. This causes Ray and his neighbors, Art and Mark, along with Mark’s wife Bonnie to investigate. They discover that the house is empty, tho the television is still on and a chair is knocked over. They also found that Walter left his toupee, which they all deemed a bad sign. The men become convinced that it must be the new neighbors fault, much to Bonnie and Carol’s dismay.
Eventually, Bonnie and Carol become fed up with the men’s shenanigans and decide they are all going to go over and properly introduce themselves, prompting them to get inside the house. After meeting the Klopek’s, the women are convinced that, though yes they are odd, there is nothing suspicious going on and the men should drop it. The men disagree, but play along in order to convince the women to go away for the day so they can break into the Klopek’s house and find what ever may be left of Walter.
After all is said and done, and evading charges of breaking and entering and destruction of private property, the men ended up being right about the Klopek’s and their murderous way, and Ray decides maybe it’s time to listen to Carol and finish his vacation at the lake house.
The ‘Burbs as a film focuses the plot largely around the action of men, without much character growth. The only two prominent females are Carol and Bonnie, and it almost seems as though they present the two types of women; strong and independent, or ditsy and there as eye candy. This film technically does pass the Bechdel Test, as when Bonnie and Carol are together they are discussing going over to the neighbors for introduction. However beyond this Bonnie and Carol don’t really interact. This moment is important because it was a nice role reversal of the women taking action and getting things done, and the rest of the action in the film wouldn’t have been possible if the women didn’t take charge in this moment.
I would say of the two prominent female characters, there is more to criticize of the portrayal of Bonnie.
Especially in the beginning of the film, we see Bonnie get objectified by Ricky Butler when she’s wearing a little red gardening get up, and he outwardly observes her lack of tan lines. Her reaction to this almost seems flattered, in a way that makes you think she likes it or finds it amusing to have a 20 year old boy objectify her in front of her husband.
The only slightly redeemable quality in this moment is that her husband does get annoyed by the comment, but in a way that seems perhaps more territorial and in defense of his manhood than it is in defence of her. Her outfits overall seem to fit the sort of Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe look they appear to be striving for with her character. However when she’s not in her little gardening or nightgown clothes, we do see she can dress more conservative, though still form flattering, in the pink pants and top she wears to meet the neighbors.
She’s written more as the damsel in distress then Carol, screaming when she sees the toupee thinking it’s a rat, and as the attentive housewife caring to her garden, offering to make brownies and tending to Walter’s dog Queenie when she finds her cold and shivering. She’s also often framed standing behind other characters, further impeding any dominance she can have. How all these factors are presented paint her to be weak and lead to her not being taken as seriously.
In contrast, Carol is a character that is definitely taken seriously. She knows how to put her foot down and is not afraid to speak her mind. I would say that her costumes definitely fit with her character. When she’s around the house in the mornings she’s in a long robe, and when she cleans up for the day she’s in a nice dress, that though it shows off her figure, is still relatively modest.
Her clothes don’t outwardly objectify or diminish her, in fact, I think her clothes make her more relatable and maintain her dignity. What I appreciate about Carol over Bonnie, is that she is an equal to the men, no better or worse, and is not reliant upon them. If anything there are moments when the men are reliant on Carol. She is able to have respectful conversations where she is heard and listened too, and when she puts her foot down it’s respected. In the beginning of the film when Ray is rather short with her, she doesn’t shut up and deal with it, she forces him to talk about it because she won’t put up with being treated like that.
She’s not afraid to stand up for herself and voice her concerns when it is her right to do so. And even when Ray is trying to get rid of her for the day so he can sneak into the Klopek’s house, she’s not so daft as to just buy it, in fact she says “why does it feel like you’re trying to get rid of me?” She knows something is going on, but she choses to push that aside and go about her day.
Besides Ricky when he spoke to Bonnie while gardening, I wouldn’t say that any of the men really objectify the women. Looking at Ray, he was not the nicest to Carol in the beginning of the film. He was moody and short and took his frustration out on her. However, you still see respect in their relationship as the film progresses.
Besides Ricky when he spoke to Bonnie while gardening, I wouldn’t say that any of the men really objectify the women. Looking at Ray, he was not the nicest to Carol in the beginning of the film. He was moody and short and took his frustration out on her. However, you still see respect in their relationship as the film progresses.
For example, when they’re at the Klopek’s house and Hans (the Klopek’s nephew) offers them sardines and pretzels, Ray first looks to Carol who gives him a nod to go ahead and take it, helping ease his uncertainty knowing his wife had his back. And although he consistently resisted her idea of going to the lake house, claiming he wanted to lounge around the house and watch tv, he eventually gave in. By the end of the film he realized that maybe his wife had a point and that instead of getting annoyed with her he should have listened to her.
I would also say that Ray and Art aren’t overly disrespectful to women either. Although Art complained about his wife and mother in law, he more painted himself as a cliche suburban husband in doing this. This is more of a criticism of stereotypical suburban marriages than it is of men or women. And whenever we saw Ray and Bonnie interact, there was never anything unkosher about it. If anything you saw her slight concern for him, but also her just letting him do what he’s gonna do. There was a feeling of mutual respect and admiration between the two.
When it comes to the men in this film, my biggest problem is in one specific scene post meeting the Klopek’s. After Ray convinces Carol that he believes nothing fishy is going on, he brings the boys into the office to talk. My problem in this scene deals with them essentially saying “don’t be a pussy” or “grow a pair”/”let your balls drop”. The problem is that not only is it unfair to put these standards of “being a man” on men, but the conversation was also slightly disrespectful to women in the sense that it implies that a wife can somehow take away a one’s manhood. This was not unfitting with the characters given that they were daring each other to go up to the Klopek’s house in the first place; however, I don’t find it to be a fair representation of men. And if we’re going to judge if a representation of a woman is fair, we should consider the same for a man.
In his review of the film, Roger Ebert found the overall film to be lacking and the male characters to be childish. He felt the film played into overused stereotypes of suburban life which made it so none of the characters were particularly compelling or gripping except for Dr. Klopek. Vincent Canby of the New York Times appears to agree. He finds the movie lacking in meaning and thinks it doesn’t do any of it’s great actors any justice. I can’t say I disagree with the points they raise, as a movie in it’s entirety it is not the best; however, for a movie with such a weak script, I do believe there are some redeeming qualities such as the respect between the men and women, and the strength of Carol as a character on the whole. That being said, the majority of the characters are rather one dimensional.
Overall, I would say that ‘The Burbs has very conflicted representations of both men and women, where they are easy to criticize, and yet also show a few redeemable qualities. Who’s to know if the simplistic nature of the film and characters was meant to be shown as an example of what we don’t want life to be, or if the movie was intended to be watched with acceptance for enjoyment and not overly analyzed
Overall, I would say that ‘The Burbs has very conflicted representations of both men and women, where they are easy to criticize, and yet also show a few redeemable qualities. Who’s to know if the simplistic nature of the film and characters was meant to be shown as an example of what we don’t want life to be, or if the movie was intended to be watched with acceptance for enjoyment and not overly analyzed
Works Cited
Canby, Vincent. "Reviews/Film; Suspicious Goings-On Next Door." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Feb. 1989. Web. 04 May 2017.
Ebert, Roger. "The 'Burbs Movie Review & Film Summary (1989)." RogerEbert.com. Michael Finnell, 17 Feb. 1989. Web. 04 May 2017.
Canby, Vincent. "Reviews/Film; Suspicious Goings-On Next Door." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Feb. 1989. Web. 04 May 2017.
Ebert, Roger. "The 'Burbs Movie Review & Film Summary (1989)." RogerEbert.com. Michael Finnell, 17 Feb. 1989. Web. 04 May 2017.