The Contradictory Spectatorial Address of Some Like It Hot

The Contradictory Spectatorial Address of Some Like It Hot

A film of the fifties, Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, USA, 1959) provides insight into the state of the film industry, recently wracked by legislation and censorship, the implementation of pre-existing technology in part to combat the new limitations, the importance of the star system, and the two-sided response to the social norms, both contradicting and reinforcing the status quo. Billy Wilder seemingly celebrates disregard for moral values of the time as a source of humor, referencing cross-dressing, sex, homosexuality, and lesbianism through leading men who execute cons without suffering negative consequences; and expects his spectator to do the same. Overall, the film appears tailored to the white, male spectatorship, like Wilder himself, in search of comedic spectacle, although it is not exclusive. The film also presents glimpses of some serious, progressive elements, challenging its viewership.

Due to a federal antitrust law, production companies and distributors lost power and profits, and independent companies, such as the United Artists Corporation, gained traction. The antitrust law, combined with “the postwar downturn and above all the imperative of competing effectively with television,” led to the implementation of various widescreen formats, 3-D, and Technicolor in order to innovate film and engage the spectator. In doing so, this period imbalanced the emerging power of narrative with the resurgence of spectacle. Widescreen, especially, also contributed to a sense of realism, actively engaging the audience in the visual expanse of cinema. As a result, Some Like It Hot’s mode of spectatorial address, though not as focused on “attraction” as early cinem...

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...“Nobody’s perfect,” suggesting they can still engage in a relationship and marry, destabilizes the herteronormative message constructed by Joe and Kane’s coupling.

Overall, “the film is typical of [Marjorie] Garber’s 'progressive narrative’ in appearing to challenge and undermine gender binaries on the one hand, while reinforcing them on the other.” It largely addresses its spectator stereotypically, through spectacular aspects of industry and technology, including the star system and widescreen format. Despite its construction of the largely heterosexual, white, male spectatorship, the film refracts the social conflicts of the period without offering wholly satisfactory solutions to this spectator, particularly given the ambiguous ending. This allows for an expansion of spectatorship. To this day, critics remain divided on the progressivity of Some Like It Hot.