Blog Post #8, Baby

6. Themes

This film noir, Double Indemnity by Billy Wilder, displays multiple common themes throughout the film common to the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. In the movie, Barbara Stanwyck’s character is "Lady Macbething" Walter Neff.  Phyllis Dietrichson pretends to fall madly in love with Walter and he takes the bite. This reveals the dual identity theme in this film. Mrs.Dietrichson manipulates Walter to do what she wants and thus is able to excerpt her power through him. By manipulating him, she was able to accomplish the act of murdering her husband. At the end of the movie, Walter Neff also reveals the theme of dual identity when he makes the decision to confront her at her house and ends up shooting her.

Another theme related to Macbeth is the concept of power and absolute power. This theme is revealed in Double Indemnity as displayed by the characters Walter and Ms.Dietrichson. In the beginning of the movie, she allows Walter to believe that he has all the power and is in control by her act of falling in love with him and meeting him at his apartment. By doing these acts, she makes him feel comfortable in his position to murder her husband. However, Ms. Dietrichson holds the real power for most of the movie (until the end). Her manipulation allows her to remain almost one step ahead of Walter. She is able to learn inside information about the case because of Walter. She also displays the theme power when she manipulates him to kill her husband. This act shows how controlling she is in a passive and feminine way. This is extremely similar to Lady Macbeth. She holds the real power but when it came time to kill Duncan, she manipulated Macbeth into committing the deed.

Lastly, I want to explore the theme gender, more specifically, gender roles. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth assumes the role of a masculine and authoritative character. She then ends up developing into the weaker person in the relationship because she gets sick from the anxiety and dies. Macbeth developed from the weaker to the stronger person in the relationship. This also occurs in Double Indemnity. Walter, who in the beginning of the play was almost a puppet to Ms. Detrichson, ended up being the more authoritative of the two when in the end, he uses her hand gun to shoot her. On a separate note, Ms. Detrichson was able to hold power over Walter through sexual desire. He fell victim of her "charm" and fell for the trap.

Overall, there are many similar themes between Macbeth and Double Indemnity. The film is about the manipulation of individuals through gender roles to fulfill a desire or accomplish something. If I had to sum up the movie in one quote, I think it is trying to say: "things aren't always as they seem."
-Irish Proverb

Malcolm's Netflix Recommendation List

Malcolm's Netflix Recommendation List:





1. The Mentalist: The Mentalist is a man who works for the California Bureau of Investigation in order to find "Red John," a man who murdered his wife and daughter. Jane, the mentalist, is the main character who is very psychoanalytic and cracks all of the other cases he works on. He is very good at reading people and understanding how people react. This serves him well in the investigation but he is very analytic and out to find who killed his wife and daughter. Likewise, Malcolm would probably enjoy this show because he can somewhat fit the character of Jane because of his situation. After his father, King Duncan, was murdered he had to flee to Scotland to be safe. He thinks he knows who the murderer is, Macbeth, but wants to stay in Scotland where he knows he is safe. The Mentalist would definitely show up on Malcolm's Netflix Recommendation List.

2. Modern Family: Modern Family is about three different but related families who face trials and tribulation in a comedic way. In this movie, Malcolm's/Duncan's family, Macbeth's family, and Macduff's family could all play the part of "not so" Modern Family. This show would turn into more of a tragic than a comedy but would essentially still fit the plot overall. This show would use the same strategy and do small interviews for each family member occasionally which adds comedy to the show. It would be interesting to see what Malcolm and Donalblain would say in their interview. For these reasons, I believe Modern Family would make Malcolm's Netflix Recommendation List.

3. Friends: Friends is a comedy about a group of friends and their adventures and relationships in the city. This show would humor Malcolm because he and Macduff become friends again so it is like Monica and Rachel becoming friends again. At first, Malcolm did not trust Macduff but soon after Macduff says he would make the best king he mends their friendship. This show would definitely be on Malcolm's Netflix Recommendation List because it shows his friendship with his friend Macduff.

4. Mean Girls: Mean Girls is a comedy that depicts a new girl going to school and becoming friends with some of the "unpopular kids." However, she was accepted into the "popular" group and was invited to eat lunch at their table. Once fully emerged in the group, the girl, Cady, starts to become one of them. Her unpopular friends become mad at her because they say she acts different around the Plastics and puts on a show. This relates to the saying from Macbeth, "fair is foul and foul is fair" because of the mask that she puts on around the Plastics. Malcolm would really enjoy this show because Cady directly reminds him of Macbeth. This is because Malcolm knows that Macbeth is the one who murdered his father so he could have the crown. This way, Macbeth is putting on a mask to hide his deed to the others, but Malcolm knows that he is the one who committed the crime. In the movie, Malcolm would be one of Cady's unpopular friends because Macbeth and Duncan, Malcolm's father, used to be great friends but Macbeth's ambitions ruined their friendship...literally. This show would definitely make Malcolm's Netflix Recommendation List for those reasons.