Not long ago I watched the movie Funny Girl. You know the one, with Barbara Streisand and Omar Sharif. And even though the basic, underlying conflict rang familiar, it was a stark reminder of just how fast the world has changed. Streisand isn’t from a generation long gone-by – she may be a little older than me, which makes her absolutely ancient to some people, but she’s still alive, kicking, and just released another new album. So how “classic” can her movies be?
Here’s the basic conflict. Even though the hero (Sharif) is a gambler, he’s an honorable, self-respecting kind of guy. He falls for Fanny (Streisand) but won’t marry her until he has a bankroll big enough to support her. Fanny has a rising career, so he has dreams of taking care of her in the way he thinks she deserves. Lavishly.
So he lands a huge win and they marry. Fanny gives up her career and they even have a baby. Great; story over, happy ending right? Of course not. Spoiler here, so if you want to check this movie out on the rare chance you’ve either never seen or heard of it, you might as well stop reading right here if you don’t want to know the ending.
The couple is happy for a time, for as long as the hero’s gambling is going well. But before very long some of Sharif’s investment risks don’t pay off. No problem, because Fanny is eager to go back to work. She loves it, after all, and is a great entertainer. Soon she’s raking in the big bucks again, just as Sharif’s character hurtles on a downward spiral. It’s the way of gamblers, she tells him, you win some, you lose some. Both are afraid of what seems obvious: he feels like a loser and her success just makes it that much worse. It’s like in A Star is Born, when the husband’s career is on the downhill just as hers is on the uphill (Streisand also starred in a version of that film, too).
Of course the bottom line is that the hero in both story lines is losing his self-respect. And even though the heroine realizes the fragility of his ego, and still wants more than anything to show her respect for him, her talent and passion for her job is the killer. He just can’t get up every morning and watch her success, or live off of her wealth, while he feels like a loser. At least in Funny Girl the hero doesn’t kill himself, but the ending is sad nonetheless. It’s not happily ever after for them, because self-respect is too big an issue to ignore, even if they both make an effort to overcome it. Even if the heroine still loves him more than anything…well, perhaps not more than her career.
When I finished the movie, it made me wonder if such a scenario would work in today’s world. Two things made me think it wouldn’t. One, we’re so materialistic in our society today that I don’t think anyone cares any more about who makes more money, the man or the woman, just as long as there’s lots of it to spend. And two, men seem to deal with self-respect differently these days. Not that they don’t need it, have it, or deserve it. But it seems like every form of media is against them. It’s no longer Father Knows Best, it’s either the wife —or the kids themselves— who have it all together in the movies and on t.v. today. The male characters are just a tad slow or the one who gets the laughs. These days, the safest group to bash seems to be the male figure who used to “lead the world.” I guess some people think they had their turn and now it’s time to turn on them.
Other than wanting to rant a little about that, the movie also gave me some fodder for my current project, Springtime of the Spirit. But because of something else I’ve learned to be true these days—that none of us have time for especially long blog posts—I’ll be talking more next Monday about how the movie relates to my current project.
On Wednesday of this week, check back for a visit from my friend Allie Pleiter who will be talking about her newest release. She’s one of my favorites, so you don’t want to miss what she has to say about her own writing experiences.
So I’ll be back next Monday for a discussion on how Funny Girl relates to my project. In the coming weeks I’ll also be talking about my next release, Whisper on the Wind. It’s hard not to be excited about that book, and I’ll be sharing some secrets about why that’s true.
Until then!
Join Me!