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Friday Night Fever: A Look at the Swift Change of American Culture in the 1970's
Cast:
John Travolta - Tony Manero
Karen Lynn Gorney - Stephanie Mangano
Barry Miller - Bobby C.
Joseph Cali - Joey
Paul Pape - Double J.
Donna Pescow - Annette
Bruce Ornstein - Gus Val
Bisoglio - Frank Manero, Sr.
Julie Bovasso - Flo Manero
Martin Shakar - Father Frank Manero, Jr.
Sam Coppola - Dan Fusco
1.
One theme about the seventies that manifested itself throughout the movie was displacement. Many of the main characters seemed lost or discontentment with the role American society or culture during this era gave to them. Three characters that best represented this theme were Tony Manero (John Travolta), Father Frank Manero Jr. (Martin Shakar) and Bobby C. (Barry Miller).
There were two scenes within the film that best represented Tony’s discontent with his life as a poor, male laborer. The first scene is after Tony is fired from his job at the pain store and comes back for his last paycheck. His boss calms him down and tells him he really didn’t mean to fire him. Tony is quite relieved and happy. At this point his boss point to the other men who work in the stores and tells Tony how long they have all been working there - twenty and thirty years. He shares with Tony that he hopes to have him working there for as long as the other men have been working in the store. Tony’s face turns down at the suggestion. For the first time he realizes that the life he is living at that moment - living in the same poor neighborhood and working at the same nowhere job might actually be his future. He’s scared that he might end up like other men in his neighborhood - his father, friends and co-workers. In the last scene of the film Tony’s discontent manifests itself when he leaves his friends after one of them commits suicide and takes a long journey by train to Manhattan to talk to Stephanie. He confesses to her that he doesn’t want to live in the same neighborhood or work at the same job forever. He sees himself working his way up and moving to Manhattan like she did. Within this scene the audience understands one of the reasons why Tony was so infatuated with Stephanie. He saw her as someone from his neighborhood that got out and made something of themselves and it motivates and gives him hope that he could do the same thing.
Tony’s brother - Father Frank Menero is seen as someone who was disillusioned by both the idea of family and religion. In the bedroom scene between Tony and Frank after Frank tells his brother that he left the priesthood the audience becomes privy to the shifting ideas of family values and the sacredness of God. Frank shares with Tony that he before they go to sleep that the only reason he joined the priesthood was to make their parents proud. He wanted to be a good son and valued what his family thought of him. However, he had realized that making his family proud wasn’t worth his unhappiness. Frank didn’t really want to be a priest. He tells Tony that religion isn’t the oasis or savoir that he had once hoped it would be and now every time he looks at a cross he just sees a “man dying on a cross.”
There are two scenes that represent Bobby C.’s discontent with his life as a lower class, minority who has to marry his girlfriend because he got her pregnant. The first scene is when he borrows Tony his car and he tries to talk to him. He tells Tony how he got Pauline, his girlfriend pregnant and now has to marry her. Tony tells him he doesn’t have to marry her. Bobby shares that he doesn’t love her but everybody has already told him that it’s his job to marry her now that she is pregnant and that there is no other choice. During this time period, especially for Catholics and lower class families the only right thing to do if a young man got his girlfriend pregnant was to marry her since abortion was highly frowned upon still. Bobby’s distress further manifests itself in one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie. After they leave the disco club and Tony and his two friends are hanging off the bridge Bobby decides to gain their attention by climbing the bridge and swinging off the side. They pay attention and Bobby shares with Tony that all he wanted was someone to talk to about how screwed up his life is at the moment. He doesn’t want to get married, his girlfriend won’t get an abortion, everyone in his life is telling him he has to marry her and his friends just ignore his problems. It’s at this point that Bobby falls off the bridge and into the water. It was either and accident or he killed himself. Either scenario furthers the idea that Bobby was desperately happy in the role that was handed to him. His culture and society were trying to make him conform into the role many males during the time were stuck with - accidental father and shotgun husband. He didn’t want either and in the end he managed to find a way out.
2.
The three female characters with Saturday Night Fever represent the shifting roles of females within American culture. The 1970’s was a radical time to be a female with juxtaposing roles within society. First, it was a time of economic depression and like most times of economic depression the independence of women was repressed. Second, birth control was legalized which meant that women had almost complete control over their bodies and could choose to have sex without having a family. These two ideas of less independence and greater independence manifest itself with the three main female characters within the movie, Flo Manero (Julie Bovasso), Annette (Donna Pescow) and Stephanie Mangano (Karen Lynn Gorney).
Tony’s mother, Flo Manero is viewed as a relic from past generations - like the 50’s - when the primary role of women was to be a mother and wife. However, as a result of Carter era depression Tony’s father is unemployed and it results in a shift in the female/male or mother/father dynamic. During the dinner scene when Frank Manero Sr. (Val Bisoglio) hits Tony his wife hits him and he becomes very angry. He voices the fears that have been building up since he lost his job. His wife is talking back to him, hitting him in front of their children and talking about getting a job. Flo seems surprised at the outburst or at her own behaviors and promises that it will never happen again. Both characters - husband and wife - seem to fear the change in the gender dynamic that is occurring as a result of the changing time. They seem to want to keep the ideals that they grew up with in the 1950’s.
Annette out of all the characters in the movie seems the most varied. She symbolized the changing values of the young woman during the 1970’s. She grew up in a neighborhood and a culture that values marriage, religion and family. She feels the pressure of these values weigh on her but she also perceives how the world is changing. She knows that a lot of women have casual sex and enjoy it. Annette is stuck between these old and new views and it manifests itself in two scenes in the movie. In one scene when Annette confronts Tony about why he won't go on another date with her. He tells her that during the date all she would talk about was her married sisters and how he was worried that she would want to be a married sister too. In this scene Annette has to confront the idea that the values that her family and society have put on her. She is suppose to want to get married but is starting to perceive that there is a shift in the society away from these conservative values. In the same scene Tony puts these opposing values in words when he tells Annette that she has to decide if she is a “good girl or a cunt.” In a following scene Annette reaches a decision and tells Tony “We can make it now.” However, when Tony turns her down she threatens to have sex with his friends to make him jealous. They wind up almost having sex in the backseat of Bobby C.'s car. They don't go through with it though because when Tony asks her if she has contraceptive she tells him she doesn't mind not using it because she loves him. At this point Tony pulls off her and tells her they're not having sex. In the scene the audience sees that Annette is still holding on to her socially conservative values of relationships. She is willing to get pregnant from Tony because she wishes to marry him. She reveals that she doesn't want to have casual sex like many of the contemporary women of the time but wants a more traditional relationship and marriage.
The character of Stephanie is symbolic of the contemporary women of the 1970's who are more independent of men, have casual sex and have jobs to support themselves. These ideals manifest themselves in one specific scene within the movie. During the diner scene when Tony is trying to convince Stephanie to dance with him she shares her life and dreams with him. She tells him that she doesn't want to live in the old neighborhood forever but wants to move to Manhattan. She works in the city where she meets big names in the record industry and other famous people. She is going to night school and plans to take more classes to further herself. She doesn't want to be in a relationship with Tony because he is younger by a year and because he isn't going anywhere. She is brutally honest with him and tells him that he has a nowhere job and nowhere life. Her success and independence impresses Tony and makes him want more from his own life.
3.
Tony both represents the typical working class male and a shifting ideal of male masculinity in the 1970’s. Tony grew up in a neighborhood and culture that valued the role of men and women. Men were suppose to get a job within the same neighborhood, marry a girl from the same neighborhood and have children. Women were suppose to want to marry a boy from the neighborhood and raise children. Tony both typifies this ideal and strays from it in his treatment of women and his own wants for his present and future. There are two scenes that exemplify the former.
The first is when Annette confronts him about dating. He tells her that there are only two types of women - “good girls and cunts.” In this quote Tony is putting women in two role - either whores or good girls. At this point he doesn't perceive the shifting role of women and that they could be more independent of the roles that the more traditional society of the past place on them. He doesn't except that women could have casual sex with men without being whore or that a girl like Annette who comes from a similar background as him could break free from these roles. The second scene is when he first talks to Stephanie and she turns down his advances right away. He calls her a cunt even though she is in no way acting sexually promiscuous. He calls her a cunt because he can't categorize her and therefore her attitude of independence scares him. He categorizes her as a cunt because he needs to place her in one of the roles he is familiar with and because she is independent like the many women have casual sex he places her in the role of the whore.
There is one scene that exemplifies Tony as a man who is straying from the traditional roles of the males in his neighborhood and culture. In the diner scene with Stephanie he shares with her that he doesn't wish to live in the same neighborhood for the rest of his life or have the same job when he is older. He explains that he is trying to find something in the world that makes him feel the same way as dancing does. In this scene the audience perceives that Tony doesn't want the traditional life that males in his culture except and abide by. He finds pleasure in something very contemporary of the time - dancing. He wants to find the same pleasure in something else that doesn't fit into the traditional role that his culture puts on males during this era.
4.
Saturday Night Fever creates a portrait of American life in an era of malaise by showing the unease of secondary male characters within the shifting economic state of American society. During this period in American culture there was a swift economic downfall that caused many men to feel uncertain about there role within the culture. In the past men would meant to be the only breadwinner within the family and would be given a great amount of respect from other men and their family when they achieved this goal. However, since many men faced unemployment and a drop in the worth of the dollar they worried that this role that American society valued was being threatened. This is seen in two scenes with Tony's boss - Dan Fusco (Sam Coppola) and Tony's father - Frank Manero Sr. (Val Bisoglio).
Dan Fusco, Tony's boss owns his own neighborhood paint shop which seems to be thriving during a time of recession in America. However, his worries about losing business during this time is evident in many scenes. The one scene that exemplifies this idea is when he overhears a conversation with Tony and a man who owns a painting company. The man offers Tony a job - telling him he's good at his job but would make more if he came and worked for him. The audience can tell that Dan is worried that he might lose Tony - who is his best worker and brings him a lot of business. In the next scene we see Dan's worry over losing business become tangent when he offers Tony a raise of four dollars. Tony is both surprised and thankful. However, he is unaware how much his boss is worried that any loss - including that of Tony may cause his business to lose money. There is a general unease in the Character of Dan throughout the movie. He lets obnoxious behavior from Tony pass a few times because he doesn't wish to lose anything during this time of economic downfall.
Frank Manero Sr. is Tony's father and when the movie began was already made redundant. Throughout the movie the audience perceives his unease by the way he interacts with his family. He knows that since he is no longer the breadwinner that they might no longer respect or admire him. His worried are exemplified in the dinner scene after he hits Tony and his wife hits him. There is a look of panic on his face when he tells his wife that she would have never hit him when he was still employed. He goes on to explain how many things have changed since he was let go from his job. She talks back to him, says she is getting a job and in total no longer respects him.
Review: Saturday Night Fever is a movie that is a big part of my childhood. After a third viewing I was able to critique it in a way that wasn't affected by my own childhood viewing. The movie was able to emphasize the values of the working class, minority culture while exploring the shifting ideals the time. Tony at times is a hard character to like. He is misogynistic but also is confused with his own role as a male within society. Audiences don't suppose to like him but perceive that he is struggling with his identity. All three female character are easy to empathize with because they are all fully realized characters that are struggling with their own roles within the society.
Cast:
John Travolta - Tony Manero
Karen Lynn Gorney - Stephanie Mangano
Barry Miller - Bobby C.
Joseph Cali - Joey
Paul Pape - Double J.
Donna Pescow - Annette
Bruce Ornstein - Gus Val
Bisoglio - Frank Manero, Sr.
Julie Bovasso - Flo Manero
Martin Shakar - Father Frank Manero, Jr.
Sam Coppola - Dan Fusco
Click to view1.
One theme about the seventies that manifested itself throughout the movie was displacement. Many of the main characters seemed lost or discontentment with the role American society or culture during this era gave to them. Three characters that best represented this theme were Tony Manero (John Travolta), Father Frank Manero Jr. (Martin Shakar) and Bobby C. (Barry Miller).
There were two scenes within the film that best represented Tony’s discontent with his life as a poor, male laborer. The first scene is after Tony is fired from his job at the pain store and comes back for his last paycheck. His boss calms him down and tells him he really didn’t mean to fire him. Tony is quite relieved and happy. At this point his boss point to the other men who work in the stores and tells Tony how long they have all been working there - twenty and thirty years. He shares with Tony that he hopes to have him working there for as long as the other men have been working in the store. Tony’s face turns down at the suggestion. For the first time he realizes that the life he is living at that moment - living in the same poor neighborhood and working at the same nowhere job might actually be his future. He’s scared that he might end up like other men in his neighborhood - his father, friends and co-workers. In the last scene of the film Tony’s discontent manifests itself when he leaves his friends after one of them commits suicide and takes a long journey by train to Manhattan to talk to Stephanie. He confesses to her that he doesn’t want to live in the same neighborhood or work at the same job forever. He sees himself working his way up and moving to Manhattan like she did. Within this scene the audience understands one of the reasons why Tony was so infatuated with Stephanie. He saw her as someone from his neighborhood that got out and made something of themselves and it motivates and gives him hope that he could do the same thing.
Tony’s brother - Father Frank Menero is seen as someone who was disillusioned by both the idea of family and religion. In the bedroom scene between Tony and Frank after Frank tells his brother that he left the priesthood the audience becomes privy to the shifting ideas of family values and the sacredness of God. Frank shares with Tony that he before they go to sleep that the only reason he joined the priesthood was to make their parents proud. He wanted to be a good son and valued what his family thought of him. However, he had realized that making his family proud wasn’t worth his unhappiness. Frank didn’t really want to be a priest. He tells Tony that religion isn’t the oasis or savoir that he had once hoped it would be and now every time he looks at a cross he just sees a “man dying on a cross.”
There are two scenes that represent Bobby C.’s discontent with his life as a lower class, minority who has to marry his girlfriend because he got her pregnant. The first scene is when he borrows Tony his car and he tries to talk to him. He tells Tony how he got Pauline, his girlfriend pregnant and now has to marry her. Tony tells him he doesn’t have to marry her. Bobby shares that he doesn’t love her but everybody has already told him that it’s his job to marry her now that she is pregnant and that there is no other choice. During this time period, especially for Catholics and lower class families the only right thing to do if a young man got his girlfriend pregnant was to marry her since abortion was highly frowned upon still. Bobby’s distress further manifests itself in one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie. After they leave the disco club and Tony and his two friends are hanging off the bridge Bobby decides to gain their attention by climbing the bridge and swinging off the side. They pay attention and Bobby shares with Tony that all he wanted was someone to talk to about how screwed up his life is at the moment. He doesn’t want to get married, his girlfriend won’t get an abortion, everyone in his life is telling him he has to marry her and his friends just ignore his problems. It’s at this point that Bobby falls off the bridge and into the water. It was either and accident or he killed himself. Either scenario furthers the idea that Bobby was desperately happy in the role that was handed to him. His culture and society were trying to make him conform into the role many males during the time were stuck with - accidental father and shotgun husband. He didn’t want either and in the end he managed to find a way out.
2.
The three female characters with Saturday Night Fever represent the shifting roles of females within American culture. The 1970’s was a radical time to be a female with juxtaposing roles within society. First, it was a time of economic depression and like most times of economic depression the independence of women was repressed. Second, birth control was legalized which meant that women had almost complete control over their bodies and could choose to have sex without having a family. These two ideas of less independence and greater independence manifest itself with the three main female characters within the movie, Flo Manero (Julie Bovasso), Annette (Donna Pescow) and Stephanie Mangano (Karen Lynn Gorney).
Tony’s mother, Flo Manero is viewed as a relic from past generations - like the 50’s - when the primary role of women was to be a mother and wife. However, as a result of Carter era depression Tony’s father is unemployed and it results in a shift in the female/male or mother/father dynamic. During the dinner scene when Frank Manero Sr. (Val Bisoglio) hits Tony his wife hits him and he becomes very angry. He voices the fears that have been building up since he lost his job. His wife is talking back to him, hitting him in front of their children and talking about getting a job. Flo seems surprised at the outburst or at her own behaviors and promises that it will never happen again. Both characters - husband and wife - seem to fear the change in the gender dynamic that is occurring as a result of the changing time. They seem to want to keep the ideals that they grew up with in the 1950’s.
Annette out of all the characters in the movie seems the most varied. She symbolized the changing values of the young woman during the 1970’s. She grew up in a neighborhood and a culture that values marriage, religion and family. She feels the pressure of these values weigh on her but she also perceives how the world is changing. She knows that a lot of women have casual sex and enjoy it. Annette is stuck between these old and new views and it manifests itself in two scenes in the movie. In one scene when Annette confronts Tony about why he won't go on another date with her. He tells her that during the date all she would talk about was her married sisters and how he was worried that she would want to be a married sister too. In this scene Annette has to confront the idea that the values that her family and society have put on her. She is suppose to want to get married but is starting to perceive that there is a shift in the society away from these conservative values. In the same scene Tony puts these opposing values in words when he tells Annette that she has to decide if she is a “good girl or a cunt.” In a following scene Annette reaches a decision and tells Tony “We can make it now.” However, when Tony turns her down she threatens to have sex with his friends to make him jealous. They wind up almost having sex in the backseat of Bobby C.'s car. They don't go through with it though because when Tony asks her if she has contraceptive she tells him she doesn't mind not using it because she loves him. At this point Tony pulls off her and tells her they're not having sex. In the scene the audience sees that Annette is still holding on to her socially conservative values of relationships. She is willing to get pregnant from Tony because she wishes to marry him. She reveals that she doesn't want to have casual sex like many of the contemporary women of the time but wants a more traditional relationship and marriage.
The character of Stephanie is symbolic of the contemporary women of the 1970's who are more independent of men, have casual sex and have jobs to support themselves. These ideals manifest themselves in one specific scene within the movie. During the diner scene when Tony is trying to convince Stephanie to dance with him she shares her life and dreams with him. She tells him that she doesn't want to live in the old neighborhood forever but wants to move to Manhattan. She works in the city where she meets big names in the record industry and other famous people. She is going to night school and plans to take more classes to further herself. She doesn't want to be in a relationship with Tony because he is younger by a year and because he isn't going anywhere. She is brutally honest with him and tells him that he has a nowhere job and nowhere life. Her success and independence impresses Tony and makes him want more from his own life.
3.
Tony both represents the typical working class male and a shifting ideal of male masculinity in the 1970’s. Tony grew up in a neighborhood and culture that valued the role of men and women. Men were suppose to get a job within the same neighborhood, marry a girl from the same neighborhood and have children. Women were suppose to want to marry a boy from the neighborhood and raise children. Tony both typifies this ideal and strays from it in his treatment of women and his own wants for his present and future. There are two scenes that exemplify the former.
The first is when Annette confronts him about dating. He tells her that there are only two types of women - “good girls and cunts.” In this quote Tony is putting women in two role - either whores or good girls. At this point he doesn't perceive the shifting role of women and that they could be more independent of the roles that the more traditional society of the past place on them. He doesn't except that women could have casual sex with men without being whore or that a girl like Annette who comes from a similar background as him could break free from these roles. The second scene is when he first talks to Stephanie and she turns down his advances right away. He calls her a cunt even though she is in no way acting sexually promiscuous. He calls her a cunt because he can't categorize her and therefore her attitude of independence scares him. He categorizes her as a cunt because he needs to place her in one of the roles he is familiar with and because she is independent like the many women have casual sex he places her in the role of the whore.
There is one scene that exemplifies Tony as a man who is straying from the traditional roles of the males in his neighborhood and culture. In the diner scene with Stephanie he shares with her that he doesn't wish to live in the same neighborhood for the rest of his life or have the same job when he is older. He explains that he is trying to find something in the world that makes him feel the same way as dancing does. In this scene the audience perceives that Tony doesn't want the traditional life that males in his culture except and abide by. He finds pleasure in something very contemporary of the time - dancing. He wants to find the same pleasure in something else that doesn't fit into the traditional role that his culture puts on males during this era.
4.
Saturday Night Fever creates a portrait of American life in an era of malaise by showing the unease of secondary male characters within the shifting economic state of American society. During this period in American culture there was a swift economic downfall that caused many men to feel uncertain about there role within the culture. In the past men would meant to be the only breadwinner within the family and would be given a great amount of respect from other men and their family when they achieved this goal. However, since many men faced unemployment and a drop in the worth of the dollar they worried that this role that American society valued was being threatened. This is seen in two scenes with Tony's boss - Dan Fusco (Sam Coppola) and Tony's father - Frank Manero Sr. (Val Bisoglio).
Dan Fusco, Tony's boss owns his own neighborhood paint shop which seems to be thriving during a time of recession in America. However, his worries about losing business during this time is evident in many scenes. The one scene that exemplifies this idea is when he overhears a conversation with Tony and a man who owns a painting company. The man offers Tony a job - telling him he's good at his job but would make more if he came and worked for him. The audience can tell that Dan is worried that he might lose Tony - who is his best worker and brings him a lot of business. In the next scene we see Dan's worry over losing business become tangent when he offers Tony a raise of four dollars. Tony is both surprised and thankful. However, he is unaware how much his boss is worried that any loss - including that of Tony may cause his business to lose money. There is a general unease in the Character of Dan throughout the movie. He lets obnoxious behavior from Tony pass a few times because he doesn't wish to lose anything during this time of economic downfall.
Frank Manero Sr. is Tony's father and when the movie began was already made redundant. Throughout the movie the audience perceives his unease by the way he interacts with his family. He knows that since he is no longer the breadwinner that they might no longer respect or admire him. His worried are exemplified in the dinner scene after he hits Tony and his wife hits him. There is a look of panic on his face when he tells his wife that she would have never hit him when he was still employed. He goes on to explain how many things have changed since he was let go from his job. She talks back to him, says she is getting a job and in total no longer respects him.
Review: Saturday Night Fever is a movie that is a big part of my childhood. After a third viewing I was able to critique it in a way that wasn't affected by my own childhood viewing. The movie was able to emphasize the values of the working class, minority culture while exploring the shifting ideals the time. Tony at times is a hard character to like. He is misogynistic but also is confused with his own role as a male within society. Audiences don't suppose to like him but perceive that he is struggling with his identity. All three female character are easy to empathize with because they are all fully realized characters that are struggling with their own roles within the society.