The Sound of Music is a movie based on a real-life story of the Von Trapp family living in 1930s Austria with war looming just around the corner. It released in the 60s and is, in a way, a product of its time and a romantic historical film. The war that is only hinted at in the beginning is made more obvious towards the end of the movie. The father of the Von Trapp family is a widowed strict navy general of seven unruly children. A nun, Maria, is introduced to the family and despite their rocky start the children start to love Maria who also finds herself in love with the Captain who in turn is falling in love with her but he is engaged to a Baroness who eventually makes herself sparse and Maria wins the heart of the Captain and they get married. All the while the Captain is being encouraged to fight in the war with Germany against his home and eventually the family, quite literally, runs for the hills.
The Sound of Music highlights what the ideal wife is supposed to be like. This movie, in my opinion, is more about Maria’s nurturing and loving personality. The war is a component to but it is just used to the support Maria. The film follows the optimistic and bright young woman fresh from a nunnery whose faith in God is as important to her as it is being kind to every person she come across. Throughout the film we can see how she manages the children, is slow to anger, is resourceful and is small and innocently beautiful.
Maria’s bright personality and optimism is a big a part of why the Captain and his children fell in love with her. She could turn thunderstorms into a list of pleasant things, she could turn a day into town a music lesson, she could keep the children orderly while the Captain needed his space to do his military stuff. Maria is presented as the buffer that subdues the catalyst. She is the epitome of what a good woman is. In every other scene her display of compassion and nurturing hardly ever falls short.
In the 60s women were expected to be well rounded in taking care of not only then home but the children as well. In the movie she’s met with the task of taming seven children who were so horrible they ran away all the other nannies that came before her and not only does she gain their trust and affection she sings her way through it all like some type of Disney princess. She even teaches the children a couple of songs that they sing to entertain the Captain, the Baroness, and a houseful of guests.
The sounds of music is one of my favorite musicals/movies, the music from this movie has become almost universal to the point where someone who knows nothing about about music, knows that "Do" is a deer and "Re" is a drop of golden sun. I remember in grade school, if there was nothing to be learned or practiced in choir and the teacher wanted a free day, then the sound of music was going to be playing. The music aspect of the movie is not just to teach the kids a couple songs, in my opinion the music helps the kids develop personalities in the movie. At the beginning they are just like robots, the Captain has trained them like dogs to be obedient to him and not get out of line, the music/maria shows the kids that they can express themselves and have their own ideas on things, and the music also helps the children open up to her.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up The Sound of Music because I love that movie and it is my second favorite Julie Andrew’s movie. My first favorite Julie Andrew movie was Mary Poppins. Anyway, back to The Sound of Music, I like how you compare to how a good mother or a good stepmother treats their children with nurturing, loving, and caring but it’s funny today, more mothers are lazy enough to not pay any attention to their kids which is sad. They may not realize the damage they are making to their child.
ReplyDelete-Kendra ZeMenye
I like your interpretation of this movie. I've never seen it personally, but I've heard about it and know that it's a classic. I like that you brought up the image of the perfect wife- or perfect housewife. Especially the expectation to maintain the household, the children, and keep everything tidy so the husband can work on his own stuff. I definitely think this ideal is changing for most people which is good. It's often unrealistic to expect women to fulfill the role of providing constant sunshine and maintenance so the man can work. Obviously now we have many different versions of family and what they look like. However, I think this film was made to reflect a time of hardship and maybe she represented light in a dark time. It allowed people to sink into their ideals.
ReplyDelete- Bailey West