Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Stella Dallas : Character Arc

The film Stella Dallas (1937) touches upon many themes including the stereotypes behind motherhood and the patriarchal influences on the family. It's a thin line where culture and melodrama can come together to depict stories of heartbreak, loss, and sacrifice, as seen in the film.
As an example for this, I'd like to focus on Stella's character arc and the way we experience it from beginning to end using two moments from the film. We know Stella must get out of her daughter's life in order to help her be a part of high class society, but we must not forget that this is what Stella wants for herself before any of the sacrifice for her daughter comes into play.
     Towards the beginning of the film we see Stella at a ball, chatting and dancing away amidst the high class society she so very much wants to be a part of. When other people joke with her about her relationship with the people sitting at the table (her husband) being one of "simply business partners", Stella doesn't jump out to defend her own husband but instead she laughs as if she heard the funniest joke on the planet. All of this is her direct attempt to fit in with everyone at the party and hopefully start going up the social ladder. All of this is presented with laughs, cheers, and a dance scene where the main thing is seeing Stella in her desired element. 
In direct contrast to the party sequence, by the end, we see Stella at the climax of her emotional point, literally behind bars. It's a visual representation of how apart she now is from the life she desired so much. The story presents this moment as her daughter is getting married and finally entering the high class society Stella sacrificed so much for, yet gained little to nothing from, if you limit it to her personal benefits. Whether she walks away satisfied or unhappy with the resolution, Stella's dream changes throughout the film and makes the transition from hopeful to hopeless - all which is carefully constructed in the visual storytelling of the film, as seen in the two stills presented. 

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