The female protagonist in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is quite different from those in All That Heaven Allows and Far From Heaven. Yet all three exemplify unruly women who go against the norms of their respective societies, especially the expected ûor proscribed- behavior of women. The three women in these films choose to redefine their traditional roles and in so doing they break female stereotypes.
The musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) features Marilyn Monroe as the traditional beautiful, sexy but dumb blonde, Lorelei Lee. Contrary to her innocent looks, showgirl Lorelei is a gold-digger who connives to get everything from a stolen diamond tiara to a rich husband. She uses her sex appeal to get what she wants and is totally unapologetic for her methods and unruly behavior. She is not the passive female answering to the male, but the unruly female who has mastery over the male, a switch on the traditional culture of the 1950s.
Although the wealthy widow Cary (Jane Wyman) in All That Heaven Allows (1956), and the perfect 1950s suburban housewife Cathy (Julianne Moore) in Far From Heaven (2002) are upper middle-class women, (unlike showgirl Lorelei), who follow the conventions of their society, during the course of the movies they too become unruly women by behaving in ways that go against what their society, and families, expect of them.
Lorelei is the voluptuous, noisy rebel who uses sex and humor to undermine what Kathleen Rowe refers to as patriarchal norms and authority. On the other hand, Cary and Cathy are ôladies,ö and their unruliness takes the form of rebelling against the conventions of society to find personal happiness.
Cary falls in love with gardener/nurseryman Ron (Rock Hudson), who is not only working class but also much younger than Cary, thus he is unacceptable on two levels to her snobbish, grown-up children and friends. Cary is also snobbish and rather prudish and gives Ron up to confo...