Nights in Rodanthe, (2008)
Synopsis: A modern
melodramatic film about finding love where hope is lost. Paul, a surgeon who traded
his family for his career and Adrienne a devoted mother who suffers from
heartbreak by her husband’s infidelity struggles with whether to accept him
back. Both meet while soul searching on a remote inn each turn to each other
for comfort and strength in solving life’s at times unfair mysteries. Their
meeting sets the stage for an unexpected romance in an unlikely time in their
lives.
Analysis
Characters Appearances + Mannerisms of (Adrienne)
When Adrienne is first introduced in the film, she is
stressing trying to get her children ready for their trip. Her physical
appearance is that of a mature woman, who doesn’t really have time for herself
because of her time devoted to her children.
In the beginning of the film Adrienne
shows her conflict with idealized femininity in that, when her husband comes
back and asks for her to accept him back after his unfaithfulness, he tells
her, “Adrienne I love you, I know what I lost and I’ll do anything in my power
to get it back.” As a woman Adrienne understands her lack of femininity due to
her loss of reason to perform. He then tells her, “You know we are meant to be
together, all you have to do is look at the children.” Adrienne’s
Adrienne decides to then go help her
friend Jean out at her inn, to clear her mind and find some solace in what she
should do. While she there she meets Paul, a man
who keeps her distant. When she meets Paul she shows curiosity in him. By this
time she also shows potential interest, her curiosity and interest in Paul leads
her to her transformation as a woman. In the beginning of the film, she
performs her idealized gender role through her devotion to her children, but
when she meets Paul and grows an interest, her physical appearance changes and she starts wearing more feminine clothing such as a ‘pencil skirt
and a tucked in collar shirt’ (Sound familiar?). As she is serving him his dinner
she says with a smile, “I’ll
come back with your salad.” Her behavior has changed into a more subservient
and domesticated one, and her appearance has changed into a more desired one.
As her interest in Paul continues to
grow, her ability to master idealized femininity becomes more apparent. She
finds a photo of Paul and his son and smiles. Her facial expression shows how
she is envisioning Paul as a family man, which suits her lifestyle because of
her nurturing family oriented nature. As
she talks with her friend Jean on the phone about Paul, when her friend asks is
he handsome? She says, “I didn’t say that” But she becomes giggly and her
performance almost becomes childlike and innocent. Her characteristics of idealized femininity is not only in her appearance which she readjusts to Paul's liking and also in her more domestic roles she has been playing at the inn. The last characteristic wish she shows is in her almost childlike manner whens he talks about Paul on the phone with her friend.
Adrienne’s complete transformation to mastering her
idealized gender role, is
when she returns home from her time at the inn, and returns to her children and
a decision she has to make regarding her choice.Her children are
angry and they seem to not understand and pressure her for her answer. She tells
them, “I
know this is hard for you to understand, all I can tell you is that I am still
your mother...and I am not going anywhere.”She,
for the sake of her own happiness is not going to get back with her husband for
the sake of her children, and she has established that her role as their mother
has not changed and, but her role as a woman has.
But this is not happy ending story for
Adrienne, as she comes to terms with her new identity as a woman and mother and
potential wife, Paul leaves her unexpectedly to figure himself out. Adrienne
becomes heartbroken and reminisces on the past experiences she and Paul had, she
remembers her transformation into his object of desire and her feeling of
fulfillment when they were together. At the ending scenes of the film, her
physical appearance as the object of his desire and of idealized femininity slowly
revert back to her beginning state of when she found solace in her children.
Her performance of idealized femininity is short lived, but the film emphasizes
how her transformation was made possible by a ‘man.’
Characters Appearances + Mannerisms of (Dr, Paul)
When Paul is first introduced in the film,
we see a man who is distant and reserved, possibly suffering from his own
trauma. His physical appearance is that of a mature, tall and slender man. When
he is first greeted at the inn by Adrienne, she mentions about the bad weather
they may be having, and he tells her, “I heard
something about that, it doesn’t matter,” his performance of idealized
masculinity is done through his cold, emotionless exterior to Adrienne. Paul
shows some interest in Adrienne after having dinner with her, her physical
appearance is something of his liking. They drink and he asks, “If you’re not Jean who are you.” The alcohol helps Paul open up about
his past and her family experience.
As the film progresses we see Paul
drinking more wine, he says, “It’s the wine its making me go
blah blah,”Paul’s performance of idealized masculinity is when Adrienne not
only shows interest in Paul, but when the alcohol makes it possible for Paul to
forget about his troubles and have an interest in Adrienne. Near the end of the film as Paul visit
comes to an end, Paul realizes that even Adrienne cannot help him overcome his
own troubles which enable him to fully master his
