I apologize if I misled anyone by my title, but unfortunately I am not posting to talk solely about that Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt movie, “What Women Want” (even though it is pretty great). I included it as my title because A, I thought it was a good pun and some nice alliteration and B, this is the question I found myself asking over and over again while watching Blonde Venus. At first I believed that Helen was the happiest at home as a housewife and loving mother to Johnny; however, even then I found her relationship with Ned to be formal and almost stiff, as if there was some underlying tension not being fully addressed in the marriage. I don’t doubt that she loves Ned, but it seems to be more of a mothering love than a romantic love. She cares for him deeply and this is the reason she returns to the stage, but I didn’t note any true desperation and heartbreak in the fact that her husband and supposed “true love” was near his death bed. To me, she returned to the stage out of simple necessity, but also slightly out of boredom and and a yearning to fill a void. After all, in Germany where she had been free and full of life, she was doing the thing that brightened her most: performing. Thus, she goes back to “work.” (Is it really work for her, though?) Anyway, here’s where things start to get gray for me, because even when Helen becomes a major theater star and all the world is at her feet, I don’t get the sense that she is truly happy. I believe she is attracted to Nick and finds him endearing, but there is equally a wall being put up between the two. I think Helen recognizes the type of man Nick is; he is primarily interested in her physical appearance and the mind that comes behind her beautiful face is just extra. She knows this. She is fully aware of Nick’s motives and lack of genuine care. This is why their relationship falls through when Helen is truly in need of support; Nick disappears for months, maybe even years (it was never really made clear), and it’s hardly even addressed.
I’m going to skip over the tumultuous mess that happens in the wake of Helen’s stardom (not because it’s not important, but because I don’t even know what to make of it yet). Finally, after a very depressing downward spiral (where I’m positive she’s not at all happy), Helen finds herself back in the arms of Nick and discarding the idea of being a mother to Johnny. Again– why? Doesn’t she love Johnny? Is it just a façade? To me, most likely. After all, she wouldn’t have gone through the exhausting trouble of hiding Johnny from the authorities and Ned if she didn’t love him the most. But still– she eventually returns to Ned and Johnny and slowly slips back into the mothering role (perhaps to both of them). Helen now has all she wanted: she is back in her own home with her loving husband and adorable little boy. In fact, one might even say she has returned to square one. But, the question remains: IS SHE HAPPY? She has been through the most emotionally exhausting journey imaginable. Now, at the end of all things when she’s back in the arms of her loved ones, shouldn’t she be ecstatic, overjoyed, and simply relieved? You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Honestly, I just don’t know anymore, because even as Helen settles into her home and returns to the role she always wanted, I felt the same underlying dissatisfaction that I felt from the first scene, even after all that’s happened. Therefore, I can’t tell if this film was subversive, slightly subversive, subversive at times, purposefully non-subversive, or plain and simply not at all subversive. I don’t know. I think writing this post has made me even more confused, so I hope I can be enlightened by you all come 12:45 on Monday. My question remains: What does Helen want?
I think this is a great question! I was honestly wondering this the entire movie as well. First of all, I don’t care about Nick. I think Nick was simply a matter of Helen wanting to tap into her unexplored self – a girl who has known her dark side for a very long time and is finally exploring it
Due to the fact that Helen’s relationship with Ned bookends the film, I think it is the best representation of who she truly is. I did not bring this up in class, because I was scared I would be stretching things a bit, but: In the first scene, Helen did not seem as into the storytelling to me as Ned did. Ned started out telling Johnny how he was completely taken with Helen; could barely speak when she came on stage. As Johnny (her little boy) looks up at Helen and asks, “What did you think?” Helen hesitates and then quickly responds with something along the lines of: “I was so taken aback I could barely sing!”
To me, Helen was thinking on her feet a little at this part. Trying to come up with something to say that was equivalent to her husband’s admiration and would please her little boy. I simply think Helen was ahead of her time and fell into the life that everyone told her she belonged in. I question if she ever loved Ned to begin with. I am not saying Helen did not care for her husband whatsoever, but I think she wonders what things could have been like had she not married him. She met him while she was a performer, and although this was one of the few jobs available to women at the time, I still think that Helen knows she could have “exploited it” for all it was worth. She could have been extremely successful, but instead settled into the modest position of a housewife. Although it is set up that Helen “has to go back to performing” for the sake of her family’s welfare, I think it is something she wanted to do deep down.
Although my accusation is extensive, I think it accurately explains how the movie comes together. Helen goes out believing she can make it on her own and finds success quickly. However, by the end of the film she has once again become boggled down with society’s norms, and questions whether or not she could truly find lasting independence. My answer to whether Helen wants Nick or Ned? I think she wants neither. I think Ned represents Helen’s submissiveness towards society, and I think Nick represents her indulgence with her rebellious side. However, I do not think either of them are the true love she wants to find.
I think this is a great question as well. My personal answer would be that Helen wants her and her son, Johnny, be saved. However, “being saved” means different things at different points of her life. The flashback scenes reveal that she was swept off her feet by Ned, and he “saves” her from a life of loneliness and uncertainty. But then Ned gets sick and ironically Helen feels she must “save” her stable life (by getting money for her husband to receive treatment) by entering an unstable life of show business. I am not sure that it is clear that Helen also feels she has to escape the boredom of her stable family life for her own personal benefit. While Helen seems to enjoy her time on stage, I think Helen’s top priority truly is her family. This is why she always puts Johnny first. For example, she does not let her son down by telling him she does not have enough money to afford their meal at the diner, instead she asks “want to see a big kitchen?” before heading down to do the dishes. To me, it seems as if she is always doing everything she can to give her son the life he deserves. She needs to make money, and the stage is where she can make it. She is confused on what is right, because society does not give her many options. She ultimately gives her son away because she hears he would be better off with his father. She wants to “save” him from a life like she has. Helen “wants” things to be better for her and her son, she is just confused on how to get there.
Caroline Radigan