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Adam's Rib Meaning

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Adam’s rib is an American classic movie that was very successful at the time when it was released, as an almost ‘comic’ movie, the poster of the movie stating « the funniest picture in 10 years ! », while the movie also has a much deeper political scope. The title of the movie of course can not be read without thinking about the Genesis of the Bible, that showed women as a weakness for men, as Achilles' heel, like Eve who tempted Adam. But more than a temptation, women are considered as the possessors of ultimate evilness, as if they deviated men from the right path, as Eve condemned Adam’s future by accepting the snake’s offer. This movie uses this expression in order to deconstruct it, which can thus be seen as the forerunner of today’s …show more content…

When Adam puts on his hat, which is one of the very last action of the movie, it is right before the couple gets back to what we suppose an ’happily ever after’ end. His hat all along was a way to recover it’s man’s pride. When he cries, Amanda brings him home and puts his hat on, in order to make him feel like a man again for example, and when he puts it at the end it’s a way for us to understand that everything is back to normal. But the interesting thing is that he does so after showing Amanda how he manages to fake cried during the interview with the notary, which initiated its reconciliation with her. It is very ironical that a man admits his ability to fake cry, a capacity that’s often attributed to women. After all this struggles about differences between men an women as justifications for differences of treatment, we see that differences are often very socially constructed and that one can wear a man’s hat and still cry, as much as a woman can wear a fashionable hat and still be able to be considered for you hard work as a lawyer for example. After having openly showed his ‘sensitive side’, which is a stereotype of women’s expected behaviour, he no longer feels threatened by women, femininity is no longer his

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