Portrayal of Materialistic and Conformist Society in Some Like It Hot

Some like it a hot is a representation of the conservative 50s with materialistic and conformist values. Women were looking for a rich husband to take care of them and men were looking for the next hot thing or good deal. It was a time of convention and rigidity. The movie shows serious issues in society as materialism, intellectual oppression and objectification of women.

Marilyn Monroe is the star of the movie and the icon of the time. She was the perfect image of how women were viewed. Monroe embodies the stereotype of the “dumb blonde”. She was playing Sugar Kane an innocent but sexy woman who gets by in life based on her looks. Even her name “Sugar” intends to make her be perceived as sweet and gratifying. She is presented as not very smart when she tells her story of choosing men who took advantage of her and continuing to do so when she believes Joe’s lies about being a millionaire, owning a yacht, leaving her for some oil business and so on. This shows that during the time, women weren’t necessarily taken seriously and weren’t considered very bright.

The movie discusses the objectification of women. From the beginning, Sugar is introduced with a shot from the back, showing her walking in the train station and men being stricken by her. The majority of outfits Monroe wears are revealing, showing most of her back or having a very low neckline or just overall made of see-through material. There’s no accent on her being able to sing or play the ukulele, the accent is on her looks. The objectification of women is also shown through Jerry being dressed as a woman and getting groped in the elevator and getting slapped by the first old man that sees him/her. The movie shows how women were merely sex objects for the men judged based on their looks.

The movie also shows the materialistic values of the time. The girls on the train to Florida were dreaming of finding rich men to marry and take care of them. Their goal wasn’t to have a good show or be successful, the goal was to find a man. This is pointed again when Sugar says that her ambition is to marry a rich man with glasses. The women of the time were only given value as wives and the richer the husband the more successful of a wife she was. This shows the cold relationships of the time, where men were choosing women based on their looks and women were choosing men based on their income. Some like it hot is a great comedy, making fun of the social issues of the time as the objectification and oppression of women and materialism. Starring Marilyn Monroe adds greatly to the message as she was already the sex icon of the 50s.