R.A.F.T
Role: Myself as a Writer Audience: Movie Agent/Director Format: Memo
Theme: Violence and Sexism in the Book
Sent to: Movie Agency
Sent from: Writer Alicia Hillier
Topic: Violence and Sexism in "Of Mice and Men"
In the novel, Of Mice and Men, there are several different aspects of behavior that must be looked at very carefully and understood in depth in order for there to be an accurate portrayal of the novel. The first of these is the violence in the book and how it must be portrayed. Normally violence in movies is quite brutal and is usually gruesome and the characters are evil and bloodthirsty. However in Of Mice and Men the violence often has a different and unique tone to it that actors really must account for in a movie portrayal. Another aspect of the book that must be interpreted in the right way is the sexism in the book, which at that time was something that was very prevalent. With Curly's wife, she must be a strong but sensitive female that has large hopes and dreams, that are restricted due to the sexism by the men in the novel.
The violence in the book is something that is very important to the development of several characters and must be considered when acting out scenes in a movie. For someone like Lennie, the examples of his violence in the book are different in the sense that he is rather innocent and actually would not like to hurt anyone, he is just unaware of his strength. For example when he kills the puppy in the barn and also Curly's wife, he isn't trying to kill them or even hurt them he just has sudden reactions to things, which ends badly most of the time. He is not an aggressive person but just doesn't understand his own strength at all. Another example of this is when Lennie crushes Curly's hand, but only because George tells him to. Lennie says over and over after how he really didn't mean or want to hurt Curly like that, he simply did it because George told him to, and Lennie does everything that George tells him to do in the book. So there must be a lot of attention paid to certain acts of violence that are done with innocence, especially with Lennie's character.
Sexism in the book revolves around one character for the most part as well. The sexism towards Curly's wife is very evident and while trying not to offend viewers, the sexism of the time in the great depression must be taken into account. She is always referred to as "Curley's Wife" so we never know her real name. She is also always flirted with by the men on the ranch because she's the only woman there, and she has no job to do on the ranch, other than to house-keep and take care of Curly. With all of this, the character of Curley's Wife still must be a strong woman with goals in life, and dreams that she wishes to achieve. She fights through adversity everyday and still has those hopes and dreams, before her sudden death. The speech before her death must be symbolic as to the restricting feeling that the sexism had on her, and that while the men had rough times in the Great Depression, the women were even worse off in many cases.
