Bringing Up Baby

The most significant difference that I found between Bringing Up Baby and the other films that we have watched this semester, besides the obvious absurdity and playfulness of this film, was the fact that the woman did not change at the end of the movie. It was the man, David Huxley, who changed at the end of the film because he met a woman and she turned his world upside down. Susan Vance was constantly bizarre, easy-going and not concerned about the problems that she and David were getting into throughout the film, including the ending. In David's words, "You (Susan) look at everything upside down".

In the film, David says that "She's (Susan) is helpless without me", but I would like to pose that it is David who is helpless without her, and not the other way around. Susan shows David how to accept life the way it is and when something unexpected comes up, you have to go with the flow. She essentially taught David how to live his life. He only lived for his work before, which isn't completely bad, but he had to have something else in his life besides work, and I don't think he did. I think David thought he had Alice, but Alice thought of their relationship as purely a business transaction. She didn't want anything to interfere with his work. She didn't even want a honeymoon! So, David was not living his life to the fullest before he met Susan. He even says that the one day he spent with her was the best day of his life. I believe that Susan is the hero of this film. She is the one who espaces from the jail and tries to prove their innocence and she also catches David when he faints. She is the strong character.

This is the second time I have seen this film, and at the end, I couldn't help but feel a slight falsity in what David was saying. When Susan comes into David's workplace, he immediately climbs up the stairs, so he will not be near her. Susan can't even see him at first. As she is speaking, it seems that David only has a romantic interest in Susan after she tells him that she will give him the one million dollars for his work. Then he grows excited, the most enthusiastic the viewers have seen him. He continues saying that he had the best day of his life and "I love you, I think", shortly after he said "I'm afraid of you". I am not trying to imply that David does not have any feelings for Susan, but I think his feelings initially started because of his passion for his work and the money he would be receiving. I often wonder what would have happened if Susan didn't say that she would give him the money. Would his reaction be different? I do think that he has more than work in his life now and when Susan knocks down his brontosaurus and isn't furious, his feelings seem more genuine. I still wonder though.

Bringing Up Baby is one of those movies that you can watch ten times and still find something new or have a new thought about it. That is what constitutes a good movie in my book. I would like to end with one of my favorite quotes from the movie, "Oh, you've torn you're coat!". My life will be complete when I can use that quote in an everyday setting and have the meaning that Katharine Hepburn portrays in that line. Katharine Hepburn is my hero!