Directed By: John Badham

March 23, 2012

1. What is this film about and what does it reveal about the 1970s? Pick a single theme and use at least two to three fully described scenes from the film as evidence to support your points. Make sure you connect the scenes you select to key ideas in your argument explaining what the film is about and what it reveals about the 1970s.

This film shows how the music and movie industry of the 1970s move towards a new level. This film particularly shows how people want to escape their poverty in order to earn more money as well as earn popularity. That is exactly what Tony does, he wants to escape his dead end job at the paint shop and become the disco king. Throughout his entire week he has Saturday in order to fulfill his dreams. This was encouraged when he met Stephanie. She gave him the confidence to go out and make his dreams come true by competing in the dance competition. In the beginning of the film Tony is shown as a young man who makes his money during the day by working in the paint shop, he can not get a good job because they lack of education so he goes towards another route to accomplish his goals. The film reveals that during the 1970s many people had problems and tried to escape poverty and went through many ways to reach their goals and enjoy life.

2. How are the three main female characters, Stephanie, Annette, and Tony’s mother represented in the film? What do you think each symbolizes about the 1970s, the past, and the future? Use at least three fully developed scenes to support your answer.

Tony’s mother is a typical housewife who cooks and cleans for her family. She does not have everything done on time but does her best to fulfill each responsibility that she holds. In the beginning of the film they show her yelling at Tony as he steps into the house because he was late for dinner and Tony just brushes his mom off and continues doing what he had to. I think Stephanie and Annette are the more important females in this film because a lot of this film has some relationship to gender differences. Annette was Tony’s old girlfriend and she still loved him, when she asked Tony to join her in the dance competition as her partner he agreed. However, once Tony sees Stephanie he leaves Annette to be Stephanie’s partner in the dance competition. This shows a new characteristic of males; Tony left Annette to be with a more attractive woman and possibly a better dancer, Stephanie, even after having a serious relationship with Annette. This film also shows that women are moving towards more independence. Stephanie was in poverty and was working at a job that barely paid her enough. In order to get out of a situation like that she decides to enter the dance competition similarly to Tony.

3. Is Tony a heroic character? Why is disco so important to him? Is he “interesting and intelligent”? Does Tony have a vision of the American Dream or is his character confused about what this means? Does he have a moral code? How does he and how does he not represent “typical” working class male culture in the 1970s? 

I think in the audience point of view Tony is definitely a heroic character especially during these times because he is shown as a man with determination to make his dreams come true. The completes his daily responsibilities by going to his dead end job in order to earn money, but he does something for himself on Saturday night and tries to earn money through something he actually enjoys doing. I think that is why disco is really important to Tony because he tries his hardest to make a living and be able to earn money and enjoy life at the same time, which is the message that this movie sends out. Tony is definitely an interesting character, I think he does have an American Dream in mind without actually realizing because he wants to have fame and money, and he has found a different way to reach that compared to others who might actually want to get an education in order to gain a proper paying job and be able to make their dreams come true.

4. How does Saturday Night Fever create a “portrait of American life in an era of malaise”? Please make this a separate response from what you write about in the first question. Use at least two fully developed scenes from the film to support your answer.

This movie gives a good idea about what American life was like during the era of malaise. The main characters in this film were all shown in a state of poverty. People wanted to see their dreams to come true; most people needed money in order for that to happen. This movie shows how people were going in all different paths to help them succeed and reach their goal in life. Women were also starting to do certain things that they were never seen do on their own, independently. During the scene when Tony and Stephanie won the competition the award was given to them even after the other Puerto Rican couple performed better. This shows that during the era of malaise American life still continued to reflect some racism.