The Notebook is a
timeless romantic book by Nicholas Sparks that was created into a movie in
2004. The movie captures the life of Noah and Allie and the journey of love and
heartbreak they share together, meeting as teenagers in the late 1930’s. It is their
social classes that make it difficult for the two to be together because of
Allie’s parents. They believe Noah isn’t a suitable man for Allie. Although
they separate for a part of their lives, fate brings them together again. Now Allie has choice to stay with her fiancé who is a wonderful man or to go with Noah, her first love and the person she has always been in love with. Like any good romance movie, she follows her heart and goes back to Noah. They live together in the dream house
that Noah had built for Allie over the years and grow old together.
I had done some research
to see if other people had done a Bechdel test on the Notebook. I had found one
other person who had posted it about the movie and said that it passed. Upon
watching the movie I found that my personal opinion was that it did not pass
and I will explain why. There are only 5 women in the movie that have names and
that includes Allie, Anne (Allie’s mother), Sara (Allie’s friend), Martha (one
of Noah’s girlfriends), and the elderly version of Allie. Although there seem
to be a fair amount of women in the movie, not once did they talk about
something other than a man, especially about Noah. All of Allie’s conversations
with her mother revolve around Noah. If she is talking about school, it is to
make sure she goes to the school far from Noah. More than that, I noticed that
every argument revolved around Noah or her mother trying to protect her from
that type of life. The conversations between Allie and Sara were about their
dates or Noah and Sara was only present for a few scenes in the movie. Last but
not least there’s the conversation between Martha and Allie. They know each
other because of Noah and the scene doesn’t show them talking to each other
about much except for what they knew about each other.
In my personal opinion I
do not think this film was feminist. I can see how some people may view it that
way because of how it showed that Noah wasn’t suitable for Allie because he
wasn’t destined to make a lot of money and she needed a man to take care of
her; however, I like how this movie captures the love and how Allie has a choice
of whom she wants to live her life with, her fiancé or Noah. Another thing
to point out is that this movie is also focused on a previous generation. I am
a sucker for a good love story and because of this I don’t think anything could
change the way I view this film for other than a timeless romantic love story.
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