definitely a pattern....

Bri Fowle

I find it interesting that in both Brick and The Big Sleep, the gender roles are nearly the same. Women are never equal to the men. They are used as sex symbols, and are generally not nearly as smart as the men. The men in the stories are always taking care of the women. The men are the ones who handle the business, and the women usually don’t have much idea of what is going on. The women are definitely treated differently than the men, usually put to the side as the men figure out what’s what.

In Brick, every single female (with the exception of The Pin’s mother) that Brendan is associated with has some level of sexuality associated with them. Emily was Brendan’s ex-girlfriend who he clearly still cared for, Kara always acted like she wanted him sexually, and Laura seemed to be interested in him as well. Most of the males that are in the movie are very masculine, and not afraid to get their hands dirty. They are portrayed as smarter than the women and are more involved in the storyline.

In The Big Sleep, it is much of the same. Carmen loves to act coy and flirt with Marlowe, and he definitely takes notice to Vivian’s legs as he is talking to her. Agnes, Brody’s girlfriend, acts very hysterical and unintelligent but she is also regarded as good looking. The women are constantly out of the loop when it comes to what is going on, and it seems like they are kept out of the loop for the sole reason that they are women.