The movie 9 to 5, a comedy written and directed by Colin Higgins, is about three working women, Violet Newstead, Doralee Rhodes, and Judy Bernly who are all struggling in their own way to be successful in life. Each of the women has different obstacles to overcome. For instance, Violet is a widowed mother of four, Doralee is a married secretary who receives no respect, and Judy is a new divorcee with little work experience. They have little in common with each other except that they each share a workplace that holds them back from developing their talents.
Although 9 to 5 takes place in the 1980’s and is a parody of the issues facing women in the workplace, today’s woman can relate to the characters in the movie by experiencing some of the same barriers of gender inequality. While outright sexual harassment has been greatly reduced, women still face obstacles regarding equal pay, equal respect, and family-friendly policies, like the lack of in-house childcare and flexible hours that continue to make balancing women’s personal and professional lives difficult.
Violet, a senior supervisor at the company with nearly 12 years experience, continues to be overlooked for promotion because her boss refuses to hire a woman to do what he believes is a man’s job. She has many ideas on how to make the workplace a better and more efficient environment for the employees; however, instead of being listened to, her boss, Frank Hart, takes her ideas and claims them as his own. The movie takes an interesting turn when the clever ladies kidnap their boss, change office policies and revolutionize their workplace.
The workplace setting in 9 to 5 is portrayed as a bland and cold environment; the office color palette is gray from top to bottom. The message being sent to the workers is to show no personality, creativity, or compassion for the women working there. Employees are not allowed to work part-time, have any personal items on their desks, and women are not paid equally to men. Mr. Hart makes his opinion clear about the place women hold in the office when he refers to working women as “his girls.”
Violet trained Frank Hart, along with the man for whom she was passed up for promotion. When Mr. Hart lists the reasons why Violet is passed up for promotion, he states that “Clients would rather deal with men.” Violet realizes that she will never gain a foot up at the company with Frank Hart steering the course. Even worse, when Violet suggests a new color-coding policy for files in the office, Frank Hart told her that the idea needed more work, then secretly gave it to his boss and claimed the new idea as his own.
After the ladies kidnap Mr. Hart and fake his presence at the office by signing documents directed to him, they implemented policy changes that showed a 20 percent rise in productivity and greatly increased office moral. Some of these policies consisted of job sharing, flexible hours, part-time work, in-house childcare, and equal pay. The office was also painted a bright yellow, color was introduced all over the office to improve mood, and personal items like plants and family pictures were allowed on the employees desks. Violet and her cohorts even put into action a rehabilitation program for employees with alcohol problems. The whole atmosphere changed from cold and dark, to bright and cheerful. The employees could not be happier and the policies effectively cut down on absenteeism. Even the Chairman of the Board came to reward Frank Hart, who happened to return to the office just in time to be sent to Brazil for his ability to turn things around for the company.
Vincent Canby, in his review in the New York Times, describes Violet, Judy and Doralee as “office revolutionaries” (para. 2), and rightfully so. The women completely transformed their workplace into a positive environment and changed the lives of women in the process; something Frank Hart did not care to do.
Even though 9 to 5 is a comedy and most of the movie is an unrealistic dramatization of workplace dynamics, the director does touch on issues that working women in the twenty-first century can relate to. Higgins’ underlying message that women somehow need to be revolutionary in order to create and see real change rings true to the heartstrings of the American woman. The ability to juggle all of the roles in life seems to be what women have to do to try to compete in the work world. Women cook, clean and take care of their children all before they go to work and return to repeat the process (Gilbert 12). If husbands and partners would see these household responsibilities as equal, women would be more likely to not only survive in the workplace, but flourish.
Almost 20 years after this movie was made, American women still struggle with gender inequality issues. Even now women battle with balancing their jobs and their many responsibilities at home. Boise Weekly’s Carissa Wolf agrees that “we still have the same workplace issues we had 20 years ago…noting the wage disparities, the under-representation of women in high-paying professions, and the number of companies that have yet to enact woman-and-family-friendly policies, such as in-house childcare” (para. 33). Women have yet to gain enough quality support from society, their families, and their workplace. A revolution is needed to change society’s view of women’s roles and their many demands. Women are unable to have it all without proper support. Now is the time for change. Change starts at home by husbands and partners helping out to balance a woman’s responsibilities, in the workplace by implementing policies like in-house childcare and flexible hours that will ease the workload, and in the mind-set of our society by recognizing equality and the change that needs to take place. America is not living under Frank Hart’s thumb any longer and we need to take advantage of the talented Violets that can revolutionize the workplace.
Works Cited
Canby, Vincent. “Nine to Five, Office Comedy.” Rev. of 9 to 5, by Colin Higgins. The New York Times 19 Dec. 1980: Para. 2. Web.
Gilbert, Neil. “FAMILY LIFE: SOLD ON WORK.” Society 42.3 (2005): 12-17. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Set. 2010.
Wolf, Carissa. “We’ve Come a Long Way Baby- Or Have We? The State of Feminism in Idaho. Is Feminism Dead?” Boise Weekly. (2010) Web. 18 Sept. 2010.
9 to 5. Dir. Colin Higgins. Perf. Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Dabney Coleman, and Sterling Hayden. 20th Century Fox, 1980. Film.
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