Resentful Romantic: Bitches Together (Part 2)

Ray takes the characters to the brink of sanity before he drops them off the ledge to their cinematic ends. Each woman has a physical breaking moment. When Christabel lies about her Aunt Clara (Virginia Farmer) who is deathly sick, the tone of the entire film changes. The audience becomes aware that they are watching Christabel’s whole world unravel because of her desire for revenge. Christabel spends the final part of the film scrambling to regain the control she lost. She is frenzied and manic, leaving phone messages, writing notes, and otherwise leaving incriminating evidence for every lie she tells. In the end, Christabel simply fades out of the limelight and is forgotten by the people she worked so hard to control.

            Emma faces a similar demise. When she storms the saloon and Turkey (Ben Cooper) is killed, the tone becomes instantly grave. Once again there is audience awareness about the plight of this character. She is spinning out of control and the result is bloody. Ray’s blocking is masterful as Emma leads the townsfolk to aggressively attack Vienna. When they begin to question her mania, Emma leans against a tree and starts spewing any slander that comes into her head. She looks unsure, trying to convince herself more than any one else, that Vienna is a threat to their way of life. She becomes more and more angry as the mob surrounds her. Using the tree as a defense post she tries keeping the men at a distance. Unable to convince them to commit her crime, she has to take on Vienna alone and pays with her life. 

            Ray portrays both of these women as opposites of the same tragic charter. Emma and Christabel are incapable of experiencing the fulfillment they are so desperate for, and though they deal with it differently, the result is the same. Ray has a clear point of view about this kind of woman and it is seen repeatedly in his work. His use of blocking, beats, and style make his opinions visible to the viewer. He uses each of these films to explore the darker side of this archetype and it reads brilliantly in both films.