Judgement is a modernized film version of Susan Glaspell’s play/short story, Trifles/
A Jury of Her Peers, by film student Steven Kale. When this film is compared to Glaspell’s original works about the Hossack Murder Trial, Kale attempts to remain true to her story and theme. There are many similarities and differences in historical context and social issues which have changed from the early 1900’s to 2009.
On December 2, 1900, a sixty-year-old farmer, John Hossack, was murdered in Indianola, Iowa.
Here begins the biggest story of her journalism career, Susan Glaspell wrote multiple newspaper articles for the Des Moines Daily News on the Hossack Murder Trial. Glaspell begins her string of articles by just stating the facts, “A farmer named …show more content…
First of all, Judgement is mostly filmed in black and white, giving it that classic old movie feeling of the past. The film is about the death of Minnie
Foster’s husband, who falls down the stairs in their home accidentally or not. Here, Kale changes the way that Minnie’s husband dies. A more modern account would look like an accident; however, in Trifles/A Jury of Her Peers, Mr. Wright dies from strangulation with a rope. Kale makes you wonder if Minnie’s husband died accidentally whereas Glaspell makes it quite clear that Mr. Wright was murdered. Ben-Zvi describes Mrs. Wright as, “…the abused wife strangles her husband: a punishment to fit his crime. So powerfully does Glaspell marshal the evidence of
[Mrs. Wright’s] strangled life.” (Ben-Zvi)
Immediately, Minnie telephones her old high school friend, Lori, whom she has not spoken to in a very long time. Using the telephone instead of riding over to Lori’s house is another example that Kale’s film is up-to-date. Lori takes the initiative to solve the mystery and protect Minnie in the process. Kale’s version reduced the number of characters, from five to four, to make it as simple to follow as possible. He includes Minnie Foster (the suspected wife) as one of the …show more content…
Whereas in Trifles/A Jury of Her Peers, Glaspell presents women’s empowerment subtly. She uses more symbolism of domestic abuse than Kale does. Ben-Zvi describes the abuse as, “The interior of the kitchen replicates this barrenness and the commensurate disjunctions in the family, as the woman experienced them. Things are broken, cold, imprisoning; they are also violent.” (Ben-Zvi) Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale discover the evidence of the dead bird and solve the mystery with hushed breath. They know the truth about Mrs. Wright and protecting her shows strength for all females.
Steven Kale’s Judgement is a good representation of modernizing dated media. He remains mostly faithful to Glaspell’s original works, Trifles/A Jury of Her Peers, but depicts clever ways to keep his audience interested. The people of the 21st century are usually drawn to strong characters, whether in mind, body or spirit as opposed to people of the early 20th century where they valued strength of morals. Above all, the men in the film and play/short story treat women insignificantly, but in a twist of irony the women solve the murder mystery. And as a symbolic slap in the face, the women hide the evidence to protect their
A Jury of Her Peers, by film student Steven Kale. When this film is compared to Glaspell’s original works about the Hossack Murder Trial, Kale attempts to remain true to her story and theme. There are many similarities and differences in historical context and social issues which have changed from the early 1900’s to 2009.
On December 2, 1900, a sixty-year-old farmer, John Hossack, was murdered in Indianola, Iowa.
Here begins the biggest story of her journalism career, Susan Glaspell wrote multiple newspaper articles for the Des Moines Daily News on the Hossack Murder Trial. Glaspell begins her string of articles by just stating the facts, “A farmer named …show more content…
First of all, Judgement is mostly filmed in black and white, giving it that classic old movie feeling of the past. The film is about the death of Minnie
Foster’s husband, who falls down the stairs in their home accidentally or not. Here, Kale changes the way that Minnie’s husband dies. A more modern account would look like an accident; however, in Trifles/A Jury of Her Peers, Mr. Wright dies from strangulation with a rope. Kale makes you wonder if Minnie’s husband died accidentally whereas Glaspell makes it quite clear that Mr. Wright was murdered. Ben-Zvi describes Mrs. Wright as, “…the abused wife strangles her husband: a punishment to fit his crime. So powerfully does Glaspell marshal the evidence of
[Mrs. Wright’s] strangled life.” (Ben-Zvi)
Immediately, Minnie telephones her old high school friend, Lori, whom she has not spoken to in a very long time. Using the telephone instead of riding over to Lori’s house is another example that Kale’s film is up-to-date. Lori takes the initiative to solve the mystery and protect Minnie in the process. Kale’s version reduced the number of characters, from five to four, to make it as simple to follow as possible. He includes Minnie Foster (the suspected wife) as one of the …show more content…
Whereas in Trifles/A Jury of Her Peers, Glaspell presents women’s empowerment subtly. She uses more symbolism of domestic abuse than Kale does. Ben-Zvi describes the abuse as, “The interior of the kitchen replicates this barrenness and the commensurate disjunctions in the family, as the woman experienced them. Things are broken, cold, imprisoning; they are also violent.” (Ben-Zvi) Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale discover the evidence of the dead bird and solve the mystery with hushed breath. They know the truth about Mrs. Wright and protecting her shows strength for all females.
Steven Kale’s Judgement is a good representation of modernizing dated media. He remains mostly faithful to Glaspell’s original works, Trifles/A Jury of Her Peers, but depicts clever ways to keep his audience interested. The people of the 21st century are usually drawn to strong characters, whether in mind, body or spirit as opposed to people of the early 20th century where they valued strength of morals. Above all, the men in the film and play/short story treat women insignificantly, but in a twist of irony the women solve the murder mystery. And as a symbolic slap in the face, the women hide the evidence to protect their