Stereotypes In Corliss's Gone Girl

Marriages eventually become difficult for various reasons, one being when the facades couples put on during the initial parts of their relationships fall off. These facades are often used in order to attract and please the other person, who also has their own persona for the same reason. In Gone Girl, Amy acts as the Cool Girl for Nick, the “charming guy” according to Corliss (1). Both Nick and Amy put on different facades in the beginning of their relationships, but it is once they have been married and gone through the recession that cracks begin to form in both of their characters. Amy’s initial facade as the Cool Girl, which takes places from the start of their relationship to two years into their marriage, begins to fall after she has disappeared. The period of Amy’s disappearance is when she plays into the stereotypical role of the Weak Woman—one that America would love to sympathize with. It is once the of Amy’s disappearance comes out that the True Amy appears—the version of Amy where she acts how she truly is, without falling into stereotypes established by society. Throughout the movie, Amy uses these different forms of being a woman to manipulate …show more content…
Toward the end of the vigil, while Nick talks about how he wants Amy home, Amy’s “best friend” comes forward and exclaims that Amy is pregnant. This causes the crowd to quickly turn on Nick. According to Amy, “America loves pregnant women.” A pregnant woman is one of the most stereotypical feminine roles for a woman, and pulls immediate sympathy from people in general. The fact that Amy is pregnant and has disappeared also allows Amy to manipulate the general public into believing that Nick is the one who has made her disappear. Pregnant Amy is also in the weakest form as a woman, which urges people to side with her, due to how sympathy tends to fall with people who are weak or appear as an