Is German Film moving towards a 'New Patriotism'? (PDF)

hearing. This can not only be seen in the fact that she literally seems to share her husband’s dreams, but also when she defends Ray’s cause against her brother and his fellow debt collectors. Rowe confirms this when he writes that ‘the gender-inflected gap between men and women over their romantic attachment to sports is overcome by the former turning a personal hobby into a family business and the latter’s „stand by your man” indulgence of her partner’s passions.’ Plus, her frequent positioning in the frame either arm in arm or very close to her husband further emphasizes her role as the supportive wife (see Plate 4.2).Also, according to Kibby, ‘Hoosiers creates a nostalgic world where Americans were unified by a common set of values, women were passive supporters of the active man’s quest for success (…).’ In the film, this theme is clearly highlighted in the transformation of the assistant principal Myra Fleener. In the beginning of the film, Myra is established as antagonist and poses a threat to hegemonic masculinity in the fact that she requests Norman to stay away from the team’s former star player Jimmy because she wants him to escape the small town life through higher education and not basketball. Thus, Myra stands in total opposition to Norman Dale and the townspeople’s goal of bringing the local high school’s basketball team to success. What is more, she underlines this role by dismissing the value of basketball to the people and further disapproves of the fact that a basketball hero is almost treated like a god in Hickory. Myra’s antagonistic role, however, appears to reach its peak when she has to tell Norman that the townspeople have requested a referendum on his removal as coach after the first games have not brought the hoped-for achievement. In the following town meeting, though, Myra makes the first step in her transformation towards the more traditional female role as passive supporter of the male pursuit of success. Here, she steps up to the podium and pleads to the townspeople that it would be a big mistake to let coach Dale go and with Jimmy announcing his return it also becomes apparent that she cannot hinder her protégé from identifying with Norman as a father figure. Furthermore, a crucial scene that indicates Myra’s transformation towards the supportive woman takes place when she and Norman take a walk together and Norman confesses his love for Myra and kisses her. After that, Myra appears to be the total opposite of what she used to be. Not the ‘frustrated spinster’ anymore, she then fully takes on the traditional passive role of female characters and becomes an ardent follower of the Huskers basketball team. We can clearly discover this during the final match of the film when Myra is shown in a variety of close-up shots, in which she buries her face in her hands because she cannot stand the tension as the game unfolds. Her journey towards becoming the supportive wife is then completed with a relieved smile that she exchanges with Norman after the Huskers have won the championship (see Plate 4.3).If we focus our attention on The Miracle of Bern now, we find that there are two major female characters that we have to compare this to: Annette Ackermann and Christa Lubanski. As we will see, similar to Myra Fleener in Hoosiers, both women first appear as a threat to hegemonic masculinity, but are later confined to the more traditional female roles that Iris Gaines and Annie Kinsella occupy throughout the other two American films. As Bühler states, many traditional gender and family roles had begun to crumble as a result of the Second World War. In The Miracle of Bern, this becomes particularly apparent in the character of Christa Lubanski. Being the archetype of the German Trümmerfrau, Christa is a woman that has learned to take care of the family all by herself while her husband was in the war. Her role as workingwoman is also confirmed by the way she looks. In contrast to Annette Ackermann, one can clearly see the years of work that have strained her appearance. Similar to her husband Richard her costumes often make her blend in with the rather dim background of the Ruhr Area and the fact that she wears no make-up and often has an apron above her dress emphasizes her role as Trümmerfrau even more.