29. I Married a Monster From Outer Space: Gender Expectations in 1958

I Married a Monster from Outer Space was released as part of a double bill (with The Blob) in 1958. The story focuses on newlywed couple Marge and Bill Farrell but unbeknownst to his new bride and the whole town Bill has been replaced by an alien on the eve of their wedding.

 

Themes of marriage, resentments and gendered expectations are as rife as can be expected in the 1950s. We have two insightful experts help shine a light on these themes.

 

The Experts

Thomas Doherty is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University, he is a cultural historian with a special interest in Hollywood cinema on which he has written extensively.

 

Sherryl Vint is Professor of Science Fiction Media Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She has written/edited many books about science fiction.

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:58 Science fiction golden age meets the marriage melodrama

05:27 The female led sci-fi film and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique

08:40 Patriarchal expectations of 1950s men
13:24 1950s changes: Women’s education in post war America

16:33 The Hays production code and the scandalous double bed

21:19 The Alien: looking good and learning to love

26:14 Marge’s dilemma
30:42 Romantic, sexual and gendered anxiety

39:20 Devil Girl from Mars: Aliens are coming to take our men!

41:36 Legacy

45:59 Recommendations for the listeners

NEXT EPISODE!

Next episode we will be hopping slightly back in time and discussing The Mysterians from 1957. The film was made in Japan by Toho studios. It is quite difficult to buy or rent a copy it is available in some regions on FlixFling, The Criterion Channel and some other internet sites.