It's not unusual that films use foreigners to personify the evil in the world. Notably, these foreigners tend to hail from Slavic origins. This can be seen in the Rocky series with his blonde haired blue eyed counter part(Rocky 5, was it?). The Die Hard series focuses similarly on the thick-accented evil. The House on 92nd Street not only uses a thick accent to cue the viewer into the evil that lurks beneath, but also the concept of strong willed women, who, incidentally, must also be understood as lesbians. The film not only manages to demonize foreigners, but also homosexuals and women of character.
The chief crime boss, known only as "Charlie," instructs his minions to perform underhanded operations to outsmart Americans. The Americans, having rarely caught a glimpse of this Charlie character, rightfully assume his masculinity(since the name is a generally male one and the glimpses caught are of a slight figure wearing male garbs). In the end, however, it is revealed that this trecherous criminal lord is a commanding, strong woman who seems to harbor a certain distaste towards men and a soft spot for other women(most specifically her right hand woman who has a high temper and violent tendencies). She does dress as a man and uses the code name of one to throw off those who pursue her.
The way the reveal is pulled off, the audience is meant to be surprised but to respond in the manner of, "well, it does make sense." Seeing that this woman was so outspoken and dominant and thick accented, she couldn't possibly be just another lady. And really, in a lot of ways, it seems she shouldn't be considered a lady at all. Dressing like a man, using a man's name and romancing women, it seemed as if these elements were supposed to conjoin, along with foreign accent, to create a believable situation that is also somehow understandable. Whereas, for the audience members of this time period, a straight American woman who happens to defy her country probably would have astounded and thoroughly confused movie goers.
The impact that media has on shaping the minds of the American public is disconcerting, and the fact that it's message is shaped by the convoluted minds of a manipulative, ethically unintelligent minority only furthers societal mental deterioration. Women understanding personal worth through heightened sexuality, afraid to show their true selves for fear of not being 'respected,' the American populous maintaining a profane attitude towards the 'other,' and the general American public completely undervaluing the validity of self-reflection and self-realization and it's applicability towards the betterment of a collective whole; totally missing the importance of a loving-kindness attitude towards one another, seeing that as 'hippy' or 'uncool.' Not realizing that the amount of hate towards others is generally in proportionate relation to the hate felt towards oneself. And what a crappy existence self-loathing promotes.
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It was Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV who first said "I must break you" and stuck fear into our hearts, setting cold war relations back 10 years. I saw Rocky IV when I was young, and ever since then, I've believed two things: 1) Only Soviets use performance enhancing substances 2) America can bring world piece by going to other countries and fighting them.
It's been a while since I've seen Rocky IV but at least it's message has withstood the test of time.
I think I missed something, when did Elsa romance women?
I agree with Cait Davis in her article on “Typecasting & Stereotyping” in that, films use foreigners, sometimes to personify certain character traits. This is done because the audience tends to see them through a stereotypical perspective. For example, the gay woman, she is strong, abrasive, and masculine. This sets forth a stereotype-point of view which not only comments on this particular gay woman with all her idiosyncrasies and peculiar habits but also by the very discerning selectivity in the narrative, the shooting, and the editing creates a symbol representing the “gay woman” in general.
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