Freeze Frame: 9 to 5

At a glance, this shot might not seem like much. It could be from any moment, in any number of films. In truth though, this shot really encapsulates this particular film, what these particular women did in said film, and this particular moment in time.

In contrast, look at the top two photos I’ve included below. There you see some of what Doralee, Judy, and Violet have had to deal with. They are enduring a daily battle not just against the way luck and tedium make the simplest thing so much harder, but also a workplace attitude of patronization, objectification, sexual politics and harassment. They dig down and find the guts to get through these days – sometimes with the hopes that they’ll lead to better things professionally, sometimes with the knowledge that the job is a means to an end that waits for them back at home.

Finding the guts to get through these days is one thing, but actually getting through them with dignity intact is something else – and some days Doralee, Judy, and Violet can’t achieve that…

…until one day they do. In spectacular fashion.

What you see in this shot is three women who have turned the tide of the battle, and are now in a position to win the war. The look on their faces says quite clearly that they won’t be pigeonholed as klutzes who break copy machines and get stuck in elevators. Their body language declares that the days of them being objectified are over. In this moment, they are saying as much to Franklin Hart Jr (their boss), but as one looks at this shot, it’s clear to see that these aren’t just idle words. This declaration is not being made by any panicked group of friends desperately trying to get control of a situation: No, this stance is being taken by three women who have had enough of playing a rigged game and are about to change the rules.

If Hart Jr – or any other man watching – had any doubts about these women’s conviction, they need only look at their faces. What’s clear isn’t just that Doralee, Judy, and Violet have gone all-in, but that they’re feeling different things about it.

Doralee has a smile on her face as she usually does, but the corners of her mouth are turned up with a sly confidence. She’s not going to stop being pleasant, because that’s just not the way she’s wired – but her face makes it clear that being pleasant and “playing nice” are two totally different things.

Violet relishes her “gotcha” moment with her boss – the boss she trained, and the boss who leapfrogged over her come promotion time. It’s clear that she’s enjoying this moment the most thanks to the history she and Hart Jr share. However, she’s a pro, and the same way Doralee isn’t about to stop being pleasant, Violet isn’t about to stop being a pro.

That leaves Judy, who is newest to the situation, and thus has the least to lose. She gets to unleash the venom; to tell Hart Jr. what women like Doralee and Violet have wanted to tell him for years but haven’t been able to gamble. It’s a rare feeling to be able to speak like this at someone who holds influence, and Judy isn’t about to forget that feeling anytime soon.

It’s this well-measured three-pronged attack that makes the women’s plan successful, and what makes them such a powerful team.

Those attitudes are what 9 to 5 is ultimately about – and why it still endures. Sure, it employs a moment or two of goofiness, like when the women are daydreaming about how they’d give Hart Jr. his comeuppance…but watching Parton, Fonda, and Tomlin come together and take control still resonates. It resonates for any woman who made their way through an office environment during that era of patronization, and any woman who continues to fight to break a glass ceiling.

 

Here’s three more from 9 to 5 for the road…

 

This series of posts is inspired by the “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” series at The Film Experience. Do check out all of the awesome entires in their series so far