On the women in Frances Ha, Girlfriends, and Broadcast News
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha (2012) begins with two breakups. The first is between Frances (played by Gerwig) and her boyfriend, Dan (Michael Esper). He suggests that they move in together, but Frances, assuming that she and her roommate Sophie (Mickey Sumner) will be renewing their lease, turns down his offer. Sophie, however, has found a new apartment without Frances. She moves out of their apartment, marking the second breakup of the film. Frances is left to navigate the world alone.
Although Frances struggles to move on from the hurt of Sophie leaving, her ex-boyfriend Dan becomes inconsequential in relation to her day-to-day life. I’ve seen the film countless times, and each time I forget that Frances begins the movie with a boyfriend. The day after their breakup, we see Frances at work and hanging out with friends. Her life continues without tireless dwelling on what went wrong or how she can get him back. Just because her relationship is over doesn’t mean her life is, too.
Following their falling out, Sophie visits Frances at her new apartment where she lives with Lev (Adam Driver) and Benji (Michael Zegen). Sophie asks her if she’s been dating anyone. She tells her no, and Sophie responds with a condescending “Oh, Frances.” After Frances tell her honestly that she’s fine, Sophie asks about Benji as a potential love interest. From the perspective of her friend who is in a relationship, Frances’ status as a single woman is seen as a problem that should be solved. Why must being single imply a lack? Frances, a dancer, is barely making enough money to cover rent. She moves from apartment to apartment, trying to find her footing. She’s “not a real person yet.” Meeting a man is not crucial, especially at this moment in her life, when she is just discovering what it means to be alone without Sophie.
When writing Frances Ha, Gerwig was influenced by Claudia Weill’s Girlfriends (1978), which presents a similar plot line. The film follows photographer Susan Weinblatt (Melanie Mayron) after her roommate Anne (Anita Skinner) moves out to marry her boyfriend. Like Frances, Susan must learn to adjust to life as a single woman. Both films are about being single, without actually being about the need to find a partner. Men come into their lives, and they either stay or leave. There is no big moment in which either woman meets someone and falls deeply in love.
By the end of the film, Susan has a boyfriend, but their relationship is not the focus. She meets Eric (Christopher Guest) at a party and they sleep together. Weeks later, he calls her to suggest they go on a date. When he calls, Susan has nearly forgotten who he is. By this point, she’s been offered her own show at a local gallery, had an affair with a rabbi, and found a new roommate. The whole film is structured by small incidents in Susan’s life, but in the day-to-day, her one-night stand with Eric is seemingly insignificant until he calls her. She has not been waiting by her phone for him to ask her out. Coping with Anne leaving her and focusing on her career has been enough for her.
In comparison, James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News (1987) explicitly revolves around a love story. Holly Hunter plays Jane Craig, a television news producer in Washington, D.C. When anchorman Tom Grunick (William Hurt) begins working at the network, Jane is faced with a dilemma. Tom essentially represents everything that she believes to be wrong with the broadcast journalism industry. Formerly a sports anchorman, he has no experience with news but was hired based on his looks. Tom wants to learn from her, and Jane finds herself falling for him. Her best friend and a reporter at the same network, Aaron (Albert Brooks), is also in love with her, placing Jane within a love triangle.
When Tom asks Jane to produce a story he’s writing about sexual assault, she agrees. In his interview with a rape victim, Tom is shown crying on camera, apparently out of sympathy—but these tears turn out to be staged. Jane finds out before the two are supposed to meet at the airport for a vacation together, and she confronts him for going against journalistic ethics in order to enhance a story. She leaves him at the airport and they part ways; journalistic integrity matters more to her than being in a relationship.
Jane does not end up with Aaron, either, despite their close bond. When I first saw Broadcast News, I was disappointed. I wanted the happy ending I thought the film was leading toward. There is an alternate ending in which she does end up with Tom, but I realize now that this would have been wrong. Why would a woman who is so passionate about her career sacrifice her beliefs for a man? Broadcast News is not about whether Jane will choose Tom or Aaron; it is about a woman realizing that she does not need to choose a man in order to have a happy ending.
I see myself in Frances, Susan, and Jane. A friend of mine recently commented on my confidence in being single. I was surprised; I had never thought of it as being any other way. There is so much more to focus on than finding a partner. But it can be difficult not to think about it when people are constantly asking about your love life and providing patronizing responses when a potential relationship doesn’t work out. This often happens when, like Frances, the majority of your close friends are in relationships. Or when, like me, you divulge details about your love life to everyone you know. But having a big mouth about my personal life tends to lead to people making assumptions about my feelings or about the situation. The problem with not having a partner is not actually being single: it is how being single is perceived. I’m single, but that doesn’t mean that I’m lacking in any way—I have never needed the validation of another person to feel complete.
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