When Susan (Katharine Hepburn) meets Dr. Lehman, he tells her, “The love impulse in man frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict.” The psychiatrist’s advice aptly describes how David (Cary Grant) behaves toward Susan.
From the moment they first meet, David and Susan are in conflict. She steals his golf ball and then his car, and everything she does annoys and irritates him.
Despite David’s aversion to Susan, there is something about her that he can’t resist. She is the opposite of his frigid fiancée, Alice, who doesn’t want a honeymoon. Her priority for David is going back work—no sex and no children in their future together.
In contrast to Alice, Susan is vivacious, impulsive, and likes to have fun. Susan falls in love with David because he is “so good looking” without his glasses. Susan is an active protagonist who knows what she wants. To make David fall in love with her, she follows him.
David is uptight and impatient—a man who takes himself too seriously. With Susan, he meets someone who has the qualities he lacks. They are in conflict because David is struggling to embrace Susan’s opposing traits. Eventually, he synthesizes Susan’s ability to have fun into his character.
In the climax of the film, David realizes he loves “poor darling Susan” when she is in danger from a leopard. David protects her, and she tells him, “I love you.”
By encountering his opposite, David learns to value love over his work. He declares he had “the best day of his whole life” with Susan, and in the final scene, after his work is destroyed, they are no longer in conflict. David hugs Susan.
In Young Frankenstein, directed by Mel Brooks, Inga (Teri Garr) is a supporting character and the love interest for Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder). Some viewers may see Inga as a two-dimensional character—an object of the male gaze. However, she is more than just “eye candy” for men.
Inga is, in literary terms, the desiring female. She doesn’t wait passively for a man’s attention; instead, she takes action to get the man she wants. Inga wants to be the bride of Frankenstein, and she actively pursues him.
When Inga first meets Frankenstein, she asks him a question: “Would you like to have a roll in the hay?” Although Inga says this while lying in a wagon filled with hay, it isn’t an invitation to have sex. She is flirting with the doctor. As a desiring female, Inga makes the first move.
It cannot be denied that Inga is an object of the male gaze. With her ample cleavage on display, Frankenstein isn’t blind to her beauty. When he helps her down from the wagon, he remarks, “What knockers” and Inga is flattered. Ostensibly, he is referring to the large knockers on the castle doors, but the double entendre is clear. He is attracted to her breasts. Inga’s choice of clothing is intentional—she wants Frankenstein to notice her.
As a young woman, Inga is oozing with sex appeal, which is maximized by her clothing. Before she enters a secret passageway with Frankenstein, he says, “Now close your robe.” Beneath it, Inga is wearing a low-cut nightgown, an unwanted distraction for the doctor as they face the unknown.
Unlike Frankenstein, Inga is not an intellectual woman. As a laboratory assistant, she has no scientific expertise. Her only technical skill is to sedate the monster by poking him with a needle. Seeing Inga in a sexy outfit, Elizabeth asks her: “What exactly is it that you do?” Inga isn’t qualified to do her job. Frankenstein hired her because she is beautiful.
Despite her limited job skills, Inga is a valuable assistant. She provides emotional support for Frankenstein, holding him when the plot becomes tense. Most importantly, she is a stabilizing force for the doctor, a man who is often unhinged. In one scene, he tries to murder the monster in a fit of rage, and Inga and Igor restrain him. When Inga stabilizes Frankenstein, they become emotionally connected.
Inga is in love with Frankenstein, and her job gives her the opportunity to seduce him. Seeing him stressed, she kisses his fingers and says, “If only there was some way I could relieve this torture you are going through.” Later, they come down from the platform—naked under a blanket—and we know what they have been doing. Inga knows how to make Frankenstein happy, and it isn’t by cooking him breakfast.
After Inga discovers that Frankenstein is engaged to Elizabeth, she isn’t angry or hurt. By having sex with him—something that Elizabeth won’t do—she has already won Frankenstein’s heart. He is attracted to her, both physically and emotionally.
Inga is not a complex character. She has no character arc—no flaw that she must overcome. Nevertheless, she is an empowered female character who makes her own decisions. As a desiring female, Inga’s desire is fulfilled when Elizabeth runs away with the monster. Freed from his engagement, Frankenstein marries Inga, and they live happily ever after.
Bibliography
Young Frankenstein (1974) Directed by Mel Brooks [DVD]. Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
