The film Shampoo (1975) addresses the themes of politics, gender, and sexuality through comedy. It shows how the politics and the sexual revolution of the time were very disingenuous, and it shows this through the deceptive words of the main character (George) and through the use of irony. The film makes us feel as though we are guilty because we know of George’s promiscuous acts long before the women he is with do. It does this by using dramatic irony; we know the true nature of the main character, while the female character Jill is completely in the dark about him. At the same time as viewers, we are scared of her finding out the truth, as we do not want to soil her innocence and trust.
The movie depicts the messy and promiscuous love life of the main character, who is a hairdresser shown to be self-centered and oblivious. He is always trying to go somewhere (always chasing something), but we never know where or why. He is very dishonest, even with himself. The uncertainty of the times politically matches the uncertainty in his personal life, which makes his aimlessness feel even more intentional in the film’s narrative.
Many sexual innuendos appear throughout the film to bring comedy and further express his carefree nature. We dislike him at the beginning because he is with so many women behind his wife’s back and because he doesn’t seem to take anything anyone else says seriously. He even claims he felt “immortal” when sleeping with many people, which shows how disconnected he is from the emotional weight of his choices. However, by the end, we end up feeling bad for him. He loses everything that was actually important to him. He didn’t know what he wanted until it was too late, and it is very ironic that someone who was always chasing everything ends up completely alone.
My favorite scene of the movie was the party scene. The party scene is similar to the political and social chaos that was happening during the time of the film’s creation. The party scene is an example of how the film uses mise-en-scène to build tension. The loud music and the aggressive flashing lights create a sense of conflict and emotional overload. The loud atmosphere and hectic lighting reflect how unstable his life is becoming, with the women so close to finding out about his promiscuous ways. Viewers become very anxious, and the suspense builds as the truth about the main character is so close to be revealed to others, it is nerve-wreaking to watch, but it is hard to look away. The scene keeps shifting from George with a woman to his wife (Jill) slowly approaching. We feel anxious as she almost misses the truth, walking by the area where George is in the act of intercourse with another woman.
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