First of all, they are not all middle-aged women with their hair in buns. Although, many of them do wear their hair up, especially when at work. Also, many of the librarians shown in movies do wear glasses, at least at work. Perhaps since they read so many books they have poor eyesight? Or perhaps directors believe it makes them look more credible. Regardless of reasons, many of the librarians portrayed in the movies observed were stereotypical in some way or another.
Some librarians seen in movies are great models of librarians. Perhaps the best example is Bunny Watson, played by Katharine Hepburn, in Desk Set. Bunny is
incredibly intelligent, being able to
answer most questions asked of
her without looking them up. She has a good personality, she is
playful with her co-workers, and perhaps most shocking of all, she has
two men pursuing her. The librarians answer many reference calls
during the day,
and sometimes spend a lot of time looking for particular answers.
They are afraid that a computer will take over their job. (7)Another good model of a librarian can be found in The Mummy. Evelyn (Evie) Carnahan is intelligent, being able to read and write Ancient Egyptian and decipher hieroglyphics. She is beautiful, strong, and brave. She is a bit of a klutz, managing to knock over all the bookshelves in the library during her first scene. Despite this she is able to help kick a little "mummy" butt in the movie. (8)
The alter ego of Jet Li's character Tsui in the Black Mask is a good one for male librarians. Despite the fact that he is shy, and somewhat unsociable while at work, he is a jokester outside the library with his friend. He is also a physical marvel, able to fight many opponents successfully without getting hurt. When he chose to lead a normal life he chose to work in a library. (9)
It is difficult to assess the value of the librarians portrayed in many movies. Often they are not on screen long enough to make any valid judgments. Also, one cannot make judgments about the lifestyle of someone like Marian the Librarian in The Music Man since the movie is over forty years old. Perhaps she acts the way she does because that is what was the norm during that time period. (10) Therefore, it can be difficult to tell whether some movies are saying something about librarians, or about the time/place they are living in.
There are actually quite a large number of movies with librarians in them, in various levels of significance. Martin Raish has compiled a list of many of these movies, divided into three categories dependant on significance of the role played by the librarian. (11) A synopsis of some librarian movies can be found on the following pages.
Click on the star bullet to be taken to the reference for the particular movie.
