The Music Man

The Music Man stars Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill, a travelling con-man who coerces parents into buying musical instruments and uniforms, by telling them he's starting a boys' marching band in the town of River City, Iowa. Hill has no musical training. He's famous for his success as a salesperson, albeit a criminal one; he's charismatic, and seductive, and a good dancer. Shirley Jones co-stars as Marian Paroo, also known as Marian the Librarian. Marian, an equally good dancer, is suspicious of Professor Hill from the start. She suspects he's up to no good, while the rest of the town eats up everything he tells them.

As far as popular representations and stereotypes of the librarian are concerned, Marian is what's known as the "know-it-all" librarian. Examples of know-it-all librarians exist in both contemporary and historical literature, including both popular literature and library literature (Posner 113). While the idea of being all-knowing has its allure, in no way is the know-it-all librarian an example of the reinforcement of a positive stereotype; quite the opposite is true. We understand that know-it-alls are annoying, even if they really do know it all. But furthermore, as Beth Posner writes, "There's a long history of anti-intellectualism that holds that too much concern with learning is bad for society and individuals" (118). Professor Hill, who seduces people with emotional, as opposed to intellectual, arguments, is the far more likeable character.

By the end of the movie, Marian has come around: She accepts Professor Hill into her life, despite his shortcomings. He manages to sway her with, among other things, his "Think System" philosophy. The "Think System" is a learning tool developed by Hill, who asserts that music can be learned just by thinking about it--there's no need for the boys of River City, Iowa to be instructed on the use of their new instruments, or to learn to read music. It will just come to them, if they imagine the songs they would like to play in their heads.

Posner writes, "Librarians should not be know-it-alls" (123). Librarians should not be know-it-alls, and also should not be know-nothings because a man with a big briefcase drops into town and dances his way through the bookstacks. According to Posner, there's a strong tendency towards the binary in representations of the librarian in film (112). There's a tendency for librarians to be depicted as Marian is, as both know-it-alls and know-nothings. One reason for these two opposing representations existing together, she writes, is that "library work encompasses everything from the sublime and the complex to the banal and the ridiculous" (112).

In the Introduction, I mentioned Jeanine Williamson's study of librarian personality types as depicted in film. According to Williamson, Marian the Librarian is an ISFJ: Introverted, Sensitive, Feeling, and Judging. This is the most frequently-occurring personality type in film, and an example of one that is over-represented (51). The most popular personality type among real life librarians is ISTJ: Introverted, Sensitive, Thinking, Judging. An example of this personality type on film is Bunny Watson, in Desk Set (53).