Americanness & Responsibility in Three Men and a Baby

Even though the film, Three Men and a Baby, is a remake, it does not retain too many aspects of the original French film-Trois Hommes et un Couffin. In many ways Three Men and a Baby is a totally different film because it is distinctly American-the film follows the same basic plot as the original but the way the film is portrayed is different from the original. The scene in which Peter and Michael discover the baby is important to make us see how the film is uniquely American in that the two men are hesitant to accept the responsibility of a baby. This scene also foreshadows how the baby will affect their lives through the mise-en-scene, the dialogue and the cinematography.

In the opening scenes of the film and in the shots leading up to this scene, the men are portrayed as "players"-they chase and seduce women continuously and truly live the life of bachelors. In the shots leading up to the arrival of the baby we also see the men doing things that highlight their bachelor status: Peter is working out and staying in shape-focused very much on his body which is an American cultural trait. We also see one of Jack's love interests leave while he is away in Turkey. The film seem to move fast in these beginning scenes because the director uses a lot of editing and background music to show shots of the many different women the men have had relationships with. Furthermore, the film focuses very much on the men's social lives-something very important in American culture.

At first when the men discover the baby, Mary, they do not want to accept or even acknowledge the fact that the baby on their doorstep is going to be their problem. When he comes back from his jog Peter simply passes by Mary in the cradle and goes inside as if the cradle were not there. The camera shot only shows Peter as he walks in the door, then pans down to a shot of the cradle. Then when he opens the door again, he does not even open it all the way-he simply cracks it open and looks down on the baby. The low angle, close up of Peter's face shows his incredulous and puzzled look of disbelief that there is a baby on his doorstep. Peter and later also Michael think that the baby is a joke at first; they do not want to believe that they will have to take care of a baby because it is so foreign to them and against their role as "bachelors." This is very characteristic of American culture because babies are typically seen as taken care of by women, not so much by men. This is echoed later when Peter calls his girlfriend, Rebecca, to help him take care of the baby because she is a woman and he believes she will know what to do.

The mise-en-scene is also very important in this scene because it highlights the care-free bachelor aspect of the men's lives but also the introduction of Mary into their lives. The men's "bachelor pad" is very playful with a mural in their foyer which is about them; the whole apartment is very well lit to emphasize the fact that they are all successful and well-off. When the men bring Mary inside however, they place her on a table where rays of sunlight shine on her. Even in the brightly lit apartment Mary is still shined on. This focus on Mary accentuates her importance in the film to the audience and gives more weight to the plot that she is going to be a bright light in the three men's lives. Like the tagline of the movie poster says: "They changed her diapers. She changed their lives."

The cinematography in this scene and throughout the film is additionally important. The angle of the camera shots and pans say a lot about the two men and their reaction to the arrival of Mary on their doorstep. When the men analyze what to do with the baby, they are shot from a low angle that highlights their distance from the parental responsibility they are soon to have. The shots of the baby are from their point-of-view-a high angle-and they also highlight Peter and Michael's unwillingness to accept responsibility. After the men read the note and realize that the baby is now their problem in Jack's absence they still are reluctant to bring the baby inside and take care of her. The camera cuts to a shot from inside of the apartment-the men are framed by the half-open door and the baby is not even in sight. The men are still confused as to what to do and do not want to accept the responsibility of taking care of Mary.

The scene also has lots of close-ups of Peter, Michael and Mary-rapidly cutting from the men to the baby and from the baby to the men, which reflects their shock of Mary's arrival and of the situation, and also the confusion of what they are going to do. The close-up of Mary beginning to cry continues to heighten the confusion of the men because they have no idea how to take care of a baby. The director also chooses a camera shot late in the scene after the baby is on the table in which the cradle in the foreground dominates the picture, Michael walks toward it but is seemingly overshadowed by the largeness of the cradle. Furthermore, the cradle is the brightest object in the shot because of the sunlight and the relative darkness of everything else in the shot-including Michael. All of these aspects of the cinematography add to the theme that Mary will play a huge part in the lives of the three men, and that she will be a very important character to the plot.

Dialogue also becomes very important to the scene because there is an absence of background music. When Peter and Michael first find the Mary, they do not even acknowledge the fact that there is a baby even once. They simply refer her as "it"-they have to find out what to do with "it." This is also uniquely American-in the French version Pierre and Michel immediately refer to the baby by its gender and associate Marie to being a person. The use of "it" in terms of the baby also accentuates the fact that Peter and Michael are very incompetent when it comes to babies because it is so foreign to their lifestyles. In the apartment, the men argue over what they are going to do with Mary, but they argue about whose responsibility she is and not over what they are going to do to take care of her. Responsibility is very important in American culture-children especially are the responsibility of their parents and not of strangers, which contrary to French culture as Wylie and Briere say in The French, where children are the also the responsibility of other adults. The dialogue of this scene emphasizes the point that Peter and Michael have to take care of Mary even though technically she is not their "responsibility."

This scene foreshadows much of the impact that Mary will have on the men but it also conveys a lot about aspects of American culture. Through the cinematography and the mise-en-scene the scene alludes to the huge role that Mary will play in changing the lives of the three men. The beginning scenes to the film also convey the fact that social life and the pursuit of beautiful women is important in American culture. The scene itself emphasizes the importance of social responsibility in terms of children and the rest of the film continues to highlight aspects of American culture through cinematography and dialogue.
Works Cited

Wylie, Laurence and Briere, Jean-Francois. Les Francais. [The French] [translated excerpts].