While the sign "Europe" usually denotes a geographical area, it is full of connotations for the main characters, the Griswald family. When the family wins an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe, each family member, with one exception, has a ut

Their relation to America is that of Europe-as-dystopia to America-as-utopia, and this becomes apparent only when viewed in relation to Dyer's theory.

"Europe" connotes loss to Audrey - loss of her status as object and hence loss of Jack. It also connotes the same kind of loss of power which Ellen implicitly fears; for some reason, Audrey is powerless to resist the plates of food being brought to her in her fantasy. Her actions are simply a function of criteria established by others, which in her fantasy is a compulsion to eat. She feels that she needs Jack, the man-as-agent-of-action, to motivate her to diet, and that without his agency she is powerless. As with Rusty, the text implies that Audrey feels she needs romantic involvement to validate her gender role. Unlike Rusty, Audrey views Europe not as an opportunity for action, but as a threat to her status as object, much in the same way Ellen unconsciously views Europe as a potential threat to her own status.

Ellen's fantasy. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana are standing in a receiving line at a royal ball. They're apparently very bored, since they yawn repeatedly, and muster up the politeness to greet their guests only with great effort. Then the Griswald family is announced, and the royals become visibly excited - "He came!" exclaims Diana. Clark (Mr. Griswald) and Ellen enter, greeting the royals as they would old friends, with hugs and kisses and hearty handshakes. Diana flirtatiously asks Clark for the first dance, but he refuses, saying "The only princess in my life is my wife. She gets the first dance," and leads his beaming wife off screen. Diana begins to run after him but knowing she has already lost him, stops in dismay.

Like the Griswalds' fantasies, each European country seems utopian on the surface, but on closer examination, each country connotes an underlying tension. England, for example, connotes politeness (as is seen by the cloying politeness of the three Englishmen Clark hits with his car) and glamour, as Ellen's fantasy with the royal family demonstrates. But on a deeper level, the text jabs at the norms of the British class system. Again, it does this in Ellen's fantasy when the Griswalds greet the royal family as intimate friends, hugging them and calling them "Chuck" and "Di." And when Clark does what would normally be unthinkable - snubbing Princess Diana - the text implies a triumph over stuffy Old World conventions and makes the very concept of royalty laughable. There is no question here of which system the text wants readers to think is better, and it is the American "classless society." (Of course, there is no such thing as a "classless society" in America, but as far as the text is concerned the Griswalds represent that utopian ideal. For another example of the idealization of a mythical "classless society," see Frank Drebbin's ridiculing of the British monarchy in The Naked Gun.)

4 The Sound of Music. Dir. Robert Wise. Writers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. With Julie Andrews. 20th Century Fox, 1965.

Germany proves to be more overtly dystopian to the Griswalds than England and France, although Clark initially idealizes it as his "motherland." After a visit with a couple that Clark thinks are his distant German relatives, the family goes to an Oktoberfest-style festival in the town square. Clark, dressed in lederhosen (per his fantasy!), joins in a traditional dance, but one of the Germans begins to hit him in rhythm with the music. Clark hits back, and a brawl breaks out. The Griswalds are chased through the cobblestone streets of the town by townspeople in lederhosen brandishing pitchforks, spears, and similar instruments. By evoking images of classic horror films such as Frankenstein (and the innumerable parodies of it which followed), this scene makes the townspeople metonymic of stereotypical German aggression and warmongering. So the text tells us that Germany is yet another country which does

Some common words found in the essay are:
European Vacation, Ellen's Rusty's, Paris Clark, America Ellen, France Clark, Sound Music, Princess Diana, Griswald Ellen, Richard Dyer's, Rusty Audrey, european vacation, ellen's fantasy, agent action, europe connotes, text implies, gender role, rusty audrey, fantasy scene, object desire, fantasy utopian, dyer's theory entertainment, theory entertainment utopia, situation real life, text makes reader, text's cultural milieu,
Approximate Word count = 4466
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page double spaced)