Cabiria the Anti-Heroine

            Discussing Joseph Campbell’s “Power of Myth” interview with Bill Moyers seems most relevant with regard to character development. The character embarks on a journey, physical or spiritual, and “gives his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Cabiria’s journey had the potential spiritual deed of returning to her prostitute friends with “illuminating revelations” regarding love and life, perhaps that materialism is an illusion of happiness and prostitution will only attract deceptive scums. Campbells says, “our life evokes our character…that’s why you put yourself in situations that will evoke your higher nature rather than your lower. ‘Lead us not into temptation.’” Cabiria’s selfish pursuits put her into situations that evoked the lower nature of her character, a character that is continually tempted. Sometimes the adventure swallows the adventurer, as was the case with Cabiria. The illusions of religion, materialism, and social pressures tempted Cabiria away from the pure and innocent young girl inside her, ultimately leading to her failed journey.

Cabiria works the streets in an attempt to make money for survival, and in the hopes of finding a lover. Not only is she attracted to men with material wealth, but she uses material wealth to attract men as well. Fellini portrays Cabiria as naïve, desperate, and shallow, all of which I believe can be summed up into a single motivation supported by a few scenes in the movie.

The all-encompassing scene (I know, this is a bold adjective) is of Cabiria exiting the mansion of the movie star Alberto Lazzari and she walks straight into the glass door. This is a consistent theme of Cabiria: looking for shortcuts results in pain that she did not seem coming. She must take the time and effort to help herself and open the door to her new lifestyle. If you walk like a blind fool, you will crash into the obvious and get hurt as a result. Another scene towards the end of the movie also symbolizes the options that Cabiria tends to choose in her life. When she walks with Oscar through the woods, she picks up some flowers and comments on their beauty; however, they smell kind of funky. Cabiria pursues the aesthetically pleasing materials in life, completely disregarding the smell of internal decomposition and rotting. Her inability to understand beauty beyond looks leads Cabiria into all sorts of debacles. For example, Giorgio pushes her into the river in the opening scene after stealing her purse. Cabiria thought she could buy the handsome Giorgio all sorts of clothes in exchange for love. Also, when Alberto picks up Cabiria, she shouts to her friends from the car to boast about whom she is with. Furthermore, she wants Alberto to give her some sort of proof to take home to brag to her friends/competitors.

Another issue is prostitution, which requires putting a monetary value on your body. This instills an internal conflict of self worth in Cabiria, leading her to question if she can ever find love with her current lifestyle. When Alberto picked her up to fill the void of his girlfriend’s absence, Cabiria was optimistic that something might happen between the two of them. The next morning Albert pays Cabiria, but she is not happy. Despite the fact that money lures her in all directions, it fails to provide her happiness when Cabiria is looking for something like love. I was kind of hoping that Cabiria would undergo a Buddha-like transformation as she witnessed the ascetic pilgrims walking the streets, the poor Elsa living in the cave, and the sick man being carried though the religious ceremony. But Cabiria, despite her desire for a change in lifestyle, still sought out for shortcuts as she wished for a miracle during the illusory religious ceremony. Fellini follows this religious scene with the magician scene, suggesting that the ceremony was strictly theatre, one theatrical illusion to the next. After the show, a tempting man, Oscar, makes his moves and succeeds after a few days.

In an attempt to change lifestyles, Cabiria is lured by the money, house, store, and marriage that Oscar has to offer. But miracles are only shortcuts, and just when the audience feels Cabiria would find a life out of prostitution and poverty, she walks blindly into another door, eyes fixed on the flowers. This forces me to conclude that Cabiria was a static character, never learning to pursue what made her truly happy, like, perhaps, dancing.