The women-hanging-clothes opening trope in Firefly and Inglourious Basterds

The women-hanging-clothes opening trope in Firefly and Inglourious Basterds - Woman in Green Tank Top Holding Playing Cards

Episode 12 of Firefly opens with a scene in which two people are hanging clothes up to dry while in the distance they see approaching a group of men who look like they cold be trouble.

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This reminded me of the exact same opening from Inglourious Basterds:

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I suspect that this may be a well-established movie trope. Does anyone have any pointers as to its origins, or know any other instances of it?



Best Answer

I'm pretty sure this isn't a trope, and that @iandotkelly has the right description.

If there is a trope here, it's this: people living in such an unsettled and sparsely-populated area that they can easily spot someone approaching their home from miles away, even though they're not deliberately acting as lookouts.

In much of the modern world, this is an impossibility. Most humans live so closely together that it's not reasonable to assume that all strangers moving around in the vicinity are coming to see you. But on the frontier, your home is likely the only site for miles that would attract visitors. So if you see anybody out there, it's a good bet that their business is with you, regardless of what they appear to be doing, and regardless of whether they know who you are: they are coming to this house, and that makes them your problem.

Another noteworthy thing about these scenes is that the surrounding countryside is completely untamed, usually flat and open, with the consequence that you have an unobstructed view for miles in every direction. So unless you're asleep or eating inside, you're probably going to get a warning a long time in advance.

What we're looking at is essentially a kind of visual doorbell that sounds far enough in advance to almost be foreshadowing.

It also highlights how isolated the homesteaders are, how far away any kind of help is. This can emphasize either how vulnerable, or unaccountable, the homesteaders are. For better or for worse, this patch is almost a private world.

I think Unforgiven has a scene like this, except that Clint isn't a woman hanging laundry, he's a retired gunslinger struggling with his sad collection of pigs.




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