According to the blurb on the box, director Susan Seidelman's 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan is about a simple, presumably comic case of mistaken identity. Rosanna Arquette's character Roberta, a New Jersey housewife, gets hit on the head, develops amnesia, and is mistaken for "free spirit" Susan, played by Madonna. What the blurb doesn't intimate, and what may be the most interesting element of Desperately Seeking Susan's plot, is that Roberta was actually so bored with her life that she turned to voyeurism: it is no simple accident of mistaken looks that leads to to her assumption of Susan's identity–rather, it is Roberta's assumption of Susan's identity that leads to her being mistaken for Susan.
80s Fashion Makes Movie Classic
The switcheroo between Roberta and Susan in Desperately Seeking Susan is entirely dependent on fashion. A beautiful thing about Desperately Seeking Susan, and perhaps about the 80s in general is that the term "free spirit" apparently transformed in two short decades from meaning 'flower child' to meaning 'shady, post-punk, urban squatter in sequined thrift store finds.' No doubt when they released Desperately Seeking Susan, studio execs were envisioning throngs of average Americans getting a good laugh at seeing your run-of-the-mill wife of a jacuzzi salesman suddenly sporting pop sensation Madonna's teased hair, dirty strapless taffeta dresses and studded black leather. And with gross revenue over $27 million, the image must have had its appeal.
But as Desperately Seeking Susan sensitively reveals, people and personalities extend well beyond stereotypes, and in the 80s in particular, fashion was committed to revealing them. While Roberta and Susan's characters do play off of each other as voyeur and exhibitionist, Roberta voraciously following Susan's love affair with Jim through the personal ads, in the end, fashion not passion, is what brings them together. Fashion in Desperately Seeking Susan, and other classic 80s movies, doesn't just symbolize lifestyle and socio-economic status; it demonstrates personality, both for the characters and for the audience. Thus, in iconic 80s fashion (pun intended), Desperately Seeking Susan shows us how a case of mistaken identity can really become a case of self-identity.
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Sources:
Internet Movie Database
