As the film shows, the story of the "flapper film" set against the backdrop of the Great Depression positions the struggle for female progression within the already harsh economic conditions. As the main lead within the group of women, Polly discovers that Brad, the singer and apparent millionaire is just that; a formulation of the "gold diggers" occurs where all the women that were once downtrodden in the end marry wealthy men. This resolution within the film brings up a very contradicting point within the 1930's usage of the "flapper film", as such which also points out the troubles the characters and cultural references of the times play to the narrative. As Landry describes about flapper films, they are more about modern femininity, "female independence within the traditional confines of romance and marriage"(Landry 3). Yet as Gold Diggers shows, the women find solidarity by marring the wealthy men. As Polly tries to become the "gold digging" women to persuade Brad to marry her, Brad's brother tries to stop this. Yet Brad's brother in the end falls in love with one of Polly's friends that was also trying to be a gold digger, playing into their game of the whole collective of women vying for a better economic situation for themselves. This striking contrast to what most flapper films are supposed to be about, independent women not needing the care of a man to protect and depend on is what makes the relation of the individual to the collective so troubling. While the women in the film end up winning their economic and social improvement, the men that get married still are part of their ruse. This shows that the negative term "gold digging" wins in the end when it comes to a group of individuals swindling separately all the wealthy men to become part of their ploy for them to fall in love with each of the women and marry them.
