Portrayal of women in film noir
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The depictions of women in
film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
come in a range of archetypes and
stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...
s, including the alluring
femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
. A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; , literally "lethal woman"), is a prevalent and indicating theme to the style of
film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
. The main archetypes of female roles in film noir can be divided into two categories: the girl-next-door and the femme fatale.


The girl-next-door

Her character archetype is depicted as ordinary, often overshadowed by the femme fatale. She is known to be honest, innocent, and sweet. She tends to meet traditional American standards of beauty and social expectations of how to behave. The
girl-next-door The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in romantic stories. She is so named because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a mutual friendship that later ofte ...
often does refer to the fact she lives right next door to the male protagonist, possibly having known him their entire lives. Her character represents the love that has always been there but unnoticed by the male protagonist. She is often overlooked and dismissed as a love interest by him. It is usually only when the male protagonist has gone through a series of obstacles with the femme fatale, that the truth is revealed that the girl-next-door has been there all along, ready to love the male protagonist.  An example of this is in Cathy O’Donnell’s portrayal of Keechie in '' They Live by Night'' (Ray, 1948).


The femme fatale

The
femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
, considered by many the central figure of film noir, is mysterious and enchanting. She is known for using her mind and body strategically in order to seduce men into compromising and often deadly situations. Her character is independent with undoubting sexual confidence and a laconic personality. The femme fatale does things by her own book, rejecting social expectations even if it deems her as immoral and/or bad.


Tactics

A main tactic of the femme fatale is to use her feminine body and sexual traits as a way to achieve some hidden agenda. The femme fatale is a prevalent and indicating theme to the style of film noir. The archetype of the femme fatale often pushes back on the male protagonist, posing as the obstacle to the protagonist in reaching their goals. In understanding dramatic structure, the dramatic action reveals the deep desires and goals of the characters who move the plot ahead. Therefore, the objectives and obstacles create complications and unraveling, the femme fatale is the epitome of complication and unraveling. A characteristic of the femme fatale is she often uses her sexuality and beauty to undermine another character in order to get what she wants. Some of the most notorious femmes fatales in classical film noir are
Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
as Phyllis Dietrichson in ''
Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American crime film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The screenplay was based on James M. Cain's 1943 novel of the same ...
'' (Wilder, 1944), Rita Hayworth in '' Gilda'' (1946), and Lana Turner in '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1946).


History


Myths and legends of femme fatale

The archetype femme fatale has historically been a culturally pervasive influence on literature and art. Femme fatale has roots in mythology and legends through figures such as Eve from the Biblical creation narrative and the
original sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...
story of Adam and Eve; mythological figures such as Circe and Clytemnestra; folklore, in figures like succubi and yuki-onna; and even history, in an understanding of figures like
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
,
Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...
, and Mata Hari. In these representations, the femme fatale possesses an allure that is able to enchant and hypnotize her victim, sometimes even through a metaphysical or supernatural force; akin to a witch, seductress, or enchantress. What seems to motivate the femme fatale is an insatiable desire for power and control, often over a man, weaponizing her charm and beauty while using lies, deception, and coercion.


Cultural context


World War II

Though World War II is not often present in the plot lines of film noir, scholars suggest that the war period is important to the configuration of gender identity and gendered hierarchies in American society. During wartime, women entered what previously were male-dominated job positions, earning higher wages than ever before. Postwar retrenchment intended to restore jobs back to men and shift women to lower-paid positions or domestic roles. Sylvia Harvey examined these social shifts in regards to film noir and writes, “These economic changes forced certain changes in the traditional organization of the family; and the underlying sense of horror and uncertainty in film noir may be seen, in part, as an indirect response to this forcible assault on traditional family structures and the traditional and conservative values which they embodied.” World War II marked a significant turning point of the feminist movement. Societal gender roles were starting to be examined and this is believed to be a wave that swept of 1940s cinema leading to exploring how women function in film, a movement that critics and scholars could both agree pushed the expected boundaries of female characters.


Patriarchy

Patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...
is another social system being examined in film noir. Malu Barroso, author at ''High On Films'' writes, "As the patriarchal social order tried to reinstate itself when the war was over. Within the stylistic norms of the noir genre, the rough lighting and the gloomy visual clues of danger reflects the unsettling, broken domestic order, highlighting to the audience the tension in the home and the women’s role in triggering the narrative." Female characters in film noir represent a disturbance to male protagonists and the heteronormative patriarchal order, one that loses its control over women and the female character gains her own power. Postwar film noir of the 1940s is believed to be a direct reflection of the dark reality of a postwar culture and the reality of the re-oppressed woman. Financial independence and freedom through the workforce was being taken back by the patriarchal system.


Feminist theory and criticism

Film Noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
is understood as not a genre but an adaptable film style. As film scholar Raymond Durgnat points out, film noir is a point in film history, not a genre. Influenced by German Expressionism film, Hollywood took the aesthetics of forties and fifties, as dark, urban landscapes, fused with crime and mystery. How the women were portrayed in film noir helped to fuel the narrative with plot twists and deception. Much feminist interest comes from understanding how the female form is being used and what that represents. Feminist theory within the context of film noir often seeks to understand themes such as gender identity, sexuality, in relation to representation and power. Theorists and scholars explore both the problematic and beneficial implications to portrayals of women in film noir. Janey Place writes in ''Women in Film Noir'' that “film noir is a male fantasy, as is most of our art.” She explains that noir’s female villains are central to the frame in the stylistic choices of the genre. She goes on to write that it is, “one of the few periods of film in which women are active, not static symbols, are intelligent and powerful, if destructively so, and derive power, not weakness, from their sexuality.”
Mary Ann Doane Mary Ann Doane (born 1952) is the Class of 1937 Professor of Film and Media at the University of California, Berkeley and was previously the George Hazard Crooker Professor of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University. She is a pioneer in the ...
writes, “She is not the subject of feminism but a symptom of male fears about feminism. Nevertheless, the representation – like any representation –is not totally under the control of its producers and, once disseminated, comes to take on a life of its own.” Kate Stables writes that “the postmodern fatal woman is a creature of excess and spectacle, like the films she decorates.”


Notable films


Films of the 1940s-1950s

*''
Murder My Sweet ''Murder, My Sweet'' (released as ''Farewell, My Lovely'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1944 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley (in her final film before retirement). The fil ...
'' (Edward Dmytryk, 1944) *'' Laura (Otto Preminger'', 1944) *''
Mildred Pierce ''Mildred Pierce'' is a psychological drama by James M. Cain published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1941. A story of “social inequity and opportunity in America" set during the Great Depression, ''Mildred Pierce'' follows the trajectory of a lower- ...
'' *'' The Maltese Falcon'' *'' Scarlet Street'' *'' Kiss Me Deadly'' *'' Detour'' (Edgar G Ulmer, 1945) *'' Gilda'' (1946) *'' The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1946) *'' The Lady from Shanghai'' (1947)


Neo-Film Noir 1970s-contemporary

*'' Klute'' (1971) *'' Across 110th Street'' (1972) *''
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
'' (1974) *'' Taxi Driver'' (1976) *''
Body Heat Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...
'' *''
Fatal Attraction ''Fatal Attraction'' is a 1987 American psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne from a screenplay by James Dearden, based on his 1980 short film '' Diversion''. Starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer, the film centers ...
'' (1987) *'' Basic Instinct'' (1992) *'' Wild Things'' (1998) *''
Brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
'' *'' Gone Girl'' (2014) *''
Atomic Blonde ''Atomic Blonde'' is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by David Leitch (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad, based on the 2012 graphic novel ''The Coldest City'' by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. The f ...
'' (2017) *''
Red Sparrow ''Red Sparrow'' is a 2018 American spy thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, ...
'' (2018) *'' Ocean’s Eight'' (2018) *'' Hustlers'' (2019)


References

{{Reflist Film noir