Expand your mind - "dangerous" cinematic women studies

This article ' "Dangerous" cinematic women studies' is based on a feminist film theory that consists of the explanation of how women are portrayed in film noir. The women are referenced as 'femme fatale' which means an attractive or seductive woman who brings disaster to any man who becomes involved with her, this portrays that women were seen as tools of seduction and the article informs this was due to their clothing and the rest of their appearance. A clip is attached to the article from a 1946 film and shows a woman dressed in an impressive tight black dress, to emphasize her body features, performing a song and dance as she takes the role of a character by the name of Gilda. In video it is revealed that the dress the character wears is inspired by the painting 'Madame x' by John singer Sargent. In the clip it is said that Gilda seems to be 'refashioning' the femme fatale, due to the dress being a modernized version of the 'Madame X' dress, as Gilda's is strapless to fit into the 1940's fashion trend and enhance the sense of pure attraction. The fact the dress is being refashioned portrays that the characteristics of a 'femme fatale' lives on, however it is adapted to fit the generation the film is set it, telling the reader that this character is found in both modern and classic film.   I found this rather interesting as it was rather unusual to discover inspiration from paintings being used in a more sophisticated way, in this case a film, and being represented over 100 years later to create a simple effect on how women can be dangerous in there ways of seduction. I can see why that certain dress was chosen for the character Gilda, due to it being revealing and in films it appears to be the only way for women to get what they want, through their ways of promiscuity.

The article then continues to inform the reader on the characteristics of the character Gilda and explains how she has traces of mythical female figures such as 'Cleopatra', this was another element of the article I found interesting due to the in depth analysis of the character profile and the immense amount of thought put into the construction of a single female character. It's also intriguing to have a taste of the of the progress and effort which has gone into forming a character, especially considering she isn't completely original and has parts of females from all different eras constructed into her creation to create a flawless femme fatale.

The article makes key points on how women's roles in film noir are presented. It explains how women’s roles of 'eternal victims' are challenged due to the themes running throughout film noir such as violence, sexuality and pathology. This informs the reader of females being rather underrated in cinema, as they are either being portrayed as a victim, which connotes weakness and vulnerability, or as attractive eye candy. The article also presents men as being 'paranoid', which adds to the image of woman characters because by them being paranoid shows that they are weary of the danger of women and what they can do to them both emotionally and physically. It also portrays a certain weakness of men due to them constantly falling for women, as seen in films, even though they have full awareness of their plans of destruction.

The article also informs the reader on film noire being rather predictable, thus making it cliché and rather sexist. The fact the writer quotes that the heroine dies a 'violent death' conveys a message to the audience that stereotypically the female dies in film noire, the fact the female dies leaves an impression of women being unworthy as they are unable to live and it's almost like there death is a way of symbolizing the wrong they have done by luring the men into there 'danger'.


After reading this article I got a sense of realization as I immediately understood the character profile it was trying to describe, the alluring female role that is always seen in detective films lingering around in the males eye line and catching their attention every time. I found this interesting due to the understanding I took away with me from the descriptions given, I also liked how it made me think about femme fatale being used in more modern circumstances of film as I can only picture the character type staring in a 90's film. However due to the refashioning of the character profile it makes spotting the character more obscure.

To conclude this article was interesting, descriptive and factual, although the intensity of the language does slightly throw you of course but never the less it is overly informative and covers every scrap of information you need to know about the dangerous cinematic woman theory. It includes visual representations of femme fatale and written, which together cover the whole character profile, the theory, how women are portrayed and provides examples to back up all the points made.

Words I didn't understand and definitions.

Rapacious - Aggressively greedy or grasping.

Manifest - Oblivious or clear to the eye or the mind.

Femme fatale - An attractive or seduction woman. She especially will bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her.

Patriarchal - relating to, or characteristic of a patriarch or characteristic of a system of society or government controlled by men: "patriarchal values".

Film noir - A style or genre of a film which is marked by mood of pessimism, fatalism or menace. The term was originally applied to American thrillers ,or films of a detective genre, produced in the time period of 1944-1954.