Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The Role of Femme Fatales
I liked how Queenpin reversed the stereotypical role of women in noir by making a man into the "femme fatale" (known as the "homme fatale") character of the story. It was refreshing to see at least one female character (Gloria) who was empowered and did not have to rely on her sexuality to manipulate others to get ahead. It seems that Abbott used the Vic character to counteract all the misogynistic portrayals of women in previous noir by making him into a general loser; however, his sexual power over the unnamed narrator complicates this notion. Since the narrator is the one who wins at the end of the novel, I wonder what commentary Abbott is making about how the quest for power for females is different than it is for males. It seems to me that Abbott is showing the ugly reality of how women must serve their own self interests and align themselves with men in order to become more powerful and wealthy. Gloria's attempt to create a feminist/"girl power" loyalty between her and the narrator ultimately failed, and even though the narrator felt bad about betraying Gloria, she ultimately decided to anyways. I think it would be useful for the exam to compare the role of Vic in the novel compared to the typical role of the femme fatale in noir and how he is written differently, so if anyone cares to elaborate, go ahead...
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Speaking of femme fatales and film noir, I found this little video on my recommended videos list on youtube.com after I looked up clips from the Cotton Comes to Harlem movie. It's a music video done in the style of a film noir movie and the name of the song is "Murder She Wrote." While I don't know the context of this video, it appears that it came out in the early 1990s since rapper Eazy-E from N.W.A. is in it at the end and it seems that someone tried to do a test pilot of the Eminem thing with a white chick. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdN-6ofz50w
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the femme fatale reversal. But in some ways there was still a woman behind it, because Regina was with Vic as well and had some influence on the situation.
ReplyDeleteI also agree about women having to align themselves with men. Had Gloria never taken the narrator under her wing, she probably never would have fallen. I think she breaks her own rules and lets someone in and that's Gloria's ultimate downfall. I think, however, that the narrator as she goes on in the criminal world will recognize this and not make the same mistake. So in some ways.. I think the protege will surpass the teacher.
Wow, I hadn't thought of that at all. It's an interesting point. I can definitely see Vic as the femme fatale: he's a secondary, yet main, character, he's clearly in distress, he definitely has a toughness about him, and in the end, he screws over the protagonist.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the protagonist's role, I can definitely see her as the rough-around-the-edges detective that takes pity on the femme fatale; she's clearly a strong character, she is drawn to Vic, she puts herself out there to save him, and in the end, winds up by herself.
Great theory.