Neo-Noir and the Femme Fatale
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BEYOND BACKLASH THE FEMME FATALE IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CINEMA Thesis submitted towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University, August 2011 KATHERINE FARRIMOND Student No. 022329691 i Table of Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv List of Illustrations v Introduction 1 Chapter One Spectres in the Dark: Retro Noir Femme Fatales 39 Out of the Past: Nostalgia, Gender, and the Retro Noir Film 39 The Femme Fatale who Wasn’t There: Retro Noir’s Pastiche Ghosts 49 Dead Girls on Film: The Corpse as Femme Fatale 67 Conclusion 85 Chapter Two Postfeminist Fatales: Teenage Bad Girls 87 Girls on Top: Gender, Genre, and Contemporary Girlhood 88 Getting Away With It: Postfeminism and the Victorious Girl 101 Bad Girls Don’t Cry?: Desire, Punishment, and Girls in Crisis 117 Conclusion 131 Chapter Three Bisexual Behaviour: Neo-Noir and the Femme Fatale 133 Sexual Deception: Bisexual Behaviour and Narrative Cinema 133 Sexual Detection: Visibility, Epistemology and Contamination 145 Sexual Fragmentation: Representation Beyond the Linear 163 Conclusion 179 Chapter Four Organic Cyborgs: The Science Fiction Femme Fatale 182 Future Fatales: Science Fiction, Feminism and the Body 182 Bodies of Evidence: Possession, Science, and the Separation of Power 191 Bodies without Origins: Beyond the Myth of the Original Woman 209 Conclusion 224 Conclusion 226 Filmography 233 Bibliography 242 ii Abstract This thesis is the first comparative reading of the femme fatale in contemporary American cinema, and makes a significant contribution to a field that has previously limited its focus to film noir of the 1940s and the neo noirs of the 1980s and 1990s. To date, critical examinations of the femme fatale figure in contemporary cinema have centred on issues of post-second wave backlash, and on a very narrow range of films, most notably Fatal Attraction (1987), Basic Instinct (1992), Disclosure (1994), and The Last Seduction (1994), (Kate Stables, 1998; Yvonne Tasker, 1998; Helen Hanson, 2007). This project builds upon this work by taking a thematic approach which allows for a reading of a wider range of film texts which have not yet received much critical investigation in terms of the deadly beautiful woman. Through looking at films from period drama, teen cinema, neo-noir and science fiction film, I consider the implications that the resurgence of this provocative figure across a multitude of cinematic genres has for our understanding of contemporary cultural anxiety about women, and argue that a renewed examination of the femme fatale opens up new avenues of discourse between theorisations of cinematic archetypes and feminist theory. This thesis furthers the work of Mary Ann Doane (1991), E. Ann Kaplan (rev. ed. 1998), and Julie Grossman (2009) which sought to interrogate and question the implications of American cinema’s fascination with the femme fatale in noir texts, by investigating the ways in which the figure brings into focus questions of sexual agency, femininity and power outside of those generic parameters. Significantly I consider how the widening of the critical lens through which the femme fatale is viewed allows new patterns, tensions and anxieties to be traced across a variety of popular genres and modes of production from the Hollywood blockbuster to smaller independent films, to chart thematic tendencies, such as the bisexual femme fatale, the hybrid femme fatale, and the dead femme fatale. In particular, I provide a unique critical assessment of the position of the femme fatale figure in contemporary cinema, and in doing so interrogate the idea of the femme fatale’s sexual mystery, and the myriad ways in which this trait foregrounds issues about sexual fidelity and safety, and both encourages and critiques a patriarchal sense of entitlement to complete knowledge about women’s bodies, intentions and desires. In addressing the ways in which the femme fatale figure operates across cinematic genres and themes in ways which reveal the limits of femme fatale criticism as it currently stands, this study identifies the femme fatale’s ability to move across and between genres, in ways which complicate and disrupt contemporary understandings of femininity and film. By exploring the occurrence of femme fatale figures in films not exclusively concerned with anxiety deriving from the increased economic opportunities for women following second wave feminism, this study offers ways of viewing the beautiful duplicitous woman which move beyond backlash. The thesis is comprised of four chapters. The first is an account of the femme fatale in the retro noir film, and interrogates the tensions between the nostalgic impulses of the retro noir genre and the more complex gender politics centred on the films’ re-presentation of the femme fatale figure. In the second I consider the new teen femme fatale films as both teen updates of the ‘mature’ femme fatale narrative in the burgeoning genre of teen cinema, and as more complex explorations of contemporary anxieties about young femininity. The third chapter interrogates the significance of the frequent cross-genre pairings of female bisexuality with the femme fatale figure, and considers the potential of such figures for feminist meaning beyond patriarchal pornographic fantasy. Finally, chapter four engages with science fiction cinema, and specifically with the figure of the femme fatale whose body is not entirely human, and considers its ramifications for feminist theorisations of the body, agency and femininity. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following organisations for their generosity and trust in supporting my research: the Arts and Humanities Research Council for a three-year doctoral award and for funding a trip to the Margaret Herrick Library, Los Angeles; the School of English and the HASS Faculty at Newcastle University, for each providing grants during my writing-up year; and the Killingley Trust for awarding me a bursary, without which I would have been unable even to begin this project. I have been incredibly fortunate to work with an outstanding supervisorial team. Stacy Gillis has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty in providing rigorous feedback, advice and encouragement at every stage of this project, and I am very grateful for her compassionate understanding of the ups, downs and competing personal and professional demands of a research degree. Melanie Bell has been instrumental in providing a wealth of invaluable comments and guidance over the past few years. I am particularly thankful for her insights into the specific requirements of film studies research on this scale. I am greatly indebted to them both for their unwavering support, good humour, and belief in this project and in my abilities. The School of English at Newcastle University has been a home to me for a good many years now, and it is because of the vitality of its staff, students and research culture that I have so thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I am privileged to have been part of an exceptionally dynamic postgraduate community. In particular I owe my thanks to Viccy Adams, Katie Cooper, Malcah Effron, Lucy Gallagher, Craig Hankin, Siân Harris, Colleen Robertson, Emma Short and Bob Stoate for their outstanding friendship, advice, and solidarity. Being surrounded by so many bright, funny, and frequently feminist people has been a delight and an honour. Special thanks are due to Siân for generously proofreading the thesis, and for all the books and all the wine. I have also been lucky enough to have an incredibly supportive group of friends outside the confines of the Percy Building. Thanks to Cat Cooke, Sheila Gonzalez, Laura Kirby, Felicity Langthorne, Hannah Marsden, Claire Rowlands, Adham Tawfik, Siân Williams, and especially to B, for all their wit, patience, and for enduring more terrible films with me than I dare to count. Finally, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my parents, Janet and Brian Farrimond, and my grandma, Winifred Gilleade, who have shown me more support and kindness than I could ever have hoped for, and who always knew I could do it, even when I was less than certain. Thank you. iv List of Figures 1.1 Promotional Poster for L.A. Confidential (1997). 1.2 Promotional Poster for Devil in a Blue Dress (1995). 1.3 L.A. Confidential (1997). Costuming conceals Lynn’s face. 1.4 Devil in A Blue Dress (1995). Costuming highlights Daphne’s sexual allure. 1.5 L.A. Confidential (1997). Muted markers of victimhood. 1.6 L.A. Confidential (1997). The updated Lynn appears in the sunshine. 1.7 Elizabeth Short (c. 1946). 1.8 Ann Savage in a publicity shot for Detour (1945). 1.9 The Black Dahlia (2006). The gaze of the detectives overshadows the corpse. 1.10 Mulholland Falls (1996). 1950s glamour and voyeurism. 1.11 The Black Dahlia (2006). Period details and sexual performance. 1.12 The Black Dahlia (2006). Crisp lines and period details. 1.13 Mulholland Falls (1996). A contemporary star face with period texture. 2.1 Mini’s First Time (2007). Confusion and uncertainty. 2.2 Wild Things (1998). Suzie (left) retains some distance from the action. 2.3 Mini’s First Time (2007). Maternal excess. 2.4 Mini’s First Time (2007). Youthful exuberance. 2.5 Pretty Persuasion (2005). Oral sex for one. 2.6 Pretty Persuasion (2005). Kimberly dances for Troy. 2.7 Pretty Persuasion (2007). Mr. Anderson watches his wife dance. 2.8 Cruel Intentions (1999). Kathryn’s demure attire. 2.9 Cruel Intentions (1999). Kathryn’s off-duty wardrobe. 3.1 Bound (1996). Violet’s retro styling. 3.2 Basic Instinct (1992). Intimate space in the club toilets. 3.3 Basic Instinct (1992). Nick watches Catherine and Roxy dance, while their friend turns away. 3.4 Femme Fatale (2002). Reflective femme fatales. 3.5 Femme Fatale (2002).