Femininity and Masculinity in Double Indemnity - Essay Example

?Femininity and Masculinity in Double Indemnity The femme fatale is one of the key components observed in firm noir. Similar to the genre of film noir, the concept of ‘femme fatale’ does not require strict descriptions. She is an indefinite character who is different for every film. She has been the focus of numerous scholarly attempts about sexual distinction (Kaplan, 1998). Elizabeth Cowie, for example, argues that “femme ‘fatale’ is simply a catchphrase for the danger of sexual difference and the demands and risks desire poses for the man” (Copjec, 1993, p. 125). The vague character of the femme fatale guides this scholarly work: she appears to be both a powerful expression of the reality that endangers patriarchy and, on the other hand, she appears to be the fantasy icon of society. However, there are attributes that remain unchanged: a blatant sexuality, an egotistical, self-seeking tendency, and a talent to ensnare and manipulate any man who she encounters define the femme fatale of the 1930s and 1940s (Copjec, 1993). She is consistently alluring, attractive, and sophisticatedly dressed. Caught in the well-known mise-en-scene of sharply distinct shadows or shades in urban scenery, the femme fatale emerges from the pits of these urban shadows that sooner or later engulf her. The intense mise-en-scene that creates the setting for the femme fatale operates to highlight that she is the representation of a ‘bad girl’ (Neroni, 2005, p. 22). In the film Double Indemnity by Billy Wilder, Phyllis Dietrichson, played by Barbara Stanwyck, accurately portrayed this character when she informs Walter Neff: “I never loved you or anyone else. I’m rotten, rotten to the core” (Neroni, 2005, p. 22). One of the major attributes of the femme fatale is her failure to or lack of capacity to sustain an intimate or passionate relationship. This explains why, alongside her violent tendencies, she is displeasing to society. Sylvia Harvey emphasises the role love plays in society as shown in film noir (Kaplan, 1998, p. 37): “And if successful romantic love leads inevitably in the direction of the stable institution of marriage, the point about film noir, by contrast, is that it is structured around the destruction or absence of romantic love and the family.” The destiny of the femme fatale normally entails violence. Obviously, not every femme fatale becomes violent or resorts to violence, but most of them show an ability and an eagerness to act violently. The violence of the femme fatale usually seems to be the only remaining option for her, but she nevertheless commits violence skilfully and without remorse (Armstrong, 2013). However, this is not to say that the violence of the femme fatale is the specific attribute that describes her character and make her treacherous. Violence is merely a consequence of the general character of the femme fatale. In Double Indemnity, for instance, Phyllis Dietrichson lures Walter Neff into aiding her in an insurance fraud wherein he murders her husband, and they divide the cash they got from the husband’s insurance. Basically, she deceives, manipulates, swindles, shows off her body to Walter, and often behaves sexually and seductively, all with the intention of getting what she desires—money (Allyn, 1978). The filmmaker memorably brings in the character of Phyllis wearing only a towel. When she comes back after putting her clothes on, the camera focuses on her legs as she descends the stairs and afterwards focuses on her again as she closes her dress and applies her lipstick while in front of a mirror. The conversation in this scene also highlights her appearance as she asks if her “face is on straight” (Neroni, 2005, p. 23), obliging Walter and the audience to gaze again at her face before the story carries on. Such gestures are shrewdly made by a woman who is very conscious and knowledgeable of society’s view of women and femininity. Phyllis takes advantage of social attributes of femininity to persuade Walter to help her carry out her plans. In the earlier part of the movie, Wilder portrays Phyllis as shrewd, manipulative, and dominant—even Walter knows this, but he chooses to ignore it—but she acts as if she is only an accomplice of Walter, who leads the sinister plans. Due to the fact that Walter is the male, the movie implies, he knows how to handle violence and to create and execute plans that require violence. Thus, the original plans of the femme fatale allow the traditionally recognised status of the sexes to continue and do not highlight any conflict or ill feeling between the sexes (Neroni, 2005). The liaison between the male protagonist and the femme fatale generally starts with a picture of sexual harmony, as shown in Double Indemnity. In the latter part of the movie, as Walter starts to feel anxious, Phyllis discloses that she is in fact more composed and ready for this sinister plan, and its consequences, than Walter. When the plan becomes a bit dangerous and Phyllis sees that she is doomed, she casually and immediately resorts to violence—preparing to murder Walter and carry on with her shady deal to get hold of the insurance money of her husband. It is at this moment, when Phyllis, as a femme fatale, falls into the world of violence, where the antipathy and conflict between the sexes shows itself (Kaplan, 1998). The movie provides an image of the overwhelming obstacle in the relationship between the sexes, enabling the audience to understand that such relationship is characterised by irreconcilable need and yearning and cannot survive or accomplish something. Any unspoken agreement between Walter and Phyllis is depicted to be a total daydream. In essence, the movie exploits the audiences’ perceptions of an inherent harmony between femininity and masculinity to justify the characters and the sexual harmony between them. It also creates the conflict in the plot as the audiences find out that this harmony was produced by the femme fatale (Copjec, 1993). Phyllis has callously weighed all the alternatives and, by planning to murder Walter, is executing the next action she believes is needed in her plan. Because she is completely self-centred and ruthless, the movie stresses, she is capable of acting violently. Therefore, the movie portrays her as extremely different from the typical woman in the sense that she unavoidably becomes violent. This separation of the femme fatale from the typical female masks the resentment that the violence of the femme fatale brings about (Armstrong, 2013). Simply put, if women can distance her from the typical female, then they can defend themselves from the ordeal that she embodies. Therefore, within feminist critique, the femme fatale has surfaced as an essentially volatile character. Not merely will she not permit herself to be controlled by the men who get seduced by her allure, but also the role she plays in a particular text resists being rigid (Kaplan, 1998). In a similar way that she will not take on an unambiguous role in the fantasy being of the noir protagonist, no particular explanation can be given to the uproar brought about by her powerful feminine ability. Mary Anne Doane (1991) recognises the reality that the femme fatale is often proclaimed to be a representation of evil, and chastised or murdered, as a “desperate reassertion of control on the part of the threatened male subject” (p. 2). Her talent to lure the noir protagonist into performing actions that damage or demoralise his self-concept reveals a fundamental weakness of masculinity. Therefore, Doane (1991) argues that the femme fatale must not be interpreted as a modern-day female protagonist, gifted with a strong willpower, but instead as a “symptom of male fears about feminism” (p. 2). However, in view of the deceitful way wherein Wilder depicts an ideal femme fatale in the persona of Phyllis, it is reasonable to argue against Doane’s claims. The femme fatale has solidly defended her status within society’s image stock exactly because she obliges the audience to judge whether she behaves as a strong modern-day character or is merely to be interpreted as the manifestation of an unconscious fatal desire, in fact, whether the audience were to see her as a self-determining character or only as an expression of masculine fear or weakness (Doane, 1991). Since she has no permanent position and no clear importance in the stories of early films noir, a movie like Double Indemnity can be viewed either as a male-chauvinist frightening situation—Walter’s story of how he was seduced by a wicked woman—that raises the status of a demoralised masculinity, or as a satirical demonization of these masculine fears that reveals to the audience that the noir male protagonist merely intends to take advantage of the femme fatale and will incriminate her and blame everything to her (Neroni, 2005; Doane, 1991). In fact, as observed by Elizabeth Cowie, the femme fatale has become “a catchphrase for the danger of sexual difference and the demands and risks desire poses for the man. The male hero often knowingly submits himself to the ‘spider-woman’—as Neff does in Double Indemnity—for it is precisely her dangerous sexuality that he desires, so that it is ultimately his own perverse desire that is his downfall” (Copjec, 1993, p. 125). Through a deeper analysis of the issue of femininity in Wilder’s Double Indemnity, one will understand the mechanism underlying the relationship between sexes, particularly with regard to the issues of desire, power, and self-interest. The power struggle between the femme fatale and the noir lover is implicit, the desire of each character hidden in order to fulfil their self-interest. At first there is sexual harmony or compatibility, but as the narrative progresses the audience becomes aware that there is actually a tension, antipathy, and conflict between the femme fatale and the noir hero. References Allyn, J. (1978) “Double Indemnity: A Policy that Paid Off”, Literature/Film Quarterly, 6(2), 116+ Armstrong, R., 2013. Lady in the Dark, The Film Journal, [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 June 2013]. Copjec, J. (1993) Shades of Noir: A Reader. New York: Verso. Doane, M.A. (1991) Femme fatales: feminism, film studies and psychoanalysis. London: Routledge. Kaplan, E.A. (1998) Women in film noir. London: British Film Institute. Neroni, H. (2005) Suny Series in Feminist Criticism and Theory: Violent Woman: Femininity, Narrative, and Violence in Contemporary American Cinema. New York: SUNY Press. Read More