FATAL ATTRACTION – A FEMINIST CRITICISM
FATAL ATTRACTION – A FEMINIST CRITICISM
INTRODUCTION
When Fatal Attraction was released in the fall of 1987, it quickly became one of the most talked about movies of the decade. It seemed to touch a raw nerve in everyone. It became one of the most hotly-debated films of all time, and it is still discussed by moviegoers, reviewers, sociologists, psychologists, and scholars. The concept of a “fatal attraction” is now part of our modern-day lexicon. To have a “fatal attraction” or be victim of a “fatal attraction” is a popular phrase heard everywhere from Senate hearings to the Dr. Phil show.
Fatal Attraction was made at a time when there appeared to be an anti-feminist backlash – the Reagan era returned to the conservative and that meant rejection of the social changes achieved by the woman’s movement in the previous two decades. Gender politics dominated the discussion and arguments surrounding the movie Fatal Attraction, and for this reason it has become an excellent piece of rhetoric for the utilization of feminist criticism.
PLOT SUMMARY
Fatal Attraction is the story of the traditional, nuclear family endangered by the complications of modern life. The family is ultimately restored and exonerated. The story centers around a conventional American family: Michael Douglas is Dan Gallagher, the hard-working, but very self-centered, husband; Anne Archer is Beth, his stay-at-home, supportive wife; and Ellen is their precocious little girl – they even have a family dog to complete the picture of family bliss. Dad works, Mom stays at home, and they both worship their little daughter.
The sanctity of the Gallagher household becomes jeopardized when Dan has a weekend affair with Alex Porter (Glenn Close). Dan’s little tryst quickly becomes dangerous when Alex discovers she is pregnant and demands that Dan acknowledge his responsibility for her predicament. When Dan refuses, Alex becomes lethal, terrorizing his family and threatening the sacredness of his home. In the end, however, it is Dan’s wife who kills Alex and restores the household, thus allowing for traditional marriage and masculine privilege to be confirmed as the foundation of social harmony.
ANALYSIS OF GENDER IN THE ARTIFACT – WHOSE WORLD VIEW IS PRESENTED? HOW IS GENDER PRESENTED IN THE FILM?
Fatal Attraction as a rhetorical artifact affirms the experiences, values, and powers of men, and it presents woman as the other. The issue of gender is at the forefront of the entire conflict surrounding the movie. The film celebrates the concept of the conventional, nuclear family. It sexualizes and sentimentalizes the traditional wife, while villianizing the supposed feminist who attempts to ruin the patriarchal world of the husband. The message presented is that women who choose a career over family are not only unfeminine, but they are destructive forces that must be destroyed.
Almost immediately it is clear that Dan is not responsible for the outcomes of his affair with Alex. Through verbal and visual manipulation, the film quickly goes from being a tale of a husband’s betrayal of his family to a rant against the sexual, independent woman. The male perspective is in the forefront, and the audience is made to see and feel things from a male perspective.
Fatal Attraction sanctifies the wife and mother who stays at home, while it vilifies the single, career woman. Alex is the antithesis of Beth. Even at the beginning of the movie, Alex is portrayed as being extremely aggressive and predatory. She even has a man’s name. She has a high-powered job and is the only woman who attends the all-male meetings. Alex is highly sexual and alluring. Dan, on the other hand, is portrayed as just an innocent, fun-loving guy who falls into Alex’s trap.
Beth is the picture of the perfect wife and mother. She adapts to Dan’s schedule, throws fabulous dinner parties, and spends time with her daughter. Beth is not, however, desexualized. She strolls around in her sexy underwear and sensually puts on makeup and lotion. Still, her sexuality always goes unfulfilled – interrupted by the dog, the doorbell, or the telephone.
Alex’s dialogue is encased in feminist rhetoric, especially when she demands that Dan accept responsibility for his role in her pregnancy. But she quickly becomes the picture of a hysterical woman, and her hysteria becomes more and more lethal as the movie continues.
The messages in Fatal Attraction are clear. The stay-at-home mother/wife is desirable, while the single-working woman is damaged and wants to destroy the family that she secretly wishes she was a part of.
DISCOVERY OF EFFECTS ON THE AUDIENCE AND HOW THE FILM CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE WOMEN’S LIVES
Fatal Attraction presents the world from a male viewpoint, and this had an enormous effect on the audience. Producers, actors, and director carefully constructed a film that would reflect the male perspective. It did not matter that, statistically speaking, most actual “fatal attractions” are males stalking women. For the sake of the money-making movie industry, the male perspective proved to be the most powerful. The movie’s effect on the audience is apparent and evidenced particularly by the fact that the entire ending of the movie was rewritten by the audience. There were several endings tested: One calls for Alex to slit her own throat while listening to Madame Butterfly. Dan is accused of her murder and sent to jail. The director of the movie, Adrian Lyne, rejected this ending. Instead, he had Dan vindicated when his wife finds a tape recording made by Alex in which she says she will commit suicide. Test viewers didn’t like this ending. By the end of the movie, the viewers hated Alex, and they wanted to see Dan have some retribution against her. Having Beth kill her rival, left a much more satisfying taste in the viewer’s mouth. From the revisions of the movie from start to finish, it is apparent that a film could not be made in which a married man actually shares responsibility with a single working woman for the consequences of their one-night stand.
The audience responded as planned. Shouts of “Kill her!” and “Get that bitch” resounded from theater to theater. Audiences actually applauded when Alex was finally killed. The audience was suitably manipulated and acted accordingly.
Fatal Attraction is a worthwhile artifact to utilize as a model for women in resisting the patriarchal definitions of woman. It also shows that women should reject the appeal of self-destructive artifacts that present a male view of the world as universal. I see difficulties arising, however, when one attempts to definitely state a feminist perspective that is universal. Could it not be argued that if Alex were a true feminist, she would not need anything from Dan? And to ask for anything would only be reaffirming his patriarchal position?
Still, Fatal Attraction can serve as a useful artifact in an attempt to alter the denigrating gender role assigned to women in movies and help them live in new ways. It does so because it is such an easily explorable piece of rhetoric. In almost textbook fashion, it presents a simple model for feminist criticism that allows us to examine, investigate, and critique its content. Anyone who examines the movie can see the manipulation and reject it accordingly.
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