The femme fatal character in film noir is an interesting character to analyse in the terms of representation of gender, as it showed a side of women not commonly found in films during the early 1920 to 50's. They represent female empowerment, and strength but also with a darker twist of them being manipulative, black widows. Prior to film nor femme fatal characters didn't exist, instead women would be shown as homemakers, wives- limited not very rounded characters. But this new unconventional character was something new, but simultaneously linked with old legends, classical sirens who lured sailors to their deaths, biblical characters such as jezebel and Lilith-a side of women not usually considered by the male population let alone seen by them on film.
Showing females to be empowered in the films made in the 1920's could be linked to the social change that swept through America during and after the war when women went to work while the men were at war, and continues after the war ended. Everyday American females became like a femme fatal in their strength, independence and determination to succeed. This social change could also be the reason why the femme fatal character is also seen as dangerous, manipulative, and cunning. men returning from war would have wanted life to return to 'normalcy' but instead they realise that while at war the women had gained independence from them, this would have caused tensions so as a way of getting back at females man film director started to show them as being like black widows, spinning webs of lies to men to trap and kill them. Therefore showing that femme fatale characters have both positive and negative characteristics.
Femme fatales are first introduced to males as being the classic beauty, naïve to the world and in need of a 'hero' this is part of their allure that reels in the detective in the film. They are usually beautiful, wearing the latest high fashion clothing and quite often speak with a upper crust English accent. These attributes all add to the audiences opinion of the femme fatale, they make her appear intelligent, classy and almost too good for the detective. They're often spoken to in a patronising way, being referred to as 'sweet heart' or 'darling' by the detective in the film, which was language considered acceptable at the time. This innocent persona is usually seen through quite easily, revealing the femme fatale to be dangerous, selfish, cunning and manipulative.
The original femme fatale from films such as 'the Maltese falcon' and 'Jigsaw' isn't often seen in everyday films as they often portray women as being sexually objectified by men. They're too outdated for modern women who have such better social rights, equal to men in comparison to women in the 1920's. In modern film noir, the femme fatale is usually seen to be stronger, not being dependant on males. An example of a strong modern day femme fatale would be Selina Kyle from Batman. These changes to a femme fatale came about with changes in society, he growth of feminism and gender equality. As members of feminist groups found the attributes of a femme fatale to be sexist, they also had problems with the stereotypical doomed ending that the femme fatale always faced. They never have a happy ending, they either get caught or die.
In my opening sequence I don't have a femme fatale, as I'm not making a classic film noir sequence My opening sequence is a thriller, with a neo-noir flare. I do however have a female character who is the victim of my serial killer. This doomed lifespan mirrors that of a femme fatale as in film noir they are always doomed to either die or go to jail. The reason in classic film noir that the femme fatale where doomed was to make the audience see that crime isn't the right answer, and that good always conquers evil. The reason I decided to not have a femme fatale in my opening sequence was that although a modern day femme fatale character can be created I dislike the main focus and role one has to play- the deceptive and manipulative woman who uses sex and beauty as a way to distract and get along in life. The character also does not easily fit into my genre of a thriller. Instead I have a male serial killer as the protagonist, although this part of my narrative isn't seen in my opening sequence.
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