Devious Barbie

Hello from 'bama!

So I have been in the car for about 11 hours and still have another 7 to go, so I apologize if this blog post is not prime.

Barbara Stanwyk's character in Film Noir is presented as a mischievous, beautiful, yet slightly wicked woman. Every aspect of the film works to add to this interesting persona of her character. She characterizes extremely well as an actress, but the effects added by the film team contribute greatly to how she is presented. Her hair and makeup is very Marilyn Monroe, giving her the archetypal "sexy" look. The camera works to display her from flattering angles to add to her gorgeous, yet somehow kinda "off," character. The lighting works to show her features, but casts shadows on her as well to show her hidden personality. All of these contribute to the intent of the producers: to present Barbara as a beautiful, cunning, tricky woman. The deviousness of women was an extremely popular theme in the 1940's and is still seen today.
"Good" and "likeable" are completely different things. "Good" or "morale" implies that Barbara's character adheres to what is socially acceptable and morally correct -- a list I'm pretty sure murder is universally excluded from. However, "likeable" is just one's emotional connection to a character. The producers and Barbara herself do an outstanding job regarding these two ideas. It is clear from almost the minute Barbara's character is introduced that she is not a good/moral person. Nevertheless, the audience is inclined to like her from the beginning as well(at least I did..). We tend to side with her, even though we know we shouldn't since we know her intentions are morally evil.
From the minute Barbara walks out in her skimpy sunbathing towel to meet Fred MacMurray's character, we immediately conclude the way she will interact with him. She doesn't let us down, either. Barbara's character knows just how to manipulate Fred's, and she does it beautifully. She knows what she wants and goes about it carefully. When she feels she has overstepped her boundaries and scared off Fred's character, she immediately covers it with seduction and light-hearted flirting. Fred miraculously seems to forget his moral standards whenever she does this. This technique allows her to control Fred's character and end up getting him to agree to help her achieve her goal and kill her husband for his money.
This psychopathic characterization for Barbara displays how women were viewed in the 1940's. Women were seen as beautiful, sexual, and inferior to men, yet mischievous, clever, and a threat to men. These two ideas do not seem to make any sense to me. How can you objectify a woman, thinking she is less of a person than you, yet be threatened by her very existence and remarkable intellect? It seems that hints of this misconstrued idea of women is still present in today's society. You do not have to look far to see how women are displayed as meat for the animalistic man. We see how women were portrayed during this time period and verbalize it as awful, yet we poke fun at the same inferiority of women. So what progress have we made at all?

I applaud Barbara's character immensely: I definitely believe that women should use their wit to achieve what they want(hopefully with good intentions rather than to commit crimes). It's a skill most women are born with and have been using for ages. However, this does not mean that women are evil creatures to be approached with trepidation. I see it as women using their remarkable, biological genius to achieve their goals. Yes, there are "bad nuts" of every gender, race, religion, sexuality, etc., but these examples should not be presented as a generalization. As an actress, people tend to ask me why I'm so fond of the "bad girl" characters. Truth is, I admire their cunning, devious selves. They're more complex, challenging to understand, and more fun. 

I think a little deviousness is good.