Cierra Larson
Response 3
Cat People

Irena Dubrovna: Cat Woman Femme Fatale

    Looking at Cat People (1942) from a Freudian perspective, we see Irena as a repressed, hysterical, and somewhat dangerous character. Her persistent paranoia and overwhelming belief in the Serbian legend is what eventually drives her into utter insanity. These ideas reek of sexism, but the film turns these views upside down and makes Irena into a feminist character. From a more feminist perspective, Irena could be seen as a self-sufficient, strong-willed, and nonconformist character: an embodiment of the femme fatale. Irena’s tendency towards wickedness is what makes her interesting, but also what makes her strong; the men in the film treat Irena in a condescending way that makes her underlying power more triumphant; Irena’s only real “threat” in the film is another woman, not a man, which further exemplifies the film’s feminist tendencies.
    Cat People effectively builds suspense and terror related to Irena. This was the first film we viewed in class that actually felt suspenseful. Worland notes the first stalking scene in the film as the most suspenseful scene in the film. The filmmakers cleverly used shadows and contrast to set the “scary” scene. The scene also uses a common horror technique: lack of the shocking object itself. Worland says, “...horror based on suggestion is more effective than most grotesque makeup because it allows fearful impressions to jump from the movie screen into the mind of the individual spectator where his or her particular phobias conjure up visions more disturbing than filmmakers could create” (184). This scene features low growls from an unseen source, and the noticeable disappearance of Irena; it also uses Alice’s quickening footsteps and shorter takes of her brisk walk to create an aura of panic. The audience thus far is not certain of Irena’s transformations, but the scene effectively makes audiences uneasy and forces them to begin to think of Irena as more than a demure, repressed housewife. Irena chooses to stalk Alice each time, and Worland even describes Alice as Irena’s “rival.” The film portrays a feminist view in the implication that the women are the ones doing the fighting and the stalking, while the male characters fulfill minor functions.
    Irena could also be viewed as a femme fatale character because of her interactions with the men in the film. When Oliver realizes that Irena will refuse to kiss him even after they’re married, he suggests she see a psychologist at once. Irena willingly agrees, and lets Oliver make the arrangements. Oliver keeps telling her she can’t continue with these imaginings, and makes her believe that she’s insane. Irena complies with everything Oliver says, since she wants him to love her, but the way he treats her reeks of condescension. Dr. Judd also treats Irena in this way; he is constantly telling her that she has a “psychic need, a desire for death.” He’s essentially telling her what she thinks, even if she doesn’t think it yet. When Dr. Judd kisses her and she becomes a beast, it’s almost as if Irena finally gets her point across: she’s not insane, as Dr. Judd has been insisting, but the victim of a curse. This implies a feminist attitude in the film, because she is a female in power who triumphs over her skeptics.
    Worland notes the femme fatale undertones in Cat People, saying, “Critics have nicknamed Noir’s femme fatale ‘the spider woman,’ for her combination of sexual allure and predatory danger. It is easy to consider the “cat woman” a literal variant of the “spider woman” even though Irena is initially sweetly passive and Oliver. . .appears more naive than desperate” (186). Irena’s “sweet passivity” is part of what makes her so dangerous; she appears innocent, which is why her proclivity for cruelty is so shocking. To conclude, Irena could be easily viewed as a femme fatale character, particularly in the terror she invokes in audiences, her interactions with men, and her notion that women are her real rivals. Though haunted and conflicted, Irena’s secret gives her a confidence and an allure that continuously intrigues audiences.