Def Panther's Hysteria.

The Hysteria of Cat People

            While watching Cat People I couldn’t help but think of what Worland said about the sexual repression in this film. His words and this film made me think of the medial illness known as female hysteria, which is also known as sexual frustration. Irena knew that she could not unleash her inner animal with Oliver in the bedroom or else she’ll literally kill him. Her inner self as a lot of symbolism ranging from sexual orientation, an animal, lust, and many other things. As a result she shuts herself away and this creates even more problems when she suspects that her husband having an affair with his coworker Alice. While having these thoughts she decides to no longer seek help and give into her inner animal and exact revenge on her competition showing that she is lioness that she idealizes so much. However what Irena doesn’t know is that she is becoming more and more of her spirit animal, a black panther, and as a result she becomes the thing she always tried to fight. She became the beast she always knew she could be and watches Alice the same way the panther watched Irena. Irena’s inner animal is the representation of sexual frustration and when she transform she goes into a state of hysteria. Throughout the film Both Irena and Alice fight their hysteria, Irene with herself and Alice against the physical embodiment of Irena’s hysteria.

            The treatment for female hysteria is quite strange because the well-known procedure often resulted in the doctors stimulated the female genitalia. Since female hysteria is sexual frustration it makes sense to have Irena’s psychiatrist try to cure it. When Dr. Louis Judd and Irena confront each other at the end he ties to seduce her. He believed that he was the one, not her husband, who could release Irena from her illness. However as we see, Irena turns on the Doctor after he kisses her and her hysteria, or inner animal, takes over and as a result kills the man that believed he could save her.

            Alice on the other hand was able to fight off the hysteria she had because Oliver, and Oliver’s cross, were by her side when she confronted it. What was interesting was the addition of the theme of Christianity and an affair between two people. Showing the affair of these two people fighting off a person’s inner demons seemed a bit Ironic in the sense an affair is usually looked down upon in that religion. But with the power of Christ, Oliver and Alice received their salvation and were able to fight off the demon that was threating their love. However because Oliver fell in love with Alice this caused Irena to become even more frustrated and give in to her Hysteria. Alice was presented as “the new woman” compared to Irena who was a foreign born citizen who lived by herself.

            In the end Irena dies after being stabbed by the doctor and being attacked by the Black Panther she let lose. Irena is found on the ground and in this shot Oliver and Alice are literally looking down at Irena. This shot is a bit ironic in the sense that throughout the whole entire film both of these characters looked down on Irena. Both Alice and Oliver didn’t believe in Irena’s superstition which almost leads to their deaths.  However, it’s only because Alice was the new woman that she able to fight off her hysteria and get the man in the end.  It’s unfortunate of Irena’s character cause all she wanted was to be happy with Oliver and she realized the only way he could be happy is  if she is no longer in his life.