As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a femme fatale. Being drawn to characters that oozed charisma, an air of cruelty and maintaining their femineity, these women where the ones to watch out for. Seen as tempting and a ‘good time’ at first, they lead (mainly) men astray and to their ultimate demise. The femme fatale very rarely got away with her destructive behaviour, usually by being caught out, set up or killed off. Sometimes this character was on a long leash, being held by a man but mostly, she worked for herself and her own selfish gain. But even at the end of all things, she looked amazing and you can’t help but admire her for trying and commend her for succeeding, even if she doesn’t ultimately win.
Born out of film noir, gritty crimes thrillers of the 30s, 40s and 50s, the femme fatale took many shapes. On occasion the femme fatale was always the ‘evil’ women, she could someone who was desperate to get out of a bad situation or someone who comes across as the stereotype and her motives justified. But any shape she took, she was always filled with mystique. The air of mystery and savage streak was why you wanted to be her. She had power, she had a plan and could get what she wanted. But usually by the end of the story, she’s seen as a mad crazy bitch. Thankfully Neo Noir femme fatales are given more depth and reasoning behind their choices and they can get away with much more than the previous femme fatales.
Wanting to be that confident woman that’s able to walk into a room and either steal the scene or slink away mysteriously into the shadows as you please is the ultimate fantasy and goal, besides getting away almost anything. The ability to embody a femme fatale is something I always wanted. The femme fatale is never painted as the hero, maybe the anti-hero if she’s given the chance, but that hasn’t been a dream of mine. I don’t want to be the outright star, but be that someone a younger me would look at and think, ‘wow, she’s so cool’. The femme fatale is admired, even if she’s the villain and that comes with an automatic admiration. There is something so damn cool about not being the ‘good’ one. The femme fatale walks on the outside of life and doesn’t let anyone make her think otherwise.