Femme Fatale

"I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way." - Jessica Rabbit
"when i'm good, i'm very good. But when i'm bad i'm even better." - Mae West

Iv been looking into the female characters though out time and found that the vamp type characters are best refered to as Femme Fatale. Iv looked into this and found the sexuality of the characters is a very strong element of there personality. I found a poll on http://www.retrocrush.com/toons this gives the top 50 sexiest cartoon babes. At number one is Jessica Rabbit. She is a voluptuous femme fatale fratureing in the 1988 film "Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?".

Iv also put together a list of characteristics of a femme fatale:

Stockings
Cigeret holder
long coats / dresses
large bust
long legs
small waste
Martine
Red lipstick
Dark or red long hair
Danguras
confused
conflicted
not quite innocent
heartless vanp
lust
sexual drive
deadly woman

"A key element to this strenghth is her sexual forthrightmess. The femme fatale is not passive when it comes to desire. She takes action to get what - and whom - she wants with a directness and aggression previously reserved for male players. As a result she is sometimes lablelled a "predator" despite acting no differently from accepted male norms." - What is this thing called film noir, anyway? by Roger Westcombe 2003 (http://www.bighousefilm.com/noir_intro.htm - 28/09/05)

Books:

ISBN 0195056523
"Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of feminine evil in Fin-De-Siecle culture"

ISBN 0805055495
"Evil sisters: The threat of female sexuality in Twentieth - Centry Cultutre.

ISBN 0345303253
"Who censored Roger Rabbit?"
Gary Wolf

ISBN
"Who P-p-plugged Rodger Rabbit?; A Hare-Raising Mystery"
Gary Wolf

Films:

Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese
(1976)

Notes:

• otherworldly feel of a waking dream
• characters as mirrors for the audience's psychological fears & desires