Cinema’s Femmes Fatales, Females Villains, and ‘Nasty Women’

Not the damsel in distress. Not the desirable woman who will raise your kids and take care of the home.

The “Vamp” (Theda Bara) in “A Fool There Was”, a 1915 silent film drama in which she seduces and ruins a wealthy family man, John Schuyler (Edward José). Public Domain.

The News:

I was reading the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago, and stumbled on an article with this headline: “In Hollywood, It’s the Golden Age of the Creepy Woman” — of course, I read the article!

The article explained how Hollywood’s leading actresses are gravitating toward films with female characters with “sinister vibes and dark secrets”, and provided the following examples:

Tar — a 2022 film starring Cate Blanchett

Eileen — a 2023 film starring Anne Hathaway

May December — also a 2023 film, starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman

With regards to May December — it was nominated for four Golden Globes. Also, I recently noted that two New York Times movie critics are picking it to be nominated by the Academy for the Best Picture category.

History Behind News:

Did you know, that before the movie industry moved out West and Hollywood established itself as the dream factory, the film industry was very experimental and so much more open to women…