Double Indemnity Essay - How is Gender Represented?

Gender in Double Indemnity

- "The noir genre is built out of misogyny. The irrational, the corrupt, and the perverse - the elements that give noir its air of brooding, anxious despair - all cluster around, and creep out of, the femme fatale, whose sexuality and malice poison not only the men she targets for destruction, but the entire world". 

Double Indemnity (1944) is a classic example of the infamous film noir style, encompassing corruption, betrayal, deceit, criminality, and the powers of sexuality through a post-war pessimistic lens. The contents in this film project views of  1940s society, such as the themes on women, gender, and how this relates to the femme fatale archetype, of which I will be focusing, through an ultimately misogynistic genre. This idea was sparked from an article by Noah Berlatsky, suggesting that film noir "is built out of misogyny...the elements that give noir its air of brooding despair...creep out of the femme fatale, whose sexuality...poison not only the men she targets...but the entire world". This ambiguous quote has truth to it; the femme Fatale's purpose in film noir is to ruin the men she chooses to know, seduce the flawed protagonist to reach a personal goal, usually wealth, and obtain this goal through manipulated crime. In relation to Double Indemnity's narrative, the femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson, plots to kill her wealthy husband, Dietrichson, in order to receive an insurance claim; she must convince the insurance salesman protagonist Walter Neff to commit the deed as her societal role as a woman ultimately doesn't allow her to be violent - in order to succeed in a misogynistic world, she uses the only thing that grants her power - her sexuality - and this is established at her introduction. 

As the protagonist, Walter Neff, arrives at the wealthy Dietrichson household to discuss the insurance policies of the company he works for, the femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson, emerges into the frame behind a stair railing. As the narrative is told through Neff's perspective, the angle is low to frame Phyllis high, suggesting she dominates the scene as she dominates Neff's gaze and thus the spectator. In addition, she is clothed in a towel which immediately pushes her sexuality as a defining and highlighted part of her character, and thus the spectator understands her as the femme fatale of the narrative. This presentation pushes the idea that apparent female sexuality is a sign of deceit and danger to the spectator, as this is the tool that she uses to bring destruction onto the men she "targets". Therefore, it is used to Phyllis' advantage, suggesting truth to the article's statement in that her "sexuality poisons the men she targets", for Neff is entranced and led into her control which is the catalyst for his downfall. Ultimately, as the film noir male protagonist is usually depicted, Neff is a weak man who is yet capable of acknowledging his flaws during his narrated confession at the opening: 'and I didn't get the money, and I didn't get the woman' but is ignorant to them during the flashbacks. However, this is a product of the femme Fatales manipulation, and a most likely purposeful auteur choice that highlights Neff's unknowing weakness to Phyllis, solidifying her as the villain who deceived the (arguable) hero to the spectator from the start. The aesthetic composition of this POV shot places the railing as a literal barrier between Neff and Phyllis, and metaphorically in the same sense as Phyllis is aware of her sexuality and knows that Neff must work to have access to it. This symbolically places control with Phyllis, but ultimately objectifies her; the railing acting as a barrier shows she is out of Neff's reach and therefore out of his control, but it also places Phyllis as a kind of object meant to be looked at from the use of the low angle, making her seem worshippable as an almost deity - there have been no displays of admirable qualities of character, so it is clear what this shot serves as to the spectator; a sexual object. Similarly, like this presentation of Phyllis's' sexuality, which by itself manipulates Neff into falling for her, the lighting also plays a part in her deceit. Her blonde head is top-lit, which is a symbolic reference to innocence, purity, and goodness. Therefore this juxtaposition of appearance to her character qualities and motives presents that the auteur chooses to make Neff's naivety seem plausible for the spectator, which is effective in keeping the film cohesive before her true intentions are revealed. 

Although Phyllis is presented to have more power, they are mostly paired as equals through the cinematography, such as in the fourth scene, where there is a balanced OTS shot, bringing the two together while they talk. The camera is often complicit with her seduction by making her seem small, suggesting a lesser power dynamic and innocence. Another example of Phyllis' objectification is during the tracking shot of her feet as she walks down the stairs, to then pan upwards, revealing the parts of her body once concealed in now more fitted clothing, until it rests on her face. This suggests that the camera is taking part in this objectification and furthers the spectators view on the characters' relationship; there are sexual undertones. Although, Phyllis takes part in this objectification; she takes control by speaking first and looks at herself in a nearby mirror, establishing to the audience that she chooses to take part in the male gaze upon her and therefore that she is aware of her power. Considering Neff's attitude towards the first woman shown in this scene - the older maid - to be assertive, condescending, and dismissive, indicates that his respect for women leans toward those who offer overt femininity which suggests the film either condones this behaviour and therefore supports the notion that film noir is misogynistic, or highlights it as a flaw of the male protagonist to be interpreted by the spectator. 

In Double Indemnity the only female characters are presented in two distinct categories; the seductive femme fatale, Phyllis, and her modest young step-daughter, Lola Dietrichson, who is portrayed to be an antidote to the Fatales 'poison', suggesting at one point while Neff is becoming suspicious of Phyllis' intentions towards him, that Lola is the narrative 'princess' (Vladimir Propp) - these women are ultimately placed against the weak male protagonist,  Neff. Although this representation of the female gender is narrow, they both subvert the expectations of the spectator in the context of the 1940s setting. Despite Lola's perceived innocence and presentation of 'perfect' femininity through her modest clothing, soft lighting, and polite manner, she disobeys her father at her first introduction by lying to him about her plans for a night out, thus establishing the film to be true to its misogynistic messaging about women; at the core they are deceitful. This attitude is likely credited to the 1940s wartime period; the traditional role of women was changing, they had the opportunity to work in male-dominated fields from their absence. This led to women having a wide-scale and rapid redefinition of their place within culture, and their removal from such jobs in the post-war period sparked a power struggle between the sexes, which ultimately is the running motif in Double Indemnity. For example, a scene that shows this well is at Phyllis' and Neff's introduction, therefore, the oppositions of the two female characters in Double Indemnity show the traditional, and mostly preferred, role of the maternal woman versus the sexual and dark antithesis; Lola is rewarded with her outspoken 'hot-headed' boyfriend Zuchetti's freedom from being framed for Neff's murder, whereas Phyllis is punished by being shot by the man she seduced, Neff, and her cycle of crime is ended. Although Neff is also punished by death, as a favourable ending for the 1940s society, for his murder of Phyllis' ex-husband Dietrichson, he has still redeemed his actions by the end of the film by choosing to turn himself in and avoids imprisonment through a relatively comfortable death. He is beside his faithful friend and narrative mentor/donor, Keyes, who grants him a final wish for a cigarette, closing the film ambiguously as sirens are heard in the distance which ultimately gives control back to him. Despite Neff's punishment shown, the final shots are tragically heroic for the spectator, and the villainous femme fatale is given no alternative or reasoning for her behaviour, and her control is mercilessly taken away. The film potentially offers two paths for its 1940s female viewers: Will they choose Lola's modest, girlish, and maternal role by looking out for her father and being admirably suspicious of Phyllis' motives, as well as providing solace for Neff  (therefore she is well-liked and respected by both the spectator and male characters), or should the viewer be led by the destructive character of Phyllis who uses her sexuality and abandons the traditional role in favour of corruption, of which leads a trail of betrayal and heartbroken men? 

Phyllis' example of contributing to the "irrational, corrupt, and perverse" mood of the film noir genre is shown plainly to the spectator. For example, she uses her traditional view of femininity to her advantage by playing into Neff's pity, earning his sympathy, as she claims to be in an abusive marriage - she is depicted as a woman who is struggling and longs to break free by having her husband murdered. The film unravels her true identity in the sadistic climax of the film. Once she has grasped  Neff, letting him take full control of the murder, there is a defining point in her character that fully shows the spectator her true apathy for others, specifically her husband (which morally one should be lovingly devoted to) who she convinces Neff to murder. As Neff strangles Dietrichson out of hiding in the back of the moving car, there is a merciless close-up of Phyllis's face while the murder takes place. She continues to drive, evoking a strong performance from Barbara Stanwyck, with a smiling facial expression and lack of tension in her eyes - a strong indicator of emotion. Although a visible murder was prohibited by the Hays code, this is effective for the film as it shows a true shift in Phyllis' character and shows the spectator her true identity and lack of human remorse, disregarding both the murdered and Lola of whom she murdered her mother before marrying into Dietrichson's wealth.

The statement, "... whose sexuality and malice poison not only the men she targets for destruction, but the entire world" truthfully shows the misogynistic messaging of film noir as a genre. Overall, the pessimism shown in the aesthetics and hard-boiled dialogue comes from a 'noirish' world of crime, betrayal, and hopelessness but these themes are only directly shown to come from women - not just the femme fatale - suggesting that this world has been shaped in this way by these deceitful women, which in parallel to the wartime context and newfound power of women, provides an allegory for. Ironically, the absence of men in this period meant that films were seen mostly by women. The male perspective of this film subverts the expectations of its spectator response, as most women subjected to it found the femme fatale an admirable figure, as she had control over herself and her female sexuality that is often objectified by male society. Although she is self-serving, which arguably is the only way a femme fatale can have full control in a misogynistic world, she exudes self-confidence and conforms to societal expectations when it suits her motives, such as appearing small and innocent to Neff, seeming to give him power even though she has control the entire time. 

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