The Irresistibility of the Femme Fatale
Of all of the archetypes that exist, the femme fatale is my favourite. Infinitely more interesting than the virgin (although she too has her charm), the femme fatale is the thinking man’s sex symbol. She’s dangerous, she’s dark and she’s no man’s property.
The 1920’s had the vamp but when I think “femme fatale” my mind goes straight to the 1940’s. Ava Gardner in ‘The Killers’, Lauren Bacall in ‘To Have and Have Not’, Ingrid Bergman in ‘Notorious’.. The femme fatale can seduce a man with a look and a word and the wiggle in her walk says she knows what she’s doing. To make her even more delicious, her outer toughness often belies a soft femininity – which is only revealed for the right man. It may sound unconventional but she’s pure romance in my book.
The ’40’s femme fatale gave women the right to choose at a time when a woman’s choices were limited. She had to cop the stigma of a bad reputation of course but isn’t that half the fun? She’s the type of woman I channel the most when I perform and I’m currently working on an act in homage to her that I am very, very excited about.
To finish, I’ll leave you with a You Tube clip, uploaded by Layla Raymanova, of Lauren Bacall and some of her most famous lines. I’ll bet you’ve heard ’em before.
