The Femme Fatale

Film Noir Films often represent women in a negative way, something that always bothered me was that the portrayal of women was that of what men think of women. I have found an interesting article written by John Blaser that talks about the exact opposite. In the article titled "Film Noir's Progressive Portrayal of Women" he states that because of the negative stereotypes placed on women through the genre we are able to see the barriers that society has placed on women.
"But a closer look at film noir suggests an opposite interpretation. Even when it depicts women as dangerous and worthy of destruction, film noir also shows that women are confined by the roles traditionally open to them - that their destructive struggle for independence is a response to the restrictions that men place on them."
The article then goes on to give example of women displaying this behavior. I think his idea is an interesting one, but perhaps I'd accept this idea more coming from a woman.