ABSTRACT

This article examines the transformation of the femme fatale figure from classic noir to neo-noir film and to contemporary television. Exploring the reasons for this transformation and its implications yields fresh revelations about the new femme fatale. Using Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) as the focal point, we examine the intertextual allusions to this classic in two postmodern neo-noir films – Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981) and John Dahl’s The Last Seduction (1994) – and in one of Netflix’s earliest original television series, House Of Cards (2013–2018), created by Beau Willimon. In addition, this article queries in what ways these filmic reincarnations offer a revolutionary re-envisioning of the femme fatale figure. Unlike the classic femme fatale, the new femme fatale ‘gets away with murder’, thus posing a monstrous threat to the capitalist and patriarchal economy in which she operates. The subversive potential of these neo-noir films lies in their parodic and witty undercutting of societal norms, especially at the height of today’s #MeToo Movement.

摘要

本文探讨了蛇蝎美人形象从经典黑色电影到新黑色电影和当代电视的转变。探索这种转变的原因及其影响会产生关于新蛇蝎美人的新启示。以比利·怀尔德 (Billy Wilder) 的《双重赔偿》( Double Indemnity ) (1944) 为焦点，我们研究了两部后现代新黑色电影——劳伦斯·卡斯丹 (Lawrence Kasdan) 的《身体热》( Body Heat ) (1981) 和约翰·达尔 (John Dahl) 的《最后的诱惑》( The Last Seduction ) (1994)——以及其中一部中对这部经典作品的互文典故。 Netflix 最早的原创电视剧《纸牌屋》（2013-2018），由博·威利蒙创作。此外，本文还探讨了这些电影转世以何种方式对蛇蝎美人形象进行了革命性的重新构想。与经典的蛇蝎美人不同，新蛇蝎美人“逍遥法外”，因此对她所在的资本主义和父权制经济构成了巨大的威胁。这些新黑色电影的颠覆性潜力在于它们对社会规范的嘲讽和诙谐削弱，尤其是在当今#MeToo 运动的高峰期。