Domesticating the screen goddess

The Lady Eve DVD came this week. And I will name it squishy and it will be mine. It is mine. Ha! It’s *so* good. The pacing, the economy, not a line, not a scene wasted. And although most of the characters are either completely clueless or criminally amoral you love them all.

Even Freud knew better than to analyse a joke so I won’t do that but the film did spark off some thoughts relating to various recent discussions of the dearth of strong female characters on screen. Mainly because Barbara Stanwyck’s character in Eve is in many ways such a shining example of a talented and independent woman, vibrantly and sympathetically portrayed. She runs rings around Henry Fonda’s ‘Hopsy’ for the entire film, she effortlessly out sharps her fellow card sharps whenever she feels it necessary. She decides what she wants and sets out to get it and when it doesn’t work out she just picks herself up to take the most brilliant imaginable revenge. Then chooses to forgive him because he’s just so beautifully dumb but why not? Dumb, beautiful, well-intentioned and rich is a pretty adorable combination in a man. Nevertheless, I have to admit her status as an iconically strong woman is undermined by several factors.

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