Carmen who was the heroine in the opera, Carmen, written by Vigée, tried to steal the heart of Don-jose who was inattentive to Carmen. As she stole, she left him like a bird. He was the right-minded soldier, but he made desperate effort to change Carmen’s mind. Don-jose ran away from the army, became the brigand and he even killed people. Finally Don-jose ruined himself because of her. Carmen is a typical example of femme fatale who attracts men through her magnetism. Nowdays, fatale catches on splendidly with people that beautiful women become the main topic frequently in TV or books as well as operas, and with this trend, in Korea, the new word is coming out, homme fatale.
Deadly, She Could Ruin You
Femme fatale is a French compound literally meaning “deadly woman.” She is a negative and fatalistic woman who has unavoidable charm which attracts men and ruins them, finally. Although she doesn’t intend to attract, she is too beautiful to avoid the serious influence to others. Femme fatales’ history began from old times and they also appeared in the ancient Greek myths. The witch, Circe who was born between the sun god, Helios and Oceanus’ daughter, Persa is a popular example. She was femme fatale who attract men through her beauty and magic and she lived with beasts, which people had become by her magic, in Aiaie, the legendary island. Odysseus met Circe during his sailing and his men lost their heart to Circe’s beauty. Unfortunately they drunk the potion from Circe and became
The beautiful and intelligent women began to use and make on purpose in earnest with the word femme fatale from World War II. World War II destroyed the previous value and led to the fracture in a male-dominated society in the United States. Commonly war is the man’s violent world which brings the agony to women and the old, but World War II brought other positive results to women. While men went to the war, women had to do jobs instead of men, and finally they could have the opportunities to appeal their voice and desires. In the battlefield, men worried about betrayal of their women in their hometowns. And actually, when they came back to their hometown, they found that women were not obedient to men and they began to feel uneasy to them. Men thought that these women caused family breakdown and threatened the traditional values. From then, they called the women femme fatales and made a negative image of them. For example, the blond was considered stupid. They used it in the media such as film noir.
Warning, Escape from Her
From the old times, these women have had something in common. From Greek myths to history and literature, the women have been described negatively and their history has been hidden. Like Pandora, they were independent and not perfect. It can be found in film noir’s fundamental structure. The man in the film had lived with no visible scar until he met a femme fatale. After he fell in love with woman, man began to desire money and woman and in the result, he could get neither of them and failed. In this way, these women have been named in many kinds of the cultures and influenced on their history but they have taken a negative image and people kept stressing the need for constant vigilance against these women. Thus, the negative image of women was operated and exaggerated.
Why have men made the women to have a negative image and criticized it? According to the thesis, men thought women were objects to fill their desire in the past. However, unlike men’s expectations, women became overwhelmingly independent, not objects for men. Men were not able to grasp women and women became vague unpredictable people to men. To men, naturally, femme fatale was regarded as capricious and defective. In the process that a boy becomes an adult, Freud said, for an unstable boy the most dangerous threat is the desire for woman and uncontrolled emotion. Through the theory, the media showed the men who couldn’t control their mind and failed because of women, and it delivered the message, “To become mature, escape from woman.” Also, it criticized women’s defiant attitude and they awakened women to the danger of changing to soften their rebelliousness on purpose.
With this, to make the palmy days of kind girls, men also showed the image of mild woman which could not be the threat to men in media such as in the movie The Seven Year Itch. Marilyn Monroe is in the leading role and women became mild, finally. In Korea there were the women who made their own voice with women’s moving a stepping up. However, they also showed negatively because Korean culture had regarded obedient woman like yeolnyeo* as a good model. For example, in the dramas Free Wife (1956) and Fire Butterfly (1965), the women became the wicked women although they were beautiful and smart. On the other hand, the obedient women took the main roles and had good results. In sum, femme fatale was the operated images of women by men who feel threat from women and wanted to make the obedient women for them, not to praise their beauty.
Her Beautifulness,
No Need to Avoid
However, in Korea, femme fatale is different from the old one. Still there is the image of women who attract and ruin men through their beauty. Now people blame femme fatale but they do not reject the attitude of femme fatale any more. The staff in SBS Drama analysed, “The audience has said, ‘She is too mean!’ but they also have gotten vicarious satisfaction from femme fatale.” In short, femme fatale became the cool, awesome image, not the bad, denied image. Proving that, women celebrities are using the image of femme fatale to change. The number of women who develop their lives themselves and people who want to be like them is growing. Eventually, femme fatale becomes the modern feminist.
As this trend of fatale has spread to men, the word, homme fatale is coming out. Similar to femme fatale, it means handsome men who attract women and ruin her because of their charm. It meant Casanova or a bad guy in the old days, but nowadays, homme fatale is not just a bad guy. The date coach in DUO**, Lee Myung gil defined homme fatale as the man who has confidence, various abilities that befit his confidence, and comprehension about women’s minds. Because of their sensitiveness, they began to get love from women, which is different from the reason which made women love homme fatale in old times.
While homme fatale meant the man who was powerful and violent in the old days, now, homme fatale has charisma, but people began to pay attention to the hidden side of him such as his dark experience and loneliness. Women lose their mind because of his weakness, and it awakens the mother’s instinctive love from women. In fact, Gu Junpyo who was the main character in the drama, Boys over Flowers got a big suc
This trend also has a relationship with women’s moving up in social standing. The psychologist, Kim Tae-hyung said, “Women who live in the new-femme-fatale generation have lived seeing the change that their fathers don’t have power than mothers. They thought they could rescue the bad guys through their love.” Thus, women who occupy a high position, different from the example of femme fatale, regard homme fatale as the existence which could be looked after. Therefore, instead of homme fatale, that is good or bad, it means an object to love.
However, the changes toward fatale can’t be seen as merely positive. Satisfying bad betrayal and the love to a bad man can’t be the good answers. Kim pointed out, “The mind which is attracted by homme fatal or femme fatal can’t be considered a healthy mind, and the process and end also are not healthy.” The desires to fatale, which started with the self-conceit or distorted minds, represent the modern people’s unstable mental condition.
t Korea is falling in love with fatale.
The conflict between men and women has continued since women opposed the traditional women, and had the power more than men. Femme fatale is the obvious example which shows the conflict clearly. However, it could be the good evidence of resolving the conflict that femme fatal begins to construe positively and homme fatale who has softness as well as charisma got love from women. On the other hand, to the reinterpretation of femme fatale and the birth of homme fatale, some people said that it is just a trend. One producer of dramas said, “Trends change easily. People are certain to grow tired of the old images which have continued. The vague understanding of fatale is the result which makes people satisfied.” Whether it is the trend or the evidence of resolving a conflict, it can’t be denied tha
* Delilah is one of several dangerous temptresses in the Hebrew Bible.
** Empress Dowager Cixi was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908.
*** Hwangin-I is known by her gisaeng, a Korean woman entertainer name Myeongwol(literally bright moon), is one of the most famous gisaeng of the Joseon Dynasty
* 烈女, A Woman of Chaste Reputation
4 Yoon Changsoo, Homme Fatale, Be Careful , Seoul News, 2009.8.29
* * the marriage bureau in Korea
5 Same as foot note 4
6 Ahn Jinyong, Homme Fatale Is Coming Out , Hankooki, 2010.1.12
7 Kim Tae Hyung, Homme Fatale , Hankooki, 2010.5.2
8 Same as footnote 7
