Independent article on The Last Seduction
AV Club article
The Last Seduction embodies the rampant materialism of the 1980s - both through its representation of women in the form of Bridget Gregory and in its men in the form of Clay - her one-time husband. She dresses in the classic 80s/early 90s style of large shoulder pads, long dark coat and with the heels denoting an essential femininity that separates her from the second-wave feminists of the 1960s. Here we have all the power of the hungry capitalist mixed with the seductiveness of a woman fully aware of her ability to manipulate through the promise of sex. But in this case it is the woman who uses the male - and here we have another zeitgeist of the late 80s - the 'new man'; personified by the hapless 'Mike'.
Mike is desperate to leave Beston and hit the big city, and Bridgit is his passport. He is full of the adopted 'new man' viewpoints of the time; not to act like his sports bar friends who are after one thing. No, he wants to show her he is different, considerate, caring; which is exactly what Bridgit will use to her advantage; she even plays his game when he asks if she's been hurt - at last he's getting somewhere - he thinks - but all she does is respond 'will that do?' To which his reply is 'f - you! - and her response? 'Exactly - 8pm'. The tables are reversed and we are in a world where the traditional roles of the 1950s-1970s male - female relationships no longer count. Mike is stuck in small town America and is struggling to catch up; when he goes to the big bad city it eats him alive and he winds up in jail - probably with a life sentence. A true victim of the late 80s.
The teenage angst of the 80s/90s were well documented with films such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Donnie Darko; but it is films such as Wall Street, American Psycho and The Last Seduction that expose the hidden, distasteful underbelly of a greedy, unfettered capitalism that allowed monsters to thrive. Bridgit is one such, but it's great to watch this character in action.
No comments:
Post a Comment