Joaquim da Silva Fontes, Significação e Estabilidade do Género no ...

intelligent and powerful, if destructively so, and derive power, not weakness, from
their sexuality. (Place 1998:47)
Many feminists, such as Christine Gledhill, affirm that the reaction of American
women to the war reflected a frustration with traditional gender roles and that film noir
portrayed many of its females in a depreciative way. These approaches are established on
the basis of film noir being a male genre, picturing a male field of action and control, where
female agency is articulated via transgressive desire. Still, even though they might be seen
as scapegoats for the problems in society, these women changed their place in society and
in the case of the femme fatale depicted in noirs she represents the ultimate insidious
misogynistic fantasy. Other noir productions offer counterpoints which work in opposition
to the femme fatale: the innocent-looking housewife who sees her role as a support and
consolation for her man. As seen before, in Pitfall, John Forbes (Dick Powell), fed up with
the routine of his existence, craves excitement in his ordinary everyday life away from his
wife and high school sweetheart, Sue Forbes, (Jane Wyatt), and gets involved with model
Mona Stevens (Lizabeth Scott). Again, Jane Wyatt provides the image of the stereotypical
wife and mother (fig. 34) and a visual contrast to Lizabeth Scott in a reversal of the classic
“dark” women in film noir.
Figure 34. Pitfall
Writing a misleading report of an embezzlement case as a pretext for spending some
time with the sultry blonde, the couple of the film finds themselves stalked and threatened
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