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

2.1.1.1 Kitchen Ammunition: Aprons, Ice­picks &
Emasculation
At first, Cross seems too blind to see that he is being taken advantage of both by his
own colleagues and his boss, J.J. Hogarth (Russell Hicks) and back at home. With his frilly
apron hung around his neck, he shows moments of great domestic subjugation (fig. 65).
Figure 65. Scarlet Street
From a semiotic point of view, this flowery “noose” works as a perfect signified that traces
the descent of a middle-aged man from his safe and stable existence. When putting it on, it
is almost as if he is condemning himself, as it not only captures Chris Cross and holds him
literally by the neck, but it also works as a kind of a yoke reinforcing his submission and
thus his incarceration. The visual tension that is created when the spectator sees Chris
wearing his apron or holding a huge carving knife constitutes both his entrapment and the
discomforting fear of discovering he might burst out into uncontrollable violence. This
scene reminds us of the supermarket scene from Double Indemnity (fig. 66) which also
works as the private rendezvous place where Neff and Phyllis plan their crime (see p. 144).
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