Fatal Attraction

Since its famed introduction of the “boiled bunny,” Fatal Attraction (1987) established itself as one of American cinema’s most controversial films. Fatal Attraction surveys the film′s formal features and its ideological impact, paying special attention to the film’s signature mix of sexuality, fear, and family values. This new book in the Wiley–Blackwell Series on Film and Television includes detailed breakdowns of the formal techniques the film employs to create suspense, such as turning ordinary household objects into agents of terror, consideration of the film’s mixed–genre status as a thriller, melodrama, horror picture, and film noir, explanation and analysis of the cultural storm ignited by the film, especially thanks to its treatment of single career women, investigations into the film’s handling of extramarital sexuality, pregnancy, birth control, and AIDS, and a discussion of the film’s lasting role in shaping American gender politics.

List of Illustrations.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1. “I’m Not Going to be Ignored, Dan”: Narrative Cues for Suspense and Intimidation.

2. American Genres in Fatal Attraction.

3. Career Women of the 1980s: Feminism and the Reception History of Fatal Attraction.

4. Erotic Sexuality, AIDS, and the Case for Staying Faithful.

5. Female Identities and Postfeminist Paradigms.

Notes.

Works Cited.

Index.