Fatal Attraction: Women are the real protectors of the home.
Last night, I watched the 1987 film Fatal Attraction. I went into it wanting to watch a classic thriller for the first time, and I came out with my daily confirmation that 4B is the smartest choice for me.
(If you’re familiar with this movie, the rest will make sense. If you haven’t seen it and don’t want the ending spoiled, you can stop here.)
By the end, I was so mad at Dan. He caused this mess for a fling with no thought of the consequences for his wife and daughter. Then at the end, he couldn’t even kill Alex himself. Beth had to finish the job and protect her family, mind you, while freshly recovering from the car accident she got in looking for their child who was kidnapped by his mistress!
I hated knowing that Beth likely stayed with Dan too, based on them hugging the end. But the reality of her life is that she was a homemaker and mom of a young child, likely had little to no resources of her own, and now she’s absolutely traumatized by having to shoot her husband’s murderously obsessive, pregnant mistress down in her own home... I’m sure she felt staying was her best option at the time.
Typical patriarchal movie with all the usual tropes, including a man calling his wife “ball and chain” to her face and in front of their friends at the dinner table, to which they all just laugh and move on because it’s so normal to hate your wife. I figured this community would be the best place to discuss the ending of this movie and my takeaway from it. Men like to call themselves protectors, but the reality is that they are the ones most likely to put women and children in danger, especially the ones in their own homes. The real protectors of the home, in every sense of the word, are women.