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Of course, Alex is both a victim and a perpetrator. She commits crimes big and small, some from the movies, some newly invented.It is worth mentioning here that Men are the vast majority of stalkers (87%) and women are the vast majority of victims (78%). The FBI also reported Men were far more likely to commit violent crimes, accounting for 74 percent of offenders.
I bring up these numbers to emphasize how unusual a story like “Fatal Attraction” is. There’s nothing wrong with film and television focusing on the extraordinary — storytellers can and should go there. But there is something wrong with shows and movies that normalize these outliers, creating a madhouse version of reality and pretending we all live there.
“Fatal Attraction,” both the movie and this new version, falls into this trap, essentially arguing that anyone (or anyone) could face the consequences of Gallagher’s cheating. We’re all familiar with the hysterical woman trope, and Alex is a powerful example. Compared to Beth in the film, women seem to be largely irrational wombs, waiting to be loved or spurned, either turned into contented mother/wifes or driven mad by longing for that role.In this universe, mistresses like Alex deserve To be killed – this is the logical thing, the response of justice. Alex was murdered, and while much of “Fatal Attraction” revolves around the real killer, the show’s real interest lies in finding more and more justifications for her killing. This is ridiculous. That was 1987, and it is today.
Some might argue that the show gave us more female characters, showing some possibilities for women outside of love triangles. It does, but not much; we only get glimpses of other women. The core conflict remains wife or mistress, married and bedridden or screwed and rejected. Gallagher does have consequences for his actions this time around. But a woman in Fatal Attraction, exists only in the relationship of a man; a man should be killed for her attempt to claim him.
The show adds another layer to this nonsense with the Gallaghers’ daughter (Alyssa Jirrels). She was a child when it happened, but is a psychology undergraduate in the show’s current timeline. So we hear her explain the theory of female types, arguing that women like Alex are not uncommon. It seems like there are all sorts of deranged women out there, willing and able to commit extreme violence–the kind of unsuspecting men who have nothing to do with them but lethal force if they want to maintain social order. But it’s dangerously untrue because it helps normalize violence against women in the real world, where the statistics show a very different pattern than the “Fatal Attraction” setting.
The series perpetuates a destructive mythology that doesn’t require an eight-part, hour-long retelling of Reputation. No matter how strong the cast, how compelling the plot, or how coveted the original IP, “Fatal Attraction” is still interesting enough, but it sucks at its core.
The entire collection was screened for review. “Fatal Attraction” premieres Sunday, April 30 on Paramount+.
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