This year will mark the 80th anniversary of the release of Cat People. I watched it again last night, I think it'd been five or six years since the previous time. It occurred to me it's kind of the opposite of Dracula, a story partly inspired by fears of sexually aggressive eastern Europeans. The main character of Cat People is a monstrous eastern European because she's afraid to have sex, even with her husband.
Every time I watch the movie, I wonder how anyone could see Irena as the villain, though. But people definitely did. I've watched it with people who accepted implicitly that she's a wicked monster. Sometimes I forget how easily so many people slip into expected perspectives.
For my money, Alice is the real villain. Oliver's an infuriating lunkhead and she exploits it. When he has the foolishness to tell Irena's rival about her fear of physical intimacy, Alice makes a significant choice of psychiatrist to recommend:
Didn't I suggest Dr. Judd? I met him on the Commodore's boat. The way he goes around kissing hands makes me want to spit cotton, but I guess he knows all there is to know about psychiatry.
She guesses. So all she actually knows about this psychiatrist she's recommending to treat a woman with a fear of sexual contact is that he's prone to inappropriate sexual contact.
Dr. Judd's the only character Irena actually kills, after he's kissed her without permission. Except, did she kill him? The character returns in Val Lewton's The Seventh Victim. Most people call this a continuity problem but maybe Judd just wasn't as dead as he looked.
In any case, the fact that many, maybe even most, people see Irena as the villain heightens the tragic comedy in scenes where Oliver, Alice, and Judd solemnly talk about what to do about Irena, after she's already made it clear to Oliver she doesn't like him discussing her private business with others. Honey, this is your song:
Cat People is currently available on HBOMax.
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