I have a few clear memories of the late 1980s. One is counting down the days every summer until Girl Scout Camp, when I could see my favorite counselor, who taught us how to ride horses. Another is the heartbreak when said counselor didn’t return. And the scariest moment, by far, was catching glimpses of Glenn Close and Michael Douglas in
Fatal Attraction. Yes, folks, the movie that spawned the phrase “bunny boiler” is 20 years old this year. If you don’t believe it, just look at the hair. I was a little too young to be aware of the feminist backlash against the movie – I was busy not filling out my training bra at the time. What I do remember and found far more traumatic is that bunny scene. I, too, had a pet rabbit, and it was named after that counselor who vanished from my summers (though not from my heart).
A recent story in the Daily Mail reports that Fatal Attraction may have led to wholesome family values despite itself. I didn’t take any lessons from the movie (though I recall a few nighttime visits to check on my bunny), but apparently, in a forthcoming interview, Close will tell us that Alex is now considered a “heroine”:
Men still come up to me and say, “You scared the s— outta me.” Sometimes they say, “You saved my marriage.”Sidenote: Reading about the backlash to Fatal Attraction actually put me in mind of a little movie that came along five years later, just in time to receive the same vitriol from feminists and LGBT activists as well. Yep, Basic Instinct. In 1992, I too distracted to process a controversial movie’s problematic depictions of female sexuality, this time because I was busy staring at it. Hello, Sharon Stone, and the first time I ever saw two women together. Growing up gay before South of Nowhere
was a whole different thing, wasn’t it?
Anyway, what bothers me for sure is how the Daily Mail repeatedly refers to Close’s own marital situation. I do question fear as a firm foundation for a life’s commitment, but I sorta think scaring the crap out of a crop of potential philandering men gives her bragging rights.
One more interesting tidbit: Close’s observations about the current writers’ strike. At the beginning of her career, TV acting was considered a career kiss of death, but now, she says, “the classy writing is being done for TV and that’s because television knows how to treat writers.” With a few tiny exceptions, I’m not sorry be spending a few hours with my TV; I can think of more than a few movies I regretted paying ticket price for. Anything that brings Glenn Close into my living room
makes me happy. And twenty years later I can finally say, if she came over for dinner, I wouldn’t even lock up my dog.
