Line #35 YMMV/FatalAttraction


1	* AccidentalAesop:
2	** Career women are bad, housewives are good. When the movie was released, it was blasted by feminists who assumed this was the film's message. Director Adrian Lynn denied it.
3	*** Didn't help that the screenwriter James Dearden re-adapted the story from his [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversion_(film) short film]] ''Diversion'' that both sympathized with the career woman and the housewife (who was about to re-enter the workforce now that the young child is entering kindergarten age) and ends on cliffhanger where the wife receives a phone call from his mistress.
4	** Having sex with strangers is possibly deadly...AIDS became well-known just around when this movie was released.
5	** Creator/GlennClose claims that to this day, men come up to her on the street and thank her for saving their marriage, indicating that they were debating an affair before realizing that the woman might turn out to be a psycho like Alex.
6	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
7	** He Says She Says all over the damn place. Is ''he'' to blame for cheating... or ''she'', for stalking? Which is worse? Does one merit the other as a punishment?
8	** Was Alex ''really'' pregnant, or [[FakePregnancy was she just saying that to get Dan's attention]]?
9	** Glenn Close consulted with two psychiatrists for her role, who deemed Alex's behavior to be symptomatic of some past sexual trauma. If true, this makes Alex a far more tragic character. Dearden the screenwriter agrees and laments that the reaction from most audiences was "kill the bitch".
10	* AwardSnub: Six UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, zero wins. Worst still, the film was nominated in what turned out to be a very non-competitive year. It lost all six awards to either ''Film/TheLastEmperor'' or ''{{Film/Moonstruck}}'', both of which it has arguably since surpassed in longevity and impact. The fact that it is [[ConsolationAward often theorized that a potential factor in Cher winning because she was snubbed a nomination from]] ''Film/{{Mask\|1985}}'' doesn't help matters.
11	* BrokenBase: Whether the original or reshot ending is the better one.
12	* TheCatchPhraseCatchesOn:
13	** After this movie, "bunny boiler" became a popular term for a crazy woman.
14	** And the title of the film, "Fatal Attraction", has become a popular term for somebody who becomes obsessed with their love interest.
15	* DesignatedHero: Dan Gallagher, a KarmaHoudini who commits adultery, breaking and entering, assault and intimidation, and never faces any legal consequences for his crimes against Alex. Although his wife is hospitalized and his family suffers, he suffers very little physical harm, never has to take responsibility for his unborn child, and his wife takes him back in the end despite his lying and cheating.
16	* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Mental health professionals have a field day trying to figure out precisely what's wrong with Alex, but many agree on Borderline Personality Disorder, as evidenced by the way she declares herself in love with Dan after one weekend and tries to kill herself when he leaves. Some have also speculated that she was a victim of sexual abuse, again stemming from her attachment issues.
17	* EvilIsCool: Despite being the film's villain, Alex is undeniably its most memorable character, inspiring similar ones, and still being referred to 30 years later.
18	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: This ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' [[https://youtu.be/Y_PQrOSzMZ4 skit]].
19	** Alex screaming "Fuck you!" at the telephone operator who won't give her Dan's phone number. The operator blithely asks "My place or yours?", clearly completely unfazed, no doubt due to years of similar verbal abuse.
20	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film made Creator/GlennClose quite popular in Japan. Also, the Japanese version keeps the original ending. See FocusGroupEnding.
21	* HarsherInHindsight:
22	** The film vilifies Alex for her obsession with Dan, and presents her pursuit of him as growing increasingly violent and unstable before she suffers [[KarmicDeath a well-deserved death]]. Adrian Lyne would later go on to direct ''Film/IndecentProposal'' where a wealthy man becomes obsessed with the married female lead, but [[DoubleStandard his casually invasive pursuit of her is presented as charming and romantic]].
23	** Beth (Anne Archer) crashed her car while looking for her kidnapped daughter. In ''Film/PatriotGames'', Dr. Cathy Ryan (played by Archer) crashed her car when [[BigBad Sean Miller]] tried to assassinate her on the freeway. Her daughter Sally was also in the car. [[StatusQuoIsGod They both got better]].
24	*** Anne Archer also played a secretary in another prominent erotic thriller, ''Film/BodyOfEvidence''.
25	** Creator/GlennClose played a pregnant woman on a murderous-rampage in the re-shot ending that we all know and love; she didn't find out she actually '''was''' pregnant with a little girl during the filming of said-murderous rampage until '''after''' she was rushed to the hospital with a concussion during a botched take. Needless to say, she does not like watching the finale to this day, having (unknowingly) risked her daughter's life filming it.
26	** Creator/OJSimpson was among those considered for the role of Dan. In the original ending, Dan is accused of killing Alex--by slashing her throat. Umm...
27	* HilariousInHindsight:
28	** One of the actresses considered for the role of Alex Forrest was Creator/SharonStone. Alex is believed to be the inspiration for the role of Catherine Trammell in ''Film/BasicInstinct'', which made Sharon Stone famous.
29	** Creator/TomHanks was considered for the role of Dan. In ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'', Tom Hanks's character mentions that the movie "scared the shit out of me and every man in America!"
30	** Creator/GlennClose and Creator/MichaelDouglas presented at the Oscars the following year, while Close was eight months pregnant, prompting roars of laughter from the audience who recalled that Alex had been pregnant too.
31	* MemeticMutation:
32	** These days, "bunny boiler" refers to deranged women.
33	** As well as: "I'm not going to be ''ignored''!" Especially interesting in that, like so many famous movie lines, the original delivery is actually pretty understated. Alex actually sounds more ''amused'' at Dan than anything else when she says it. FYI, it was nominated, but not ranked, for AFI's "Quotes" list.
34	* MoralEventHorizon: Alex crosses it by instigating the "bunny boiler" incident. There's also when Alex ''kidnaps'' Dan's daughter several days later, terrifying her parents -- and the viewer -- with the very real fact that she could have harmed her if she wanted to, and indirectly leading to Dan's wife being injured in a car accident. It's not hard to see why this is the last straw for Dan. (And likely when Alex loses any remaining sympathy from the viewer she had.)
35	* RetroactiveRecognition: A 18-year-old Creator/JaneKrakowski is babysitting for the Gallaghers in the beginning of the film.
36	* RonTheDeathEater: It's very easy to find many comments acting as if Dan mistreated Alex. While it's true that he's a very flawed and fairly unsympathetic protagonist who put himself and his family into this whole mess in the first place and does some questionable things, the fact is that Alex instigated the idea of the affair and cleverly lured Dan into a false sense of security (being "discrete") and agreeing to go their separate ways, which gave Dan the right to call off the affair whenever he wanted, with him actually being fairly polite and respectful to Alex during their time together. Therefore, she has no right whatsoever to complain about him moving on from her.
37	* SignatureScene: Alex killing Ellen's rabbit by boiling it alive in a stew pot, and Dan's wife slowly opening the lid as Ellen goes to play with the rabbit.
38	** Alex turns the lights on and off, while listening to opera.
39	* SpecialEffectsFailure: Creator/MichaelDouglas's ObviousStuntDouble throughout the fight scene in Alex's apartment.
40	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Dan. The audience is supposed to sympathize with him due to being stalked by Alex and having his family terrorized by her. However, the reason Dan ended up in that situation in the first place is because he cheated on his wife, only admitted to it when the consequences caught up to him, and got away with it, along with his other offenses that made him a DesignatedHero.
41	** Zigzagged with Alex, while she can sometimes be seen as [[UnintentionallySympathetic sympathetic]] considering her blatant emotionally instability and depression, she manipulates Dan into justifying the affair, tries to use their child as a weapon to control him, and simply boils the daughter's rabbit and kidnaps her just to [[DisproportionateRetribution send a message]].
42	* ValuesDissonance:
43	** School employees were either completely unaware that Ellen had left, or let her go off with someone who only had to claim she was her mother or a friend of the family, without them ever verifying it. These are major errors that shouldn't even have happened then and is unlikely to happen today, with the rigorous checks in place.
44	** The cops unsympathetic and dismissive attitude towards Dan about Alex's behavior. Stalking laws were either nonexistent, weak, or applied to women dealing with obsessive men rather than the other way around. Nowadays, he'd be able to put a stop to it much sooner.
45	* ViewerGenderConfusion: A lot of viewers think that Ellen is a boy, most likely due to her short haircut.
46	* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack: Dan cheats on his wife Beth with Alex. Beth is angry at Dan for his affair and kicks him out. But even after losing a family pet to a boiler, suffering a near-fatal car accident, and almost getting killed by her husband's mistress/stalker, she still takes him back. Fans debate because of this.
47	* TheWoobie: Although not dwelt on for too long, you're left weeping for Ellen's poor pet rabbit. It was just an innocent animal, living happily with it's owner and has no way of comprehending why Alex decided to mercilessly kill it, probably panicking, thinking of Ellen as it was slain. Obviously, Beth and Ellen too, as they didn't ask for the husband/dad to behave so selfishly, and bring a nutjob into their lives.
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Context YMMV / FatalAttraction