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In the darkly misanthropic world of David Fincher’s Gone Girl, a woman’s heart may be a deep ocean of secrets, but her vagina is a deadly weapon of vengeance. Inexplicably famous as a sexless children’s literary character, ‘Amazing’ Amy Dunne is in reality a ruthless force of feminine fury. Not since Basic Instinct‘s Catherine Tramell has a female antagonist used her sexuality to such violent and disturbing ends.
Like Basic Instinct, Gone Girl‘s depiction of feminine violence has sharply divided opinion. Is Amy an empowering – if extreme – example of a woman using the weapons she has to take back control, or a regressive depiction of women as shrewish sexual manipulators? In Rosamund Pike’s chilling performance, there’s no sense that Amy enjoys the act of sex. Even during an unusually graphic (by Hollywood standards) cunnilingus scene, her delivery feels strangely disconnected and joyless, as though even this is more about entrapment than ecstasy.
A real-life sequel to Gone Girl has been floated, although writer Gillian Flynn has warned that it could be a few years before anything is set in stone. If it does occur, the biggest challenge it’s likely to face is how to make Amy compelling a second time around now that we already know she’s a villain – as Basic Instinct II unfortunately demonstrated. Simply rehashing the story or having Amy move on to another victim doesn’t seem like a recipe for a compelling follow-up. If Gone Girl II was going to work, a significant change in context would probably be required.
On this week’s podcast, we floated a few ideas…
Harry’s Pitch | Gone Girl II: Go Girl!
John’s Pitch | Gone Girl II: Bitches Be Crazy!
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