Who Drew Jessica Rabbit?
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1988 Directors: Robert Zemeckis and Richard Williams (animation sequences)
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, Joanna Cassidy,
with the voices of Charles Fleischer and Kathleen Turner
Film critic Katherine Springer calls “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” one of the top five film-noir parodies.1 She is correct. The movie captures the mood, slang, costumes, and nefariousness of the genre. It is set in Hollywood of 1947, where humans and cartoon characters (“toons”) live and work side by side. When a movie executive is murdered, Roger Rabbit—a toon—might be the culprit. A private detective, Eddie Valiant (Hoskins) must solve the crime. “Framed” combined live action and animation in a new way in 1988, creating a convincing and evocative film with new possibilities that would later be explored through computer generated imagery (CGI). And even though toons are everywhere in this film, it is aimed mainly at a sophisticated adult audience (rather than children), who will understand its film references, double entendres, and many subtleties.
One thing that “Framed” does very well—and perhaps for the first time—is deconstruct the femme-fatale stereotype in noir films.2 Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Turner), a sultry, elegant lounge singer, is married to Roger Rabbit (voiced by Fleischer). Jessica is based on Rita Hayworth’s character in “Gilda” and also Ava Gardner’s in “The Killers” (both films from 1946); both stars play sexy, seductive, but unattainable women. Even Jessica’s hair and gravity-defying cocktail dress recall those of Hayworth and Gardner’s vamps, but she is more voluptuous and perhaps even more enticing than them. The trouble begins when Jessica appears to be having an affair with Marvin Acme (Kaye), owner of the Acme Corporation and Toontown, which is where the toons live. R. K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern), CEO of Maroon Cartoon Studios, and Roger’s boss, believes his recent poor performances are because of Jessica’s infidelity and hires Valiant to investigate.
We are introduced to Jessica in her nightclub act as she sings “Why Don’t You Do Right?,” a sultry blues number from the 1930s. She saunters slowly onstage before an audience of adoring men, all with gaping mouths; her elevated position gives her an air of superiority. She glances toward the men in disdain, indifferent to their worshipful stares. She teases and dismisses them, one by one. Valiant catches her act, another dumbstruck male in the audience. He is absolutely traumatized when she grabs him by his necktie and seems about to kiss him.
Valiant later meets up with Jessica at his office; he distrusts her, with good cause. He caught her “playing pattycake” (literally and not figuratively) with Acme. She’s there to explain to him that Maroon would destroy Roger’s career if she did not pose for the compromising pictures. When she is asked what she sees in her long-eared husband, she quips, as do women in those old films, “he makes me laugh.” She explains that she is completely devoted to Roger, and delivers an important line: “I’m not bad; I’m just drawn that way.”
Jessica’s line is perhaps more revealing than her sparkling gown. In essence, she is playing a part that works well for her career. Being glamorous and seductive serve a purpose. She knows that sex sells and uses it to her advantage. But this quote also tells us that she had little to do with her appearance. Someone “created” her in this guise and she seems to be something she isn’t. In other words, looks can be deceiving and one must beware of being guided by illusions and mere impressions.
Copyright © 2024 by Rosi Prieto, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved
https://www.filmfracture.com/touch-of-noir-top-5-film-noir-parodies/
One must also give credit to Mel Brooks for his parody of the femme-fatale stereotype—Lili Von Shtupp (played by Madeleine Kahn)—in one of his best films, “Blazing Saddles” (1974).