Unpacking 'Fatal Attraction'—Seduction, Family Values & Gender Power Struggles

Ah, Fatal Attraction (1987)—the movie that made every cheating husband double-check his bunny’s whereabouts. This psychological thriller, directed by Adrian Lyne, isn’t just a cautionary tale about infidelity; it’s a deep dive into 1980s cultural anxieties, gender roles, and the fear of what happens when a woman dares to ask for more than just a one-night stand.

At its core, the film follows Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas), a successful lawyer with a picture-perfect family who has a steamy weekend affair with Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), an independent, career-driven woman. What starts as a seemingly no-strings-attached fling quickly spirals when Alex refuses to be discarded like a bad Tinder date. Instead of ghosting quietly into the night, she demands recognition, emotional reciprocity, and—gasp!—basic human decency. The horror!

1980s Family Values: The Domestic Dream vs. the Career Woman

The ‘80s were a time of great cultural anxiety about shifting gender roles. Women were entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers, and men like Dan were supposed to remain the stalwart providers and protectors of the nuclear family. Enter Alex Forrest: single, child-free, sexually autonomous, and (blaspheme!) ambitious. She is everything the traditional nuclear family feared, so naturally, she had to be punished.

Dan’s infidelity? Oh, that’s just a little hiccup, a minor moral lapse. But Alex’s refusal to go quietly? That’s a full-blown crisis. The film frames Dan as the good guy who made a tiny mistake, while Alex becomes the ultimate home-wrecking villain—boiling bunnies, stalking families, and ultimately being shot dead by Dan’s dutiful, country-home-living, cardigan-wearing wife, Beth. Because nothing says “family values” like a suburban mom suddenly mastering firearm skills to save her husband from the consequences of his own actions.

But did you know the original ending was completely different? The film was supposed to conclude with Alex taking her own life, leaving behind a tragic and complex character rather than a deranged horror-movie villain. Audiences, however, weren’t having it. They wanted blood—specifically her blood. And so, a last-minute rewrite turned Alex into a full-blown monster, ensuring that Dan’s sins could be forgiven while Alex’s would be fatal.

The Femme Fatale: Seduction, Manipulation, and Ultimate Punishment

The femme fatale has long been a Hollywood staple—the dangerously seductive woman who lures men into ruin. Alex Forrest follows in this tradition but with a distinctly ‘80s twist: her crime isn’t just seduction; it’s demanding reciprocity.

One of the most troubling aspects of Fatal Attraction is the persistent misogynistic trope of the “Pregnancy Trap.” Alex tells Dan she’s pregnant, and instead of engaging in a mature conversation about their options, Dan immediately assumes she’s using it as a tool of manipulation. The idea that a career woman would secretly want a baby to trap a man into domesticity is both ridiculous and incredibly damaging. It plays into the age-old myth that men are the victims of scheming women, completely ignoring that, last we checked, conception tends to require two participants.

And then there’s the suicide manipulation scene. After their weekend tryst, Alex slits her wrists when Dan tries to leave, successfully keeping him entangled in her emotional turmoil. Later, she records a tape threatening to take her own life if he doesn’t stay with her. While these actions are undeniably manipulative, they also point to a larger issue: the way women’s emotional distress is often dismissed until it reaches the point of catastrophe.

But let’s ask an uncomfortable question—why is she so desperate? The original ending painted Alex as a tragic figure whose struggle was meant to evoke sympathy, not horror. But because we can’t have too much empathy for a sexually independent woman, her character was rewritten into a psychotic villain.

Infidelity: Who Bears the Burden?

Fatal Attraction offers a fascinating case study in how culture assigns blame in cases of infidelity. Dan makes the first move, enjoys the affair, and then walks away scot-free. Alex, meanwhile, is branded unstable, dangerous, and ultimately irredeemable.

This storyline echoes a familiar societal refrain: when a man cheats, it’s a “mistake.” When a woman refuses to be discarded after sex, she’s a problem that must be eliminated. Dan’s wife, Beth, barely expresses any real anger toward her husband—instead, her wrath is directed at Alex. This misdirected anger is a classic example of patriarchal conditioning: rather than holding men accountable for their actions, women are taught to turn against each other. As an aside, Soraya Chemaly's book 'Rage Becomes Her' takes a look at this dynamic with her concept of "Punching Up." It's certainly worth the read or Audible download!

If Dan and Beth had, say, gone to couples therapy instead of defaulting to murder, maybe a certain bunny would have had a full, "hoppy" life (yes, I went there).

The Madwoman Trope: Hysteria or a Victim of Patriarchy?

Ah yes, the age-old question: is she actually crazy, or is she just a woman pushed to the brink by a world that refuses to acknowledge her pain?

The “hysterical woman” trope is alive and well in Fatal Attraction. Alex’s growing distress is dismissed as unhinged, while Dan’s infidelity is treated as a minor lapse in judgment. Meanwhile, Beth is the picture of patience and grace, a woman whose only real flaw is not murdering her husband sooner.

And let’s talk about the gendered double standard of the “stalker” narrative. When a woman relentlessly pursues a man, she’s a vengeful, unstable psycho (see: Alex Forrest). When a man refuses to take no for an answer, he’s a hopeless romantic (see: literally half of all rom-coms ever made). Whether it’s Lloyd Dobler holding up a boombox in Say Anything, Andrew Lincoln’s creepy cue card stunt in Love Actually, or Noah building a damn house in The Notebook, male persistence is framed as devotion. Meanwhile, Alex’s desire for acknowledgment is framed as terrifying. The message? A woman’s love can be dangerous, but a man’s obsession is just endearing.

So, What’s the Takeaway?

Even though Fatal Attraction is decades old, its themes remain eerily relevant. The film plays directly into conservative fears about what happens when women don’t stay in their place. The demonization of Alex Forrest mirrors the same anxieties we see today—the pearl-clutching over career-driven women, the panic about declining marriage rates, and the moral outrage over shifting gender norms. Whether it’s “career women are miserable” think-pieces or the backlash against women choosing to be child-free, we’re still wrestling with many of the same cultural fears that this movie exploited.

At the end of the day, Fatal Attraction is less about one unhinged woman and more about a society that still doesn’t know what to do with women who demand more than silence.

So, what do you think? Was Alex truly crazy, or was she just a woman caught in a world that refuses to acknowledge her pain? And more importantly—do we think Beth had ever even held a gun before that final scene? Because, honestly, that part still makes zero sense.

For a more in depth convo about these themes and more, check out my Instagram LIVE from 2/10/25 (today) and join me again (mostly) every Monday at 11am EST. I'll continue to dismantle and disrupt common conditioning around sex and relationships by taking a closer look at the media that we consumed (and consumed us in the process).