1/7/2024 0 Comments Jessica and roger rabbitRewatching Who Framed Roger Rabbit recently helped me to understand that Jessica Rabbit is, as laid out by the subtext of the film, a rape survivor. No one thinks about the cost of that loyalty. The story never gives the couple a moment to breathe however, so Jessica never has the chance to tell Roger the truth, the actual reason why she played pattycake with another man. This is the part of the story that viewers remember and which the film reinforces as Jessica’s story ends with her reuniting with Roger, their love reaffirmed and her promising to bake him a carrot cake. Jessica’s complexity, on the other hand, balances her survival instincts alongside a bone-deep loyalty to her husband. Femme fatales are known for their treacherous nature, an emasculating trope that embodies men’s fear about powerful, feminine women in control of their sexualities. Here the filmmakers reveal their self-awareness about Jessica’s design and subvert her characterization. I didn’t want anything to do with it, but he said that if I didn’t pose for those patty cake pictures, Roger would never work in this town again. When Jessica reappears in Eddie’s office, she confronts him about his involvement and sets the record straight, explaining: Then, Acme’s subsequent murder sets up the titular framing of Roger Rabbit. Roger breaks down when Maroon and Eddie show him the pictures. While the pictures show Jessica and Acme playing actual pattycake, the sexual meaning comes across loud and clear for the adults watching. Eddie is tasked with photographing her in the act.Įddie does get pictures of Jessica playing ‘pattycake’ with Marvin Acme, a jokester known for his empathy towards toons. Maroon blames her rumored adultery for distressing Roger, affecting his ability to act. Our main protagonist, hardboiled detective Eddie Valiant, enters the story when Maroon hires him to follow Jessica. Maroon owns Maroon Cartoons, the studio that employs Roger Rabbit, Jessica’s husband. Indeed, misogyny and racism work in tandem to kick off the plot. The misogyny in the setting, however, does not garner the same recognition, even though it’s acknowledged in the story. For example, Jessica Rabbit sings at a club that she cannot patronize herself. The toons have to work for less pay, and segregation further isolates them from equality with humans. The toons work in entertainment, filming ‘cartoons’ on live studio sets, and the barriers between human and toons stem from discrimination. Who Framed Roger Rabbit operates on the conceit that humans and cartoons live in the same world, side-by-side. That being said, the general perception of her story overlooks the dark side of sexuality and exploitation, especially as her story, when considering how it’s laid out in the film, perfectly captures the Hollywood stories that shaped the #MeToo movement. Jessica Rabbit is held up as a subversive, feminist response to femme fatale characters and to the male gaze in animation. This is best summarized by her iconic quip, “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” Jessica Rabbit’s duality comes from the fact that she looks like the duplicitous femme fatale, when in fact her character refutes that, explicitly and implicitly. The filmmakers intentionally designed her to be the embodiment of the male gaze, particularly as it appears in comics and cartoons. Her visual redesign also transformed her into the red-haired dame who breaks every man’s heart with a song and a wink, invoking the sultry lounge singer of classic detective stories. Wolf’s Jessica was morally dubious and ambitious at all costs, while the animated Jessica became a level-headed, ride-or-die hero. Seaman and director Robert Zemeckis, reversed the character’s moral compass. The film crew, which included writers Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Wolf’s 1981 pulp mystery novel, Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, and the movie adaptation differs in many respects from Wolf’s story, including in its depiction of Jessica Rabbit, wife to the eponymous cartoon character. Who Framed Roger Rabbit remains a masterpiece in modern animation, and its deft use of practical special effects offers escape from today’s CGI-obsessed hellscape. Content warning: discussions of sexual assault
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