Aside from the
theme of the femme fatale, a recurring theme I noticed in And God Created
Woman was Juliette's utter disregard for other people. As Carradine notes
early in the film, "She's brave enough to do what she wants when she
wants."
She knows she wants
Antoine and so when she sees him on the bus she literally throws herself at
him. Later when she sees him at the dance, she doesn’t ask Antoine to dance.
She just grabs him by the hand and dances with him. When she’s supposed to be
working, if she wants to dance, she will dance. If she does not want to help a
customer, she will not help that customer.
Juliette’s
clothing (or lack of clothing) also shows how she does what she wants. I think
the confidence she has with herself and her body allows her to make these
choices. Yes, she bares her body for the attention of men, but she also does
because she has a confidence about herself that she exudes with everything she
does. An instance of her disregard for
other people is the day of her wedding. After she and Michel have sex, she
comes down the stairs wearing his robe, not trying to hide the fact that they
just had sex, and starts grabbing large quantities of food to take upstairs even
though they are all waiting for them to eat together, as people usually do
after a wedding. Juliette wanted sex and she wanted food and she got both of
those things while the family waited.
The most
dangerous instance when Juliette does what she wants is when she decides she
wants to shoot bottles. She was being careless and she could have killed
someone. Thus, there comes a point when Juliette’s “bravery” puts people in
danger and is no longer charming and attractive.
That is putting it mildly! You right to point out her self-centered attitudes; they are not just defense mechanisms but simple rudeness, as in the book store where there is no need to be rude to strangers. (It is not uncommon in France, but still.) I was sort of surprised by people's approval of her in our class discussion. She strikes me as a petulant child. Like a child of 5-6 or so, she seeks attention and especially from men. If there is no interesting attention to seek, that is, no men around (or children or rabbits), then she could care less. The interesting thing is how the director threw in those animals and children to try to soften the edges of her character and emphasize the postitive angles of her immaturity. But I agree with you that she is essentially a narcissist and not a very nice family member!
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