Anarchy Unleashed: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
She's different... in every way.
- Armansky
"I think people are perverts," Fincher claims without blinking, almost as if he truly believes it. Almost as if he's built his entire career around that very thesis. So it’s easy to see why he would be attracted to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Indeed, Fincher’s affinity for tales of social outcasts and the banality of evil is nothing new. However, he has never crafted a story featuring a female lead in such detail before, never fully analyzed the female psyche and by extension, the female sexuality, in such a visceral but unblinkingly truthful fashion until Dragon Tattoo.
While viewing this film, I was reminded of a December 2010 Time magazine article by Eben Harrell in which he detailed Sweden's rape problems. According to the story, the number of reported rape cases in the country is about twice as much as that of the US and UK. But he also posits that this may be due to a more sexually open society, one in which women are more likely to approach men and one in which women are more likely to report rape.
I don't generally agree with this conclusion. I believe Fincher - and especially Stieg Larsson, the late author of the Millennium trilogy - set the pitch-black tale of Nazis, rape, incest, and general malcontent against the backdrop of Sweden to highlight a growing problem in our modern patriarchal society. The high-class Vanger family of Sweden is fucked up, they argue, and look how their poison has infested the entire country. Indeed, Fincher and Larsson do not refrain from painting a country in which corrupt bureaucrats, ingrained racism, and innate sexism have clearly coalesced into a lawless hunting ground for the underprivileged, the misunderstood, and the outcasts.
This is why Lisbeth Salander is so universally loved, despite her prickly exterior and Asperger's-like mannerisms. She represents the social minority who will fight for the downtrodden, the one who will stand for the mistreatment of women. But more than that, she represents the possibility of restoration, of equality, of justice. This is why it's interesting to note that Salander and Blomkvist are not dissimilar people. They are both disgraced by someone in social standings higher than themselves and shunned by others. This is why they attract one another. And this is why they're attracted to Harriet Vanger, the missing girl from a 40-year-old unsolved mystery. Indeed, these three characters all represent damaged, scarred, and misunderstood individuals in a Swedish culture which has remained largely unchanged across multiple generations.
The film draws the comparisons between Salander, Blomkvist, and Harriet through their reaction to the actions of men in power and more importantly, the subsequent paths they choose. Blomkvist is slammed with a libel lawsuit and disgraced as a journalist; and his response is to retreat from Stockholm to the desolate island of Hedastad. Harriet is trapped in a family led by a patriarch ingrained with hatred, abuse, and sexual sadism; and her response is to run away from home and hide in anonymity. And Salander is forced into sexual oppression by her state-appointed legal guardian; but her response is not to run away, but to return the favor in full.
Through these characters, Dragon Tattoo depicts a tale of helplessness and empowerment, of one woman's inability to fight back and one woman's fight for something seemingly more than herself. It's a story of man's inhumanity to both man and woman, of vengeance against those who have done wrong and justice for those who can't defend themselves. And in many ways, it's Larsson's indictment of his own nation for its actions towards, its ideals about, and its treatment of women.
This mistreatment of women is starkly drawn in Lisbeth's transformation from abused ward of the state to metal-dildo-wielding tattooed vigilante. She’s distrusting. She’s apprehensive. And she's perpetually coiled, tense, and ready to strike. But only towards men. Indeed, it’s important to note that Lisbeth sleeps with another woman in the story. And while the scene leading up to their romp in the sack was short and sweet, it’s important to note the difference in Lisbeth’s approach towards men and women. With a woman, Lisbeth approaches her at a night club. The next scene is the two women kissing. And the next scene is the couple lying in bed the following morning, naked.
It isn’t until much later when Blomkvist is injured and in many ways, weakened as a man, that Lisbeth approaches him sexually. But more interestingly, Lisbeth’s sexual and emotional layers are not revealed simultaneously. While many may associate the physical act of sex with emotional vulnerability, Lisbeth’s first fornication with Blomkvist is strictly physical. It isn’t until much later, after Blomkvist narrowly escapes death at the hands of Martin that Lisbeth finally opens up to him about her own father, her own childhood. It is at this moment, when Lisbeth grasps that Blomkvist may have died, that she feels he might finally understand her emotionally.
Fincher seems to argue an interesting point not about how our particular cultures treat women, but how men perceive women. Indeed, the entire film seems to build to one crucial point – the final parting. For over two hours, the audience is subjected to varying shades of Lisbeth’s defenses: snarky quips, dismissive maneuvers, and flippant remarks. But after she’s finally fallen for Blomkvist, those defenses are vanquished. We as the audience have finally peeled back enough layers to get to Lisbeth’s core – a young, sweet, albeit still troubled, girl. So when she prepares a Christmas gift for Blomkvist only to see him with another woman, it's not unreasonable to see why Lisbeth is the way she is.
It is this dismissive and often callous treatment of women, whether physically or emotionally, which forces Salander to retreat back into her armor. Inadvertently or not, Blomkvist had been coaxing Lisbeth from her defenses only to close the door in her face. Larsson had been crafting an impenetrable heroine only to be hurt by the man she loves. And all along, Fincher had been uncovering her heart just to have it broken in the end.
