#scheming temptress whispering in ethan's ear | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ethanhuntfemmefatale · 11 months

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after seventh watch i am thinking about a theory that came to mind today re ethan's particular kind of power over claire. and the idea was that for a character who is very anti-masculine, ethan tends to lean into masculine stereotypes the most in relation to claire--action hero stuff, protectiveness and strength--but after watching the movie i don't totally feel like this is the case? Anyway what Is textual is that in the rare moments when ethan is framed as imposing, he's usually interacting with claire. Thinking here specifically of the hand kiss scene, which is among the most viscerally fucked up scenes i've ever seen in a piece of media, and one of the things that makes it so uncomfortable to watch is the way that ethan is framed. The way his shadow falls over her when he opens the door, and she's lying on the ground, and he stands over her....given that this is a scene where ethan's deeply suspicious that she has been lying to him and manipulating him, it's pretty fascinating that the scene is so thoroughly set up to frame ethan as threatening. anyway it's 3 am so i can't really express this coherently but im thinking about it

#mi1 does a really good job generally of having a camera that treats ethan more as a. horror movie final girl. than an action hero #he's not meant to seem imposing except in a few select scenes #and those scenes are in relation to claire. in mi1 ethan is surrounded by people who have power over him: kittridge. jim. max.#and he spends the movie outsmarting them with his wiles despite them having the upper hand #but claire isn't one of them. the movie literally takes pains to present her as someone who has reason to be very scared of him #idk it's fascinating to me when the movie could have so easily gone the route of #claire the lying #scheming temptress whispering in ethan's ear #but instead it had her lying on the ground while he stood over her #there's another angle to look at this from (it is still 3 am and i dont know why im putting all this stuff in the tags)#which is that claire is definitely a character who knows how to use weakness to her advantage a la ethan in rogue nation #and i think there's an argument to be made that she puts herself intentionally in positions where ethan has this. very stark masculine #control over her that he normally never has over anyone #and uses that to trip him up and freak him out and make him stop suspecting her #i think it's probably both of those things at once i think there's a lot going on here. claire is textually far from powerless but in a way #she is also powerless. just like ethan is textually far from powerless but in a way he also is powerless.#anyway i need to sleep #mission impossible #seventh watch #jim phelps evil polycule

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