The Representation of Women in Detour

The female character's in the film Detour have very interesting roles in the film, yet I would say that none of them play the femme fatale character that is traditional in other film noir movies. The two main female characters in Detour are Sue Harvey, the woman Al Roberts loves and wants to join in Los Angeles, and Vera who discovers Al's true identity and hold it over his head to do her bidding and make her rich. As I mentioned above I do not believe either of these women represent the femme fatale character because Sue Harvey although she is traditionally beautiful, she does not make Al do her bidding (unless you count not marrying him in the beginning so he wouldn't have to travel to Los Angeles in the first place) and Vera is not because she represents a nontraditional beauty as Al says in the film there is a hatred between her and Al, not love. Throughout the film Al makes comments as the narrator saying things like the minutes spent with Vera felt like hours, and he couldn't wait for the time to pass and be through with her. These are not feelings the male character would have if Vera was a femme fatale character.

This being said I think this film shows women as being very strong characters, even dominate over Al Roberts the main male character. Sue Harvey at the beginning of the film decides to leave Al and postpone their wedding so she can try and make it as a singer in Los Angeles. This causes Al to be heartbroken and eventually start on his fateful journey west. This to me shows a position of power, that she does not submit to Al but rather puts her own career ambitions before her love life. Vera is also a dominate female character, she is given the power of Al when she is smart enough to discover that Al is not Mr. Haskell and blackmails him to do all her bidding to make money or else she will turn him in to the police. Once given this power she uses it in every scene until her death, telling Al in multiple scenes that all the plans they make are going to be done her way and Al will do exactly as she tells him, to which Al obediently agrees with throughout the film.

Detour shows women as dominate characters over men, represented by the two main female characters Vera and Sue Harvey. Although other minor female characters are being treated as inferior by men who say things like "doll, honey, and glamourous" the scene that comes to mind is the opening scene where the truck diver asks the waitress in the  diner "Hey glamourous, do you have change for a dime?" The two main characters do not fit into this stereotype, they dominate over the male character in this film and although they are not the femme fatale character like in other film noir movies, they both represent a position of power over Al Roberts.