Orchid Is A Lovely Word - Blog Posts

During my Ophelia stage, I began to watch films starring Natalie Wood that were shot in the 1960s. There was something about her wide eyes and fragility that reminded me of these drowning women, the fair Ophelia. In Splendor in the Grass, Natalie’s character Deanie loses her mind and self-destructs in more and more glamorous ways, eventually wading into a pond decked out in a gorgeous flapper dress for her suicide attempt. Deanie is saved, goes to therapy, and gets set to marry a nice doctor. But I didn’t care about that. I cared about the frantic way she slid into the water, the way she picked her footing as she climbed down. In her beauty and self-destruction, she wielded an ugly power. Why were these fictional beautiful women always losing their minds so extravagantly? Why are they so compelling? I’ve always found wilting orchids more compelling [than girl bosses] - women who burn bright and burn out, undermined by their own desire for love or wholeness or whatever it is that pushes them under water. Some of us choose the self-destructive model and discover power in the tatters. - Patricia Grisafi; Why Are We So intrigued by Beautiful Drowning Women? A Look at Natalie Wood’s Hysterical Glamour