The Perfect Two Dimensional Woman: A Commentary on Laura and the Men that Defined Her

Dana Strauss

Noir, Film, and Novel

Prof. Sinowitz

11/21/17

The Perfect Two Dimensional Woman:

A Commentary on Laura and the Men that Defined Her

When I first read what the 1944 film Laura was about, I was immediately wary. I knew that a story about a woman told through men's eyes and narration would create an idyllic version of her character that no woman would ever be able to realistically live up to. The infatuation with a seemingly perfect woman who suffered a tragic death is what I could only see as a disaster waiting to happen. All I could think about were the many women I knew, and the woman I was, and how many of our stories are told using a male narrative. How are those stories different from the ones I tell about myself and the women I know? Was this film going to be a genuine reflection of a life lost or a cheap tale of what each male character wanted her to be? While I was certainly intrigued by the exploration of the different interpretations of a femme fatale, I was not convinced that this film would be able to show the dynamic complexity of her character without her alive. As the film opened and the narration began, I was immediately overwhelmed with the urge to roll my eyes; of course, the film would begin with the dramatics of a man who claims that “I, Walder Lydecker, was the only one who really knew her.” Though it is later discovered that Lydecker was, in fact, the man trying to kill Laura, his narration is the primary source of all the information about who Laura is. This calls into question the authenticity of his ramblings, and how his deranged jealousy making him completely unreliable. Not only is Lydecker completely untrustworthy in his feelings and recounts of Laura’s life, she is also never truly given a voice throughout the entire film. Instead, Laura is subjected to being defined strictly by the men surrounding her.   

While Laura is not able to speak for herself until the last 30 minutes of the film, she is a main character and the driving force behind the plot. This creates the feeling that whatever information we are getting about her is not genuine. The overdramatic monologues by Lydecker are assumed to be the most revealing about her characteristics, though he is quick to make himself the star of every story, even when involving her accomplishments. He takes credit for making her who she is, saying “Laura had innate breeding, but she deferred to my judgment and taste. I selected a more attractive hairdress for her. I taught her what clothes were more becoming to her. Through me, she met everyone: The famous and the infamous… She became as famous as Waldo Lydecker's walking stick and his white carnation.” Lydecker is meant to be recounting stories of how they met and their close relationship, however he seems to be more concerned with shaping her legacy, and his involvement of her maturation. He is borderline obsessive with his need to be regarded as the most loved by Laura, making sure the quote “Laura considered me the wisest, the wittiest, the most interesting man she’d ever met. I was in complete accord with her on that point. She thought me also the kindest, gentlest, most sympathetic man in the world,” was noted by detective McPherson in their first encounter.  In death, Laura was reduced to Lydecker’s sidekick, his devoted friend, and the best part of himself, completely disregarding her life outside of his clutches. While she is obviously an accomplished woman, and beloved by many, Lydecker completely monopolizes McPherson’s time with tales of his devotion to her and his protectiveness of her, involving himself so much that he controlled who she was able to see. At one point, Lydecker ridiculed an artist named Jacoby, saying he “did it for her, knowing Jacoby was unworthy of her. It was… a labor of love.” This was not the only time Lydecker involved himself in Laura’s affairs, and was unsurprisingly hostile when he found out she was to marry Shelby Carpenter. Not only was Lydecker inappropriate in his retelling of Laura’s life, but he was so conceited that he could not see her as an entity separate from himself His fanatical feelings towards Laura went so far as to drive him to violence, first killing a woman he assumed to be her, and then attempting once again to kill her so as to preserve her image as someone who could only live with him, and no other.

Throughout his investigation, McPherson listened to Lydecker wax poetry about the wondrous Laura, so much so that he began to fall in love with her. However, this love, though seen as genuine in the film, was only a love of the ideas that were told to him about her. Even as he read through her diary and letters, they were tainted by the information of the characteristics that others had told him about her. This is so common amongst men, only seeing one part of a woman and calling it love just because it agrees with your idea of a perfect woman. Women are put into categories, the “cool” girl, the “gamer” girl, the “sweet” girl, the girl that is obligated to fall in love with a man simply because he finds her attractive. Laura was the perfect girl in Lydecker’s eyes, simply for her beauty and charm. This creates a two dimensional cliche that no woman can maintain, although the complexities of her womanhood has a history of angering men, a phenomenon which is clearly illustrated by Lydecker throughout the movie. What is seen by many viewers as a budding love story between McPherson and Laura, I only see a thinly veiled catastrophe that will be triggered as soon as McPherson realizes that the alive and well Laura is not what people say she is.

Laura is a film striving to explore the ideas and intricacies of infatuation, however when the object of that infatuation is not able to speak for themselves, the narrative becomes a one sided interpretation of the perceived relationship. Though Laura eventually makes an appearance, the audience and those characters that do not have an established relationship with her are then unable to make unbiased opinions about her. Laura is defined by her relationship to the male characters around her. As the movie ended, I was struck by how little I felt that I truly knew Laura. I had hoped that her entrance would have given insight into her character, however Laura went from an idyllic perfect woman, to a suspect, to McPhersons love interest. Though she is clearly beloved by many, it strikes me as something ingenuine, and not totally satisfying. I understand the infatuation, Laura being charming, beautiful, and successful, however I would not claim to be an expert in her character just based on those few attributes. Every man in this film struggles to grasp the concept that Laura is not theirs to claim, whether she is dead or alive. While I guess I was supposed to cheer and become elated by the fact that McPherson and Laura end up together, I found no satisfaction in knowing that Laura is going from one man who never appreciated her alive, to someone who only idealizes about what she could be for him, having only known the woman she was from similarly disillusioned men while she was presumed dead. This was only a great love story in the eyes of men who are convinced every beautiful woman was made for them.