WEBVTT 00:00:09.250 --> 00:00:16.045 A trope is a common pattern in a story or a recognizable attribute in a character that conveys information to the audience. 00:00:16.045 --> 00:00:19.412 A trope becomes a cliche when it’s overused. 00:00:19.412 --> 00:00:23.406 Sadly, some of these tropes often perpetuate offensive stereotypes. 00:00:26.360 --> 00:00:32.735 Does this remind you of a woman? How about this one? Or that one? 00:00:32.735 --> 00:00:40.821 Ya me neither.... but somehow these insects have become the inspiration for a whole trope of sexy female characters. 00:00:40.821 --> 00:00:49.807 The Evil Demon Seductress is a supernatural creature usually a demon, robot, alien, vampire most often disguised as a sexy human female. 00:00:49.807 --> 00:01:00.339 She uses her sexuality and sexual wiles to manipulate, seduce, and kill and often eat poor, hapless men by luring them into her evil web. 00:01:00.339 --> 00:01:05.598 One example of this trope shows up in the form of a Deceptacon in Transformers 2, where Isabel Lucas 00:01:05.598 --> 00:01:11.773 plays an alien robot disguised as a sexy college co-ed sent to kill poor Sam. 00:01:11.773 --> 00:01:13.373 "I can explain everythin--" 00:01:16.345 --> 00:01:22.120 Then who can forget back in 1995 when Natasha Henstridge starred in the horror film Species playing 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:26.245 the sexy half human/half alien hybrid created by the U.S. government. 00:01:26.245 --> 00:01:32.745 When the alien hybrid escapes into the real world she see that human women have babies and therefore she wants one too. 00:01:32.745 --> 00:01:34.302 "Listen, I want a baby" 00:01:34.302 --> 00:01:36.154 "WHAT!? Excuse me?" 00:01:36.154 --> 00:01:41.761 So she uses her sexual wiles to lure men in and uses her alien strength to kill them. 00:01:44.653 --> 00:01:49.136 And in the Batman universe Poison Ivy is another example of the Evil Demon Seductress. 00:01:51.613 --> 00:01:54.661 "That feels so much better." 00:02:00.728 --> 00:02:03.672 "And now we'll grow together" 00:02:03.672 --> 00:02:07.958 And this trope even makes a couple of appearances in Buffy the Vampire Slayer first when Xander is 00:02:07.958 --> 00:02:13.000 seduced by his sexy teacher who is really happens to be a giant preying mantis. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:22.324 "I think it's eenie, meenie, miney..." 00:02:22.339 --> 00:02:26.474 And then again in the last season when performer Ashanti seduces Xander. 00:02:26.474 --> 00:02:31.592 "It can't just keep happening that demon women find me attractive, there's gotta be a reason" 00:02:31.592 --> 00:02:35.272 "You just seem like a nice guy, that's all, and I wanted to get to know you." 00:02:35.272 --> 00:02:37.083 "And kill me?" 00:02:37.083 --> 00:02:37.958 "Sure" 00:02:37.958 --> 00:02:41.704 It might also be worth mentioning at this point that one of the roots of this trope is based on a 00:02:41.704 --> 00:02:47.656 misconception that dates back to 1886 with a scientist name Leland Ossian Howard. 00:02:47.656 --> 00:02:53.337 Howard made the claim that the female praying mantis cannibalizes the heads of her sexual partners after mating, 00:02:53.337 --> 00:02:56.089 well... turns out, this isn't exactly true. 00:02:56.089 --> 00:03:02.755 New scientific research found that the vast majority of female Praying Mantis species do not in fact kill their mates. 00:03:02.755 --> 00:03:04.505 So back to this trope, 00:03:04.505 --> 00:03:12.063 the amount of times that this character appears in speculative fiction is kind of astounding, the list goes on and on and on. 00:03:12.063 --> 00:03:17.142 In Star Trek's First Contact we have the Borg Queen trying to seduce Data. 00:03:18.250 --> 00:03:23.383 Keanu Reeves is taken advantage of by the Brides of Dracula. 00:03:23.999 --> 00:03:28.480 And then some years later in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Giles meets these three sisters. 00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:33.661 In the science fiction show Farscape there's the villain Grayza with her enchanting body sweat. 00:03:33.661 --> 00:03:38.035 There are the evil mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean 4. 00:03:38.035 --> 00:03:41.956 And Mystique in X-Men often fulfills this trope. 00:03:43.802 --> 00:03:49.969 In the opening scene of Battlestar Galactica we meet a human looking cylon woman who seduces and kills a man. 00:03:54.338 --> 00:04:00.402 Men in Black 2 stars a shapeshifting alien who disguises herself as a Victoria Secret model 00:04:00.402 --> 00:04:03.856 And Megan Fox as a man eating demon in Jennifer's Body. 00:04:03.856 --> 00:04:11.833 Alright, we get the idea, it's everywhere and you'll notice that there's variations of this trope between mermaids, and sirens and vampires 00:04:11.833 --> 00:04:20.203 and their expressions of supernatural evil seductress varies but the basic characteristics remain the same, they're using their sexuality as a weapon. 00:04:20.203 --> 00:04:25.497 This trope is closely connected to its counterparts The Vamp, The Black Widow, The Femme Fatale 00:04:25.497 --> 00:04:28.808 which are human women using their sexuality to manipulate men. 00:04:28.808 --> 00:04:35.183 Here I'm only focusing on supernatural creatures but you can see how insidious this trope has become in popular culture. 00:04:35.183 --> 00:04:40.016 Let's dig a little deeper into what this means, we have a whole collection of supernatural creatures using 00:04:40.016 --> 00:04:46.157 their sexuality to manipulate and control men in order to fulfill some nefarious plan of doom. 00:04:46.157 --> 00:04:51.657 You'll notice that these supernatural creatures are not necessarily enjoying or exploring their sexuality, 00:04:51.657 --> 00:04:57.172 they're not even really being genuinely sexual, they are just using it to manipulate and trick men. 00:04:57.172 --> 00:05:01.674 So we see over and over again female characters written as The Evil Demon Seductress 00:05:01.674 --> 00:05:05.422 who are portraying women as manipulative, conniving and controlling, 00:05:05.422 --> 00:05:10.547 that these demon women always have ulterior motives, and that there sexuality is dangerous, 00:05:10.547 --> 00:05:13.098 and they'll probably bite your head off. 00:05:13.098 --> 00:05:17.980 The harmful misogynist myth that this tropes reinforces is that women primarily use their 00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:22.688 so-called sexual power as a way to manipulate, trick and control men. 00:05:22.688 --> 00:05:30.328 This fallacy is widespread and pervasive and some men even claim that women hold more power in society based on this absurd myth. 00:05:30.328 --> 00:05:34.120 Thank you Hollywood for encouraging and promoting sexist thinking. 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:40.911 So what do Hollywood, male viewers and even female viewers to a lesser extent get out of the Evil Demon Seductress trope? 00:05:40.911 --> 00:05:46.790 Well, Hollywood is in the business of selling the status quo they use these characters to appeal to a male demographic. 00:05:46.790 --> 00:05:52.052 When an Evil Demon Seductress is on screen men get to objectify her while having these sexist 00:05:52.052 --> 00:05:56.844 preconceived notions reconfirmed that women are in fact manipulative and deceitful. 00:05:56.844 --> 00:06:00.072 And there is a danger of real world women internalizing this sexist myth. 00:06:00.072 --> 00:06:07.851 Instead of believing that our sexuality is something to be explored and celebrated we are repeatedly told that it is our only form of social power. 00:06:07.851 --> 00:06:12.611 Hollywood writers, I don't have a problem with you occasionally making some of your villains female, 00:06:12.611 --> 00:06:17.417 but you've gotta stop writing women who's primary weapon is her sexuality. 00:06:17.417 --> 00:06:21.819 I'll leave you with a clip of Alicia Silverstone in one of the worst movies ever made, 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:23.792 saying something kinda cool. 00:06:23.792 --> 00:06:29.125 "Using feminine wiles to get what you want, trading on your looks? Read a book sister, 00:06:29.125 --> 00:06:34.683 that passive aggressive number went out long ago, chicks like you give women a bad name." 00:06:34.683 --> 00:06:40.103 Ooooh here she comes, watch out boy she'll chew you up, 00:06:40.103 --> 99:59:59.999 Oooh here she comes she's a maneater.