Joan Crawford is Possessed

Joan Crawford’s character in Possessed is a prime example of a woman who is both emotionally torn and victimized because of her sex. To say that Marion is fragmented is giving too much credit to Marion, the character played by Crawford. First, the character of Marion, who dreams of escaping the suffocating existence of small town life, escapes into the arms of a wealthy man. Is a character whose only dream is to end up in the arms of wealth and has no other ambitions fully realized? Crawford is playing the old “golddigger” role and is given no other motivation, other than wanting “things.”

Even when asked why she came to the city and replies “for me” we still do not get a sense of why, a fully realized character truly has other motivations, other than me and if the “for me” response is accepted as a reasonable answer than I am frightened. I am frightened that it would be acceptable for a woman to only want one thing and I believe this line is a brush off to Joan Crawford’s ability to have a complex, emotional character. If we assume for a moment that Crawford’s character is fully realized, the film still fragments her.

When Crawford finally reaches the city, she falls in love with a wealthy businessman. Poor Joan does not stand a chance to stand on her own; the film throws love into her face and makes her a slave to the ideal sacrificing woman. Even though Joan is a “bad girl” she still lives with a movie world that will not allow her to be happy without a man to depend on. Joan Crawford seems too strong for such a leap and plays the character with such conviction that one may dismiss the underlining message of the film.

Maybe Joan knew that the traditional message of the film was a farce and wonderfully overcompensated for the audience with a raw, emotional, personal performance. If she was not wise to the double standard the film sets up, it seems as though she tricked herself into believing that a man was the only good thing for her, but I highly doubt that.