Blog 5

Mark Nesbitt

ENG 201 2 p.m.

Blog 5

10/24/13

            Mal Cobb embodies the “evil demon seductress” trope.  Mal is Dominick Cobb’s deceased wife in the film Inception.  Seeing as Mal died, she technically does not fit the femme fatale trope.  Dom continually sees her projection when he journeys into people’s dreams to plant an idea, or to retrieve a piece of information from their mind.  Mal is a figment of Dom’s imagination that haunts him, constantly attempting to manipulate and control his every action and thought.  She does this in order to fulfill her malevolent master plan of eternally bringing them together again. Her actions throughout Inception coincide with many of the characteristics displayed by “evil demon seductress’’” in other various films.  Her name, Mal, is short for Mallorie.  She moved from France to be with Dom in the United States.  In French, "mal", means bad.  Mal's name happens to be the first indicator of the apparent bad news she embodies.  

            Similarities between Mal Cobb and other “evil demon seductress’” include highly skilled manipulation skills, along with a strong desire to control Dom.  In Mal’s death scene, the camera shows Mal outside her hotel window on the ledge of the building, lying in wait of Dom.  She plans to commit suicide.  This scenario proves to be common, however.  She often commits suicide in order for her to return to reality, when she wishes to slip out of a dream. Dom steps out on the ledge in order to persuade Mal back inside to safety.  They exchange in an adversarial and lengthy conversation that consisted of two conflicting sides.  Dom begs Mal in an attempt to convince her to step down from the ledge, because she mistakenly believes she is simply in a dream.  Mal pleads to Dom, assuring they would both return to reality after they jump to their death.  Here, Mal wants Dom to kill himself.  This displays Mal’s attempt to go to extreme feats in regards to toying with Dom’s emotions and thoughts, seeing as she knew all along the situation they were in.  She wants him to die so they can be together once again, and has no problem doing whatever it takes to accomplish this task by using her manipulation skills.  The words, reasoning, and actions displayed by Mal in this scene exemplify the “evil demon seductress” trope. 

            Mal possesses an extraordinarily strong sense to control Dom throughout the entire film.  One scene in particular that reinforces this statement occurs when Ariadne purposely take the elevator down to Mal’s hotel room to satisfy her curiosities.  Mal confronts Ariadne from her couch, igniting a conversation about true love.  She then proceeds to stand up and make her way over to the counter to grab a wine glass shard.  Mal begins stepping toward Ariadne with malicious thoughts, just as soon as Dom yanks Ariadne to safety in the elevator.  As this happens, Mal screams out, “You promised! You promised we would be together!  You promised we would grow old together!”. This in turn causes Dom to comfort Mal.  Mal’s control tactics were a success, as she attained a positive response from Dom.  She weakened him, and made him feel intense guilt for leaving her.  Manipulating Dom by trying to control his actions is her only goal.  She wants to be together again in limbo, and she is compelled to do whatever it takes to achieve this.  Mal displays utter selfishness with no regard to anyone else’s safety and well-being.  Her actions represent the “evil demon seductress” trope by acting as Dom’s antagonist.

            Mal’s sexuality comes into play when being compared to the “evil demon seductress”.  Clothed in a black, form-fitting dress, Mal emanates a certain eeriness.  She intimidates the people she comes into contact with.  Her voice is soft and feminine.  Her apparent attractiveness and femininity, combined with her warped fantasy-driven mind, make for a deadly character.  She utilizes her sexuality on various occasions in order to manipulate Dom.  Dom’s flashbacks of previous memories with Mal best demonstrate how she uses her seductiveness against Dom.  Mal would woo Dom by exercising her attributes of charm and sexuality in order to constantly fall deeper in love with each other.  Mal’s maliciousness has origins of deep-rooted, intense love she and Dom felt for one another.  Her sexuality and actions utilized against Dom all has to do with her love of him.  I would describe Mal as having tunnel vision, with Dom at the end of her view.  She is willing to go to any length to have Dom back.  It fascinates me by what people will do for love.  Mal is dark and twisted, but also beautiful and identifiable.  Her intense love of her partner causes her to turn into a monster, and also embody the “evil demon seductress” trope.