My book group recently relented to the hype and read Stieg Larsson's enormously successful thriller, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," which features a troubled but gifted queer woman as its title character. As a result, Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker with a photographic memory and her own code of justice, is being celebrated in some circles (
AfterEllen) as a queer heroine and decried in others as just another example of misogyny (
Guardian.)
While I confess to being sucked into the book, and while I concede that Salander is, indeed, refreshing in that her very presence does represent queers who are so often absent in the mainstream, I do have a few serious concerns:
(SPOILER ALERT)
1. Salander is brutally and sexually tortured in a scene that goes on far too long and in far more detail than necessary. (And I would further argue that in fact the torture was
in no way needed to advance the plot.) In the words of one of the women in my group: "It makes you wonder who's getting off on this."
2. Salander's bisexuality is so minor in the book that one of the women in my group
missed it. Salander spends a lot more time in bed with the male protagonist, whose character is so self-indulgently and obviously a fantasy of the male sexual conquerer that I am embarrassed for the deceased Larsson. (Apparently the second book in the trilogy offers Salander in a more developed lesbian relationship.)
3. Salander is a deviant who is victimized, lives on the fringe, and is unwelcome and disinterested in civic and social institutions. This is a very unfortunate throwback to 1950s-era representations of tragic and dysfunctional gay and lesbian life.
Okay, onward. The film version in theaters now is a Swedish-made movie starring Noomi Rapace (above) as Lisbeth Salander. I'm hearing that this film is excellent, and, on first glance, I'm at least pleased that they did not "straighten up" Salander. Rapace looks to me like an authentic queer woman. Cheers for that.
In the meantime, the American film version
will be directed by David Fincher, whose work includes
Se7en,
Fight Club, and
Panic Room. His style is too violent for my taste, but he is a master of edgy mood. And he's not afraid to let lesbians and tomboys be themselves on screen,
as was evident with Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart in
Panic Room, in which, some have said, Stewart played "Jodie Foster's son." By the way, Fincher also seems to like working with repeat actors (e.g. Brad Pitt.) Might he also like to work again
with tomboy Stewart, who is reportedly interested in the Salander role? (And so is gamine cutie Carey Mulligan.) Or might he like working again with Jodie Foster? If she weren't a complete failure at creating sexual chemistry with her male counterparts (e.g.
Sommersby,
Contact,
Anna and the King, etc., etc.), she would make a fabulous Erika Berger. Therefore, she gets my vote for playing Harriet Vanger...
Nikki Finke's website Deadline is reporting that director Ridley Scott is planning a prequel to the Alien franchise and is favoring casting Noomi Rapace—yes, Lisbeth Salander!—in the role of the Ellen Ripley-esque heroine. It is almost too good to be true. But, alas, it's not final because there is some concern about Rapace's ability to speak English. 
But I saw her on Charlie Rose recently (I know, I know, good grief), and she was perfectly fluent. So I hope they just finalize the deal. Wrap it up, people! I want to see Noomi Rapace as Ripley's predecessor. 
I mean, we know Noomi can handle a gun as well as Sigourney Weaver. We know she looks great lounging with bare arms and midriff. We know she can project the intense Ripley-style facial expression that says, WTF is going on in this crazy effing Nostromo spacecraft? (She's talking to you, Ash, you creepy droid.) Carey Mulligan and Abbie Cornish are also apparently being considered. But they, however adorable and talented, simply will not be convincing against the acid-for-blood badassness that is the alien.
