ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book argues that the contemporary versions of the type are often figured in dialogue with and against cultural and critical memories of the femme fatale in the classical noir. It expands the existing theorisations of the femme fatale's relationship to genre. The book examines the way noir's narratives of investigation are entangled with, and at times confounded by, the politics of bisexuality as undetectable and unknowable. It also shows the potential of the femme fatale to maintain and consolidate patriarchal ideals and anxieties about women and power, but there are also moments of pleasure and hope. The to-be-solved-ness of the femme fatale points towards the potential for the figure to act as both a critique and an endorsement of a patriarchal sense of entitlement to a complete knowledge of women's bodies, intentions, sexualities and desires.
