A few months ago, I wrote about the film. Today I would like to talk about one of the most intriguing characters that I’ve seen in a while: Amy Elliott Dunne. If you haven’t watched the film, please do not continue if you can’t handle spoilers.
The Infamous Cool Girl Monologue
Of course, we cannot talk about Amy without bringing her infamous speech about “Cool Girl”. The lady has a point: “Cool Girl” is a like an unicorn, she doesn’t really exist. Everything in life is a trade-off. Everything about “Cool Girl” sounds too good to be true, she doesn’t even sound human: hot, smart, funny and super easygoing. Seriously? Do you really believe this person exists? Because I don’t. Usually, these qualities don’t go together, there are only two kinds of people that fit the description: pretenders and rom-com characters. Either way, they are not real!
Let’s say that, Amy Elliott Dunne really made an impression on me. Why? She’s different, she’s not your average “scorned wife”. Amy is high maintenance and she won’t accept mediocrity. So, when she found out that her dear husband was cheating on her, she decides to teach him a lesson. As I said, this lady is special, she spent a year developing an elaborate plan to frame Nick for her “murder”, that’s what I call a real punishment. Divorce would be probably a bit too banal for someone like Amy, she wants a big finale for her “love story”.
Amy is such an epic character. Trust me, you don’t want to be her enemy. She is not the type of woman to waste her time with tears, she might cry but these tears ain’t from her broken heart, oh no… they serve a purpose. Talking about coping skills, the lady excels in that department too: shortly after she found out about Nick’s affair, she began to draw his path to the death row. The best part? He’s not even aware of it.
Is Amy Dunne Crazy? Breaking Gender Stereotypes
In “Gone Girl”, there are no heroes or villains, only people. It’s easy to paint Amy as a villain because of what society expects of her. Gender stereotypes dictate that women are supposed to be innately good and nurturing creatures, and if they don’t fit the mould, they get called names — the B-Word. In Amy’s case, her creative problem-solving skills have earned her an upgrade in that department — “Crazy Bitch”. However, can we really call her crazy? Isn’t it true that crazy people are not fully aware of what they do and the consequences of their actions? If she can’t be labelled as crazy, what are the alternatives then? Maybe calling her a highly functional sociopath or just a plain psychopath is more flattering because it gives her more credit for her work, after all, nobody handed the title to her, she earned it.
What about Nick? Why aren’t we harder on the guy that cheated on his wife? Let’s not forget that his mistress was one of his students. If Nick had anything close to a moral compass, it’s clearly broken. Wait, let’s be fair, they both get away with certain things because of their gender: men with cheating and women with murder. At this point, I would say that they are even.
If Amy is not a “crazy bitch”, what is she then? Amy Elliot Dunne is: unapologetic, driven, a master manipulator and a perfectionist. She’s smart and will use everything in her advantage to get what she wants. Having said that, she’s not crazy, she’s crafty.
