The Curse of the Cat People - Pure Fantastic?

We debated today in class whether or not The Curse of the Cat People fits in the category of the pure fantastic. Todorov gives us his definition for the fantastic, which Carroll adopts, the audience (or reader) is presented with a series of events which could be explained either "naturalistically" or "super-naturalistically." It is extremely hard to find a work that is purely fantastic. There are not many literary works that fall into the pure fantastic category, and fewer films that are able to achieve pure fantastic. However, The Curse of the Cat People is able to achieve this. The events of the movie can be explained both naturalistically and super-naturalistically. Depending on how you perceive and explain the events of the movie you can argue either way. Some may argue that the story is fantastic marvelous or fantastic uncanny, but the fact that the film can be interpreted each way makes it pure fantastic.

First off, I'm going to explain how the movie can be interpreted as fantastic marvelous. The one aspect of the movie that lends it to the supernatural is the presence of Irena. Irena is the special friend of young Amy who appears to her after she wishes on a wishing ring. This is the first aspect of the supernatural as we see the supernaturalistic power of the wishing ring. The next aspect of the supernatural is the most prevalent in the film, the presence of Irena. It could be argued that Irena is just a figment of Amy's very vivid imagination. However, there is one scene in particular that makes it hard to explain away Irena's real presence. This is when she presents Irena with the Christmas gift. The fact that Irena accepts the gift and puts the pendant on leads you to believe that she is truly real. The events of the movie can be reasonably explained as supernaturalistic

Next, we can look at how the events of the movie can be interpreted as entirely naturalistic and therefore fantastic uncanny. The film can be interpreted as fantastic uncanny if you try to explain away Irena as a figment of Amy's imagination. We are shown many instances where Amy exhibits a vivid imagination. Amy's father, Oliver, gives us a chronicle of Amy's active imagination and his displeasure with it. The first example we see of her imagination coming into play is when she puts the birthday party invitations in the old tree. Her father told her when she was younger that the tree was a magic mailbox. The next example of Amy's imagination coming into play is on the bridge when she believes the headless horseman is coming to take her away. This makes Irena's presence seem unbelievable. We see Irena as just another one of Amy's imaginative creations. Another reason for us questioning Irena's real presence is Amy's teacher's explanation of children creating imaginary friends. She explains that it's completely normal for a child like Amy to create an imaginary friend and that she will forget about the friend when she gains a true friend. When Oliver tells Amy he will believe her and that he is her friend, Irena disappears. This leads us to believe that the teacher's explanation is correct. The events of the movie can be reasonably explained as naturalistic.

I have laid out both scenarios of how the film, The Curse of the Cat People, can be interpreted. Because the movie can realistically explained both naturalistically and supernaturalistically, it can be classified as pure fantastic. Both Todorov and Carroll acknowledge how hard it is to achieve the pure fantastic, especially in film. However, Val Lewton and Robert Wyse are able to achieve this which speaks volumes to their talent and ingenuity.