Catherine Tramell and the Weapon of Sexuality in ‘Basic Instinct’ [The Lady Killers Podcast]

“I’d have to be pretty stupid to write a book about killing and then kill him the way I described in my book. I’d be announcing myself as the killer. I’m not stupid.”

We all know that woman. She’s got impossibly perfect hair, effortless style, and a glint in her eye signaling ultimate control – not to mention throngs of handsome men wrapped around her perfectly manicured fingers. We call her a man-eater for her ability to dominate any patriarchal exchange and command men to act on her every whim and desire. Weather weaponizing tears or sexuality, there’s something so admirable about a woman who gives no fucks. So confident that she will come out on top, she’s ascended beyond the fear of being disliked and uses her destabilizing confidence to play with men used to being in charge. There’s no better example of this empowering archetype than Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) in Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct. This impeccable murderess not only sets the template for every lady killer to follow, but allows us to celebrate a ferocious woman using sexuality as a weapon.

There’s an ice pick killer roaming the bedrooms of San Francisco. Armed with a white scarf and a killer bod, we watch as this deadly seductress binds her victim to the headboard, then stabs him repeatedly with the sleek weapon in a frenzied and bloody climax. Chief among the suspects is Catherine Tramell, a wealthy author and psychiatrist who happens to have written a similar scene in her latest novel. Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) falls into her bed while erroneously believing he can maintain the intellectual advantage. But who will emerge from this sexual battle of wills? Will it be Catherine and her circle of murderous friends? Nick and his testosterone, or Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nick’s gorgeous paramor with mysterious motives?

The Lady Killers continue hot Girl Summer with a scorching discussion on one of our most beloved femme fatales. Co-hosts Jenn Adams and Rocco Thompson are joined by Tori Potenza and DeVaughn Taylor to chat about iconic ice picks, ravishing red herrings, and the legacy of that infamous interrogation scene. Is Sharon Stone the most gorgeous woman to ever appear on screen? Is this Michale Douglas’s cinematic entry into sexual terrorism? Do we have any sympathy for Beth and what kind of monster has a Bart Simpson keychain? They’ll pull back the covers and wrestle with these thrilling questions as we honor one of the most iconic lady killers of all time.

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