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THE WASP WOMAN
* * * (1959, 73 minutes, Unrated)
Bad Jelly
When I was in college, about a million years ago, I took a bunch of mass communication courses.
Each one would inevitably touch on body image in the media, and pull out one of those
before-and-after pics of some name brand supermodel, pre- and post-airbrushing.
* * * (1959, 73 minutes, Unrated)
Bad Jelly
When I was in college, about a million years ago, I took a bunch of mass communication courses.
Each one would inevitably touch on body image in the media, and pull out one of those
before-and-after pics of some name brand supermodel, pre- and post-airbrushing.
 |
This has been going on forever.
You knew that, right? I'd like to think you knew
that. I assumed that everyone knew that, but
I'm not so sure about these Generation Y
types, raised on reality TV and airing out their
business in Facebook public. Not too long
ago, I even saw a reality show on the TV
Guide Channel where people had plastic
surgery to make themselves look like the
celeb of the moment from a specific
magazine cover. Not sure which was more
horrific: the brainless self-mutilation or the
fact that I was watching the TV Guide Channel.
Turns out that our obsession with beauty
goes back to at least... the 1950s. At that
time, a film was released about a type-A
whose obsessive drive creates a half-human,
half-insect monstrosity.
That film was The Fly. Unfortunately, that's
not the film I'm reviewing today.
You knew that, right? I'd like to think you knew
that. I assumed that everyone knew that, but
I'm not so sure about these Generation Y
types, raised on reality TV and airing out their
business in Facebook public. Not too long
ago, I even saw a reality show on the TV
Guide Channel where people had plastic
surgery to make themselves look like the
celeb of the moment from a specific
magazine cover. Not sure which was more
horrific: the brainless self-mutilation or the
fact that I was watching the TV Guide Channel.
Turns out that our obsession with beauty
goes back to at least... the 1950s. At that
time, a film was released about a type-A
whose obsessive drive creates a half-human,
half-insect monstrosity.
That film was The Fly. Unfortunately, that's
not the film I'm reviewing today.
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| See? Told you so. |
Roger Corman's The Wasp Woman opens in a world where grown men are absolutely obsessed
with bees. Fiction! One particularly mad scientist-y guy, with the positively mad scientist-ish name
of Dr. Zinthrop, has jumped the rails to study wasps. Instead of harvesting honey, Dr. Zinthrop has
been extracting enzymes from the royal jelly of queen wasps (which is almost a real thing) and has
created an anti-aging formula.
with bees. Fiction! One particularly mad scientist-y guy, with the positively mad scientist-ish name
of Dr. Zinthrop, has jumped the rails to study wasps. Instead of harvesting honey, Dr. Zinthrop has
been extracting enzymes from the royal jelly of queen wasps (which is almost a real thing) and has
created an anti-aging formula.
| We here at the Bargain Bin Review prefer the more spreadable jam to jelly (royal or otherwise). |
An anti-aging formula -- can you imagine the
implications? The business opportunities?
Because the rep from Honey Co can't. That
anti-aging formula is not honey! And so, despite
the fact that the anti-aging formula was
developed completely on company time and
with company resources and therefore could be
claimed as the company's intellectual property,
Dr. Zinthrop and his miracle discovery are given
the boot.
Later, in The City, we learn that sales for Starlin
Cosmetics are plummeting. This is the first of
many scenes of exciting boardroom action!
Model-turned-mogul Janice Starlin is mad as
hell, but the Boys' Club that makes up her
senior staff is happy to put the blame on her.
Take that, lady in charge of something in the
'50s!
implications? The business opportunities?
Because the rep from Honey Co can't. That
anti-aging formula is not honey! And so, despite
the fact that the anti-aging formula was
developed completely on company time and
with company resources and therefore could be
claimed as the company's intellectual property,
Dr. Zinthrop and his miracle discovery are given
the boot.
Later, in The City, we learn that sales for Starlin
Cosmetics are plummeting. This is the first of
many scenes of exciting boardroom action!
Model-turned-mogul Janice Starlin is mad as
hell, but the Boys' Club that makes up her
senior staff is happy to put the blame on her.
Take that, lady in charge of something in the
'50s!
Yeah, she's mad. Mad enough to enter into a verbal contract with Dr. Zinthrop to perfect his
anti-aging formula and begin testing it on herself, ultimately turning herself in a half-woman,
half-wasp creature? Sounds like a safe bet.
anti-aging formula and begin testing it on herself, ultimately turning herself in a half-woman,
half-wasp creature? Sounds like a safe bet.
It's not the predictability that bothers me -- it's the lack of
logic. I mean, I get the concept of economy of characters,
but it's neither smart science or business to test your highly
experimental formula on the person funding the experiment.
And so: Office gossip! Corporate espionage! Executives
flirting with secretaries! Yes, you'll have to wait until the last
20 minutes or so for any proper Wasp Woman action. But
it's hard to complain as the film clips along at a good pace,
and there's enough corniness and dated delights to make
this morality tale all enjoyable.
Why yes, it is a morality tale. Naturally. The moral, of
course, is that there's a high price for chasing everlasting
beauty, and that price is that you too will become a hideous
half-insect creature.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
logic. I mean, I get the concept of economy of characters,
but it's neither smart science or business to test your highly
experimental formula on the person funding the experiment.
And so: Office gossip! Corporate espionage! Executives
flirting with secretaries! Yes, you'll have to wait until the last
20 minutes or so for any proper Wasp Woman action. But
it's hard to complain as the film clips along at a good pace,
and there's enough corniness and dated delights to make
this morality tale all enjoyable.
Why yes, it is a morality tale. Naturally. The moral, of
course, is that there's a high price for chasing everlasting
beauty, and that price is that you too will become a hideous
half-insect creature.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
| Marvel Comic's Wasp is not the half-woman, half-wasp creature we're talking about. |
The Wasp Woman is a Reader Recommendation, reviewed as part of our
2011 New Year's Resolution.
Looking for a second opinion on this film? Check out these Friends of The
'Bin...
24 HOURS TO MIDNIGHT: THE BLOG!
BADMOVIES.ORG
WANNA WATCH THE WASP WOMAN? YOU CAN SEE THE WHOLE THING FOR
FREE HERE.
2011 New Year's Resolution.
Looking for a second opinion on this film? Check out these Friends of The
'Bin...
24 HOURS TO MIDNIGHT: THE BLOG!
BADMOVIES.ORG
WANNA WATCH THE WASP WOMAN? YOU CAN SEE THE WHOLE THING FOR
FREE HERE.
| Official entry into the B-Movie Meatloaf! |