Bad Women and Blue Eyeshadow
'The Love Witch' – Elaine Parks: a young woman is heartbroken and intent on finding love through questionable means. She wears blue eyeshadow.
'Euphoria' - Maddy Perez: sharp, strong, and dramatic. She wears blue eyeshadow.
’X' - Mia Goth as Maxine in Ti West's A24 erotic horror. She wears blue eyeshadow.
Three women. Differing genres. Vastly different histories.
A low-budget comedy horror, stylish teenagers and drama, and a slasher film. But they all have one thing in common: their leading ladies have blue coated over their eyelids.
When we think about the colour blue, we might associate it with sadness or serenity. Coldness and stereotypically, the masculine. Colours affect us psychologically, and blue is intended to illicit feelings of calmness and security.
But then Elaine (The Love Witch), Maddy Perez (Euphoria), and Maxine (X) can hardly be described as tranquil characters who inspire thoughts of quiet dispositions.
Rather, Elaine aspires for revenge and love through her witchy means; Maddy tackles the ups and downs of being a teenager in high school; Maxine is a murderess. The blue-lidded trifecta selected for this discussion all display the characteristics of women who challenge their environment and the patriarchal discourses that pushed them over the edge.
The gender binary cannot be ignored when we consider colour choice – traditionally, pink was (and sometimes continues to be) associated with girls/women and blue with boys/men respectively. Placing the gendered aspect of blue eyeshadow upon a female character, she becomes associated with the male sphere; and thus, she is situated within a realm that is not conventionally female and not wholly male.
Therefore, we might surmise that women who wear blue on their eyes are seen as bad through conventional eyes - but if one looks a little bit closer at their histories...we find a hidden message within their eyes. While their actions may be problematic (we cannot forget that we are dealing with two murderesses), their respective psyches have been battered and bruised by the world around them.
Specifically, they are women done wrong by the prevailing social structures of their films - that led by men and the exploitation of women. Blue eyeshadow then becomes the implicit symbol of the feminine energy turned dark and transformative into something that does not align with traditional ideals.
The sense of calm that comes along with these women has an undertone of danger – it is not the traditional sense of soothing wellness that inspires ideas of swimming pools and cleanliness. It is a soothing sense of anger controlled and thus, symbolic of a woman who has command of her rage and is able to utilise it for her benefit.
Blue eyeshadow becomes a tool of visual communication to the audience that we are in for a wild ride and women who bend the rules.
But our trifecta of women on screen are modern examples of the blue trend. To gauge the influence of strong women and their makeup choices, we can turn to Cleopatra. Or rather, the 1963 film starring Elizabeth Taylor. Historical accounts of the notorious Ptolemaic ruler who, depending on the source, was either a mastermind of manipulation, or a strategic leader.
If we view Cleopatra positively and ascribe her the respect due of a leader in antiquity – her female-led rulership in a role intended traditionally for men is shown in her eyeshadow. Rather than soft pinks and teasing reds, Elizabeth Taylor dons a strong winged liner and an over-application of blue eyeshadow. Cleopatra’s taking on a role long-committed to an extensive line of male rulers, she steps out of the boundaries stipulating her gender. The blue eyeshadow becomes symbolic of a strong woman who is no longer confined by the regulations defining what it means to be feminine and female.
Blue eyeshadow becomes the symbol of feminine rage bridled by the woman who has been wronged – it transcends merely a colour preference. It becomes an emblem of power. The femme-fatale defined by a quick look into her eyes. Traditional femininity is tackled subtly with the dusting of blue powder on the eyes of antagonistic women, by aligning her with the gendered aspect of blue being regarded as a male colour and associated masculinity.