She enters the screen, and the audience falls silent. Her magic feels almost tangible. A glance. An unhurried movement. She takes her time, and we give her ours. She is alluring, and we want to see more.
Some characters have that effect on me. Female villains, femmes fatales, strong female leads. Catwoman is one of them. She can steal, deceive, disappear with something that never belonged to her, and I still find myself cheering for her.
Whenever I watch characters like her, I wonder what I would do. Would I dare? At what point would I hesitate, and feel the need to stop?
I love her intensity. The focus beneath the flirtation. She may be enjoying the conversation, but she hasn’t forgotten why she came. A jewel catches the light. Someone lets a name slip. A door opens upstairs. She notices.
There is something delicious about watching a woman move towards what she wants without first checking whether she is allowed to want it.
Villains are often born somewhere painful: a betrayal, a humiliation, the discovery that your loyalty was in vain and that you are disposable. That is what draws me into these DC stories.
We recognise something of the wound, then watch a character make choices we might never permit ourselves. Choosing yourself can mean losing someone’s approval, and discovering the freedom that comes when it no longer controls you.
With Catwoman, you feel that shift in the way she occupies space. She lets herself be seen. Enjoys it, even. Her body becomes part of the conversation, and she knows exactly how much attention it is receiving. A glance over her shoulder. A pause before she answers. You move closer, and she lets you.
For a moment, you think that means something. Meanwhile, she has noticed your vanity. Your hunger to impress her. The little change in your voice when you mention something you own.
She asks another question.
This is where her seduction becomes dangerous. She reads between the lines, recognises what people yearn for and knows when to offer its and when to withhold it. Men, women, everyone has insecurities. She finds one, presses lightly and watches the dynamic shift. Suddenly, her approval is the thing they want.
By the time someone checks the safe, she is somewhere above the city. Smiling.
There is pleasure in her audacity. In watching someone underestimate her while she quietly turns their mistake into an advantage. She knows how she is being perceived. Sometimes she encourages it. Let them talk. Let them think. Everything is information to a villain.
I also find the teasing intoxicating. The almost-kiss. The look that lingers after she has said something outrageous. Her focus leaves room for pleasure. She wants to enjoy the pursuit, feel the tension gather, discover what happens when she comes a little closer.
As I watch, I start to wonder what else I have been denying myself, and for whose benefit. I begin to see where I have been selling myself short. What would happen if I took my own desires as seriously as Catwoman takes hers? What would my life look like if I could be her for one day, minus the illegal activities?
She makes me want to be a little less well-behaved.
We can learn a lot from women who embrace their shadow side. They know what lives beneath their composure: desire, vanity, jealousy, the hunger for power.
Catwoman recognises those impulses in herself without flinching—and she isn’t afraid to awaken them in you.
Imagine all that power within you. Sensing the sexual tension beneath a polite exchange. Recognising the ego waiting to be stroked. Noticing the weakness someone has taken such care to conceal. Knowing where to apply a little pressure, where to offer a little pleasure, and when to let their imagination do the work.
A woman who enjoys dominating the room. The way she walks, the way she speaks, the deliberate turn of her body, she knows the effect she has, and takes pleasure in making even the most powerful men weak at the knees.
And then she vanishes into the night. The spell breaks. She got what she wanted. They are left with an inexplicable void.
I believe Catwoman lives in all of us. Close your eyes for a few minutes. Breathe in. Breathe out. And feel her taking over.
With love,
Mara
