Bad Guys Gone Good: Our Favorite TV Villains Who Turned Over a New Leaf
By Sundi Rose
FEUD — Pictured: (l-r) Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis, Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford. CR: Suzanne Tenner/FX
Bette Davis – Feud
Bette Davis didn’t take anything from anybody, and for this fact she was labeled a trouble maker and more. She stood up for what she wanted and wouldn’t take less. She was a hero for collective feminism, but maybe not for the individual women in her life.
The searing feud between Bette and her co-star, Joan Crawford, was undeniably constructed by the male-led studio system. It was a not-so-subtle tool to position the women against each other, keep them in competition with each other, and control them from the outset. Of course Bette and Joan both saw this, but it was such a cut-throat industry, they were forced to play the game or be left behind.
Bette may have been awful to Joan — and Joan gave just as well as she got — but in the larger picture of social feminism and human rights, Bette was the real winner. She broke ground for women in Hollywood to demand their deals, broker their own salaries, and have a voice in their own careers.
We are nowhere near as close as we should be in terms of equality in Hollywood, but Bette Davis is responsible for a lot of our progress.
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Which baddie turned good guy is your favorite?