Fatal Attraction

I just watched (on DVD) the 1987 film Fatal Attraction. I have some vague memory that I might have seen it when it first came out. But, if so, it did not make the impression on me that it did the second time around. There are some explicit scenes that, in my opinion, should have been edited out. However, one cannot deny that it is a powerful film. It is really an excellent and powerful morality play:

 

(a)   Actions have consequences.

(b)   When you bond physically, you bond spiritually (or psychologically) whether you intend to do so or not.

(c)   Sex is always a big deal.

(d)   Don’t stray from the plantation.

 

These are the obvious “lessons to be drawn.” Every reasonably intelligent adult (I guess) deduces these from watching the film.

 

However, there are a couple of other “lessons to be drawn” that are a bit more subtle:

 

(a)   A wife/mother should not be so consumed with childcare as to neglect her husband.

(b)   She should never let her five- or six-year-old child usurp her husband’s place in bed with her.

(c)   Participation in sexual banter, sexual jokes, and sexual flirtations at the workplace has the effect of grinding down a man’s integrity and rendering him vulnerable when the Evil One makes his move.

(d)   Contraception for the sake of upward mobility breeds disaster.

 

Everyone—with the exception of those who are utterly debased—agrees that adultery is immoral. The reason adultery is immoral is that it is a violation of the solemn compact made with one’s spouse, viz., to be faithful and to “keep the marriage bed undefiled.” Some people labor under false information about what constitutes adultery. They think that, if a person is unmarried, he or she cannot possibly commit adultery. That is not true. Adultery is defined as a sexual act between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse. If the “someone other than” is a single person, then the act is “simple adultery.” If the “someone other than” is a married person, then the act is “double adultery.”

 

In the film Fatal Attraction, it seems that we are dealing with “simple” adultery because, although the Michael Douglas character is married, it seems that the Glenn Close character is single. I say “seems that the Glenn Close character is single” even though one might say from watching the film that it is definite that she is single. We don’t know that for sure. It is possible, even likely, that she is divorced.

 

A caution is necessary here. The Catholic Church does not consider divorced persons to be single persons. A divorced person is a married person unless and until the Church decrees the nullity of the marriage. Someone might say that the Catholic Church is absurd and/or out to lunch and/or stuck in the thirteenth century or some such thing. These observations, while entertaining, are irrelevant to the truth of the matter. The truth is the truth, especially when it makes us uncomfortable.

 

But what about plain and simple fornication? What is wrong with that? Well, there is plenty “wrong with that,” but we need to stick to our main topic, which is adultery. Let’s define fornication: Fornication is sexual intercourse between two single persons. Is it forbidden? Yes, it is clearly forbidden in the Scriptures and in the teachings of the Church throughout the ages. But is fornication as sinful as adultery? No, fornication is not quite as sinful as adultery, but that does not mean that it is not sinful. Fornication is grave matter. Therefore, fornication is almost always mortally sinful. Only lack of knowledge or lack of freedom of will could possibly make an act of fornication something less serious than a mortal sin. But here is the main point: fornication is excellent rehearsal for adultery! The more “sexual experience” a person has had prior to marrying, especially if that sexual experience has not been thoroughly repented of, confessed, and absolved, the more likely he or she is to violate the marriage compact.