Salt

Possession in Salt

Salt is a film where the repressed comes alive. Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a sleeper spy awakened into action by a Russian patriarch who then betrays her. Fueled by revenge, she saves the world only to spite his greatest dream of destroying America. Salt's transformation from the blonde and beaten Evelyn to the dark-haired, grenade-throwing Chenkov speaks to cultural fantasy/anxiety about female power.  

Barbara Creed's The Monstrous-Feminine: Woman as Possessed Monster discusses films where "female evil" breaks through its innocent shell, such as The Exorcist (1973) and Carrie (1976). Creed writes about "possession" as an expression of the monstrous-feminine.  Spygirl Evelyn Salt becomes possessed, first by loyalty then by revenge. Similar to Regan in The Exorcist, Salt's body is the site of this transformation/possession. As well, in Carrie, her intent on revenge enables her to realize her superhuman powers. Beyond its bullets and car chases, Salt is a film of more complicated ideological equations and is worthy of feminist considerations.