Why Jane Fonda sued her first “extraordinary” movie: “Misleading and dishonest”
Since Jane Fonda entered the film industry in the 1960s, she has become a cultural icon, known for her fiercely feminist politics and penchant for unconventional roles, such as call girl Bree Daniels in Klute or an American journalist in Jean-Luc Godard’s Marxist drama Tout Va Bien. Defying what is expected from Hollywood stars throughout her career by allowing her politics to inform her choice in movies, as well as using her celebrity status to campaign against war, Fonda has always been known as a rather radical figure.
She began her career in the 1960 film Tall Story alongside Psycho star Anthony Perkins, which was a critical flop, but she didn’t let this deter her from pursuing her dream of becoming a star like her father, Henry Fonda. Instead of following an expected trajectory like many of her contemporaries, she made several rather rogue decisions that allowed her to assert herself as a unique figure in the industry.
Fonda appeared in various erotically-charged European films during the mid-1960s, often directed by her then-husband, Roger Vadim. Following an appearance alongside French heartthrob Alain Delon in Rene Clement’s Joy House, she collaborated with Vadim on Circle of Love, which reportedly resulted in the pair, alongside a few other cast members, being charged with obscenity in Italy.
The film featured a scantily-clad Fonda, which caused outrage, but for the actor, the real controversy came when Circle of Love was being promoted. In Times Square, a massive poster of Fonda in the nude was erected over a theatre to entice a certain kind of viewer to buy a ticket, and she was not impressed. She reportedly felt a sense of “shame” when she saw the poster, which featured a drawing of the actor laid on her front fully naked, which had been inspired by a scene in the movie.
Despite the stress of this incident, Fonda found the film to be “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life” (via The New York Post). Still, she couldn’t let these advertising moguls get away with exploiting her for the sake of gaining a profit, so she sued for $3 million, resulting in the part of the poster featuring her naked behind being covered up.
“The image was crude, cartoonish, and on top of that, the critics were emphasising the sexual aspects of the story, and nudity, which is misleading and dishonest. I was never nude in the movie,” Fonda claimed.
This, sadly, wouldn’t be the first time that Fonda felt exploited after working on a Vadim film. A few years later, she appeared in Barbarella, which became one of her most iconic roles – even inspiring an Ariana Grande music video decades later – but a nude scene was left in the film’s opening credits without her consent. She once told Vulture, “Vadim promised me it [her naked body] would be covered up with titles, and it wasn’t. We aren’t married anymore!”
Unfortunately, Hollywood has a long history of exploiting female stars and ignoring their requests for safety and respect. These incidents evidently spurred Fonda’s feminist thinking, leading her to become an iconic figure of female empowerment during the 1970s.
