The first scene shows Walter shot, sweaty, and confessing; this shows him as honorable and tough. He was not the typical male in a film noir. When we see Walter's first encounter with Phyllis we see Walter as knowledgeable, clever, and overwhelmed with her beauty. He continues to charm Phyllis by calling her "baby". His overuse of the word signifies the control and confidence he has in a situation to his audience. In the scene where he decides he is going to help Phyllis kill her husband he says, "there's not doing to be any slipper, nothing sloppy, nothing weak". This shows him as clever and tough. Also, he displays heroism because his purpose for helping Phyllis killing her husband is to save her. However, Walter displays characteristics not of the average hero. His questionable morals show as he begins a relationship with a married woman and then commits murder not once but twice. This displays his weakness for temptation. Also, Phyllis always initiates when she meets Walter besides their first encounter and manipulate Walter for her own benefit showing her control over their relationship. His trait of trustworthiness contributes to his ultimate downfall.
Walter's relationships with women are like his with Phyllis. He sweet talks women by calling them "baby" to persuade them into doing what he wants. It's ironic how he thinks he is the one in control of the relationship. He is very intelligent because he plans the thorough murder alone, but he never thought of Phyllis as the evil mastermind, only a victim and lover. He relies his love on only physical attraction. Their first encounter was when Phyllis was in a towel and their conversations never strayed from murder or insurance. We see him trust her without even getting to know her. His traits of confidence and trustworthiness make it all too easy to manipulate him.
Kelsey, I really enjoyed reading this post because it helped me to further understand Walter's character in a way I hadn't before. Prior to reading this post, I had not considered that Walter's usage of the word "Baby" could be an example of his overconfidence, and that his trustworthiness is a downfall. I agree with your view that Walter relies solely on physical attraction as being the base for his love, and that it is because of this that he is easily manipulated. I would have also explored how Walter had frustration in the movie, however, and how that could potentially relate to his manipulative, negative relationship with women. Other than that, this blog post was well-written and I found that it helped to organize my own thoughts about the film. :)
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