If you've ever wondered why you're attracted to villains... congratulations, you're about to get answers!

Let's talk about why so many of us are absolutely unwell over Joan "The Freak" Ferguson from Wentworth, and why a villain this elegant, severe, and unnervingly captivating makes our empathy do backflips it has no business doing...while simultaneously awakening thoughts that require either a licensed therapist, a priest, or both working overtime.

In this episode, I'm breaking down how beauty standards trick our brains into defending dangerous characters, how elegance softens evil, and why someone like Joan inspires fan edits, devotion, and comment sections full of people metaphorically (and sometimes literally) biting their lips, calling her "Daddy," and losing structural integrity in the knees.

We're going from ancient physiognomy to the modern "hot villain industrial complex" to figure out why one sharply dressed, psychologically commanding woman makes entire fandoms whisper, "Okay... but destroy me!"

If you've ever rooted for- or thirsted after - a villain you know belongs in therapy and not your fantasies, this deep dive is about to make everything make sense.

Are. You. Ready?

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Sources & Further Reading:

Lavater, Johann Kaspar. Essays on Physiognomy. 1775–1778.

Pearl, Sharrona. About Faces: Physiognomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Princeton University Press, 2010.

Lombroso, Cesare. Criminal Man. (Original 1876; Duke University Press edition 2006).

Rafter, Nicole. The Criminal Brain: Understanding Biological Theories of Crime. New York University Press, 2008.

Williams, Linda. Viewing Positions: Ways of Seeing Film. Rutgers University Press, 1995.

Carroll, Noël. The Philosophy of Horror; or, Paradoxes of the Heart. Routledge, 1990.

Ndalianis, Angela. Neo-Baroque Aesthetics and Contemporary Entertainment. MIT Press, 2004.

Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. Routledge, 1993.

Hamad, Hannah. Postfeminism and Contemporary Hollywood Cinema. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.

Jenkins, Henry. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. Routledge, 1992.

Additional References:

Contemporary film and TV criticism from The Guardian, Vox, Vulture, IndieWire, and The Atlantic (2023–2025).

Interviews with Pamela Rabe and the creative team behind Wentworth (ABC Australia, SBS, 2015–2021 press coverage).

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Apple Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beauty-unlocked-the-podcast/id1522636282

Spotify Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/37MLxC8eRob1D0ZcgcCorA

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Intro/Outro Music:

“Fame Inc” by Savvier — https://icons8.com/music