In Honor of Young Adult, the 10 Classic Types of Lady Tantrums in Movies

Level 6 -- Accusatory Rage: Cate Blanchett will pummel you with scandal

Notes on a Scandal has yet to find its footing as a camp classic, but there's no denying the powerful, carnivalesque anger of Cate Blanchett's climactic confrontation with Judi Dench. Is the blistering dialogue not enough for you? ("I was the idiot who bothered, but only because no one told me you were a fucking vampire!") Is the physical assault not enough? Then Cate Blanchett's emergence onto the street with her mouth agape and limbs trembling will surely edify you. She is cocky and righteous and freaked. YES.

Level 7 -- Weapon-Free Physical Violence: Betsy Palmer will now slap you to death.

Mrs. Voorhees is definitely a cold-blooded killer in Friday the 13th, but before she ties up the movie with a final fight, she goes on a slapping rampage that outperforms Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. This scene will literally make you wonder if it's possible to be fronthanded to death. Can someone call Naomi Campbell's entourage and verify this?

Level 8: Murderous Rage: Kathy Bates will have none of your brilliant swearing, Paul!

More Oscar rage! And more murderation. Kathy Bates is phenomenal as the obsessed fan Annie Wilkes in Misery, and the convulsive contempt that fills her body when arguing with James Caan over some swear words is deadly on its own. Sure, the "hobbling" scene is grimmer and grosser, but this moment of serrated insanity earns a lofty placement on this list as a definitive tantrum style.

Level 9: Complete Insanity: Faye Dunaway prefers sturdier hangers, OK?

As Dixon Gaines once put it, Faye Dunaway storms thorough Mommie Dearest in "full kabuki regalia" -- she is a spooky, spindly ghost version of Joan Crawford, and her legendary "wire hangers" explosion is operatically devastating. And hilarious. And it registers on some seismographs. And if another movie ever approaches this world of unmitigated camp, I will call the authorities.

Level 10: KILL KILL KILL: Glenn Close will not be ignored or survived, Dan!

You can't argue with Fatal Attraction or most murderers, for that matter. Glenn Close may have lost that damn Oscar to Cher in '87, but her character Alex Forrest is the reigning czarina of fury, resentment, delirium and unscrupulousness. Knives! Cooked bunny rabbits! Kidnapping! Big hair! This lady will stop at nothing. She is the Chernobyl of tantrums, and it takes slightly more than a fresh bath to cool her down.

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