# A female character gets "honeytrapped"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868 "2013-07-30T01:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/21 "2013-07-30T13:13:15Z")
Dana Walsh on _24_ suffers a kind of retroactive version of this, IIRC. A bad-news boyfriend from her past shows up and threatens to blow the whistle on her fake identity if she doesn’t play ball. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/22 "2013-07-30T14:25:16Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Viggo Mortensen honeytraps and blackmails for money Gwyneth Paltrow in _A Perfect Murder_ (1998) Great movie — you should watch it again, because you’ve got it wrong. First Douglas blackmails Mortenson, then vice versa, but Paltrow is never blackmailed. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/23 "2013-07-30T15:08:40Z")
In the novel and film _The Kremlin Letter_ a young woman is honeytrapped by a lesbian in order to blackmail her father. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/24 "2013-07-30T16:23:28Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Great movie — you should watch it again, because you’ve got it wrong. He’s got it wrong, but he’s missing it pretty close: Douglas fakes evidence so it looks like Mortensen was on a _Seduce-Paltrow-And-Blackmail-Ensues_ mission; Douglas ably points out that nobody else could’ve taken the in-flagrante-delicto photographs, and neatly claims he’s been paying blackmail for that reason (instead of, y’know, the whole I-was-hiring-a-dude-to-kill-my-wife-and-you-got-me-on-tape thing). ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/25 "2013-07-30T16:23:28Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The Soviets used male honeytraps in real life. A British man who defected was trained to seduce the wives and secretaries of powerful men. > > Saw it in a documentary once. And the F/X show **The Americans** , about Soviet spies in the US in the 1980s, has its male spy running honeytrap ops in almost every episode. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/26 "2013-07-30T16:45:03Z")
In the TV show MI5 Adam Carter seduces the wife of a diplomat and one of his colleagues refers to him as a honey trap. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/27 "2013-07-30T16:49:18Z")
Spoilers inevitable, right? So, come to think of it, this is technically the ending to HORRIBLE BOSSES: they dangle a guy in front of lusty Jennifer Aniston, she takes the bait, it’s all caught on film, cue instant blackmail. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/28 "2013-07-30T17:12:31Z")
In _The Little Drummer Girl_, by John LeCarre, the Israelis use an attractive man to seduce a mousy woman who works in a bank for some reason, or other. I haven’t read the book in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/29 "2013-07-30T17:41:32Z")
In an episode of _Sherlock_, an unnamed female royal visits a professional dominatrix, who takes photos. I don’t think the dominatrix actively sought the victim so my has recognized a good opportunity when it came her way. But really the plot was pretty convoluted so I can’t be sure. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/30 "2013-07-30T17:59:03Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > In an episode of _Sherlock_, an unnamed female royal visits a professional dominatrix, who takes photos. I don’t think the dominatrix actively sought the victim so my has recognized a good opportunity when it came her way. But really the plot was pretty convoluted so I can’t be sure. It’s pretty clear to me that Irene Adler makes taking blackmail-useful pics of all her clientele, male or female. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/31 "2013-07-30T20:28:11Z")
None of these movies pass [The Bechdel Test](http://bechdeltest.com/), do they? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/32 "2013-07-30T21:23:45Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > As well as every other Bond movie where Bond seduces the villains girlfriend or chief henchwoman into helping him. Naw, that’s a failed honey trap. The women try to trap him, but Bond doesn’t blackmail them into helping him. They’re always won over by his charm. > [@Dogzilla](#): > > None of these movies pass [The Bechdel Test](http://bechdeltest.com/), do they? ☹ I don’t know if they do, but there’s no reason why they can’t. Plus, even if they didn’t, it would be less sexist for them to be blackmailed than won over by Bond’s charm. Plus, it doesn’t mean all that much–Charmed (especially early on) was very sexist, but it passed the Bechdel Test nearly every episode–mostly having them talk about clothes or makeup or other typically girly things. Often, talking about guys was less sexist, since they were talking about the demon they needed to use their powers to stop. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/33 "2013-07-30T22:49:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Plus, it doesn’t mean all that much–Charmed (especially early on) was very sexist, but it passed the Bechdel Test nearly every episode–mostly having them talk about clothes or makeup or other typically girly things. Often, talking about guys was less sexist, since they were talking about the demon they needed to use their powers to stop. Yeah, the element of “not talking about a man” seems overly mechanical. If in a movie the female District Attorney and the female Chief of Detectives discuss strategies on catching and convicting the male mob boss, or the female Senator and her female chief of staff discuss strategies on getting their bill past the particular opposition of the male President of the Senate, the scene doesn’t pass the Bechdel test? 😕:dubious::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/34 "2013-07-30T23:01:51Z")
So this has nothing to do with Winnie the Pooh? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/35 "2013-07-30T23:09:27Z")
This was a plot point in **Clear and Present Danger** , where the druglord’s #1 henchman, played by Joaquim De Almeida, seduces a secretary for the FBI Director, to get information about his whereabouts. Also, see the movie **Masquerade**. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/36 "2013-07-31T00:08:48Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > So this has nothing to do with Winnie the Pooh? Only if there’s a story I don’t know about where Pooh sleeps with Kanga and then threatens to tell everyone if she doesn’t furnish him with ample supplies of honey. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/37 "2013-07-31T02:38:17Z")
[Here’s a real life example.](http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-04-01/news/cuban-spy-juan-pablo-roque-s-jilted-ex-wife-won-27-million-for-his-deception/) ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/38 "2013-07-31T08:17:08Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The Soviets used male honeytraps in real life. A British man who defected was trained to seduce the wives and secretaries of powerful men. > > Saw it in a documentary once. In one of Stephen Hunter’s novels (I wanna say “The Hour Before Midnight”) one of the Russian characters is a male honeytrap - his specialty is seducing plus-size government clerical workers. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/39 "2013-07-31T13:12:04Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > It happens in one of the rebooted Bond movies— > > _Casino Royale_ Really? As I recall Bond seduces someone’s wife, but does no blackmailing, while The Bad Guys are extorting Vespa by threatening her innocent and legitimately acquired boyfriend, not blackmailing her. > [@madmonk28](#): > > In _The Little Drummer Girl_, by John LeCarre, the Israelis use an attractive man to seduce a mousy woman who works in a bank for some reason, or other. I haven’t read the book in 20 years. There’s an intentional seduction in _Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy_, too, though not for blackmail, just emotional confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868/40 "2013-07-31T17:24:20Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Really? As I recall > > Bond seduces someone’s wife, but does no blackmailing, while The Bad Guys are extorting Vespa by threatening her innocent and legitimately acquired boyfriend, not blackmailing her. Actually, Vespa’s boyfriend was, in fact, a spy who was using her without her knowledge. This is explained at the end of Quantum Of Solace where Bond tracks down the boyfriend who is doing it again to a woman that works for the Canadian Embassy in Russia. He exposes him by showing her the same necklace that Vespa wore, which she was also wearing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-character-gets-honeytrapped/664868.md?page=3)