It's one thing to be an instantly recognizable Femme Fatale; it's a whole other thing when that person is also a cultural icon. Mae West was blonde, brassy, and overtly sexual--a bane to Will H. Hays and his Hollywood code of movie censorship. Unfortunately, West's cult status has been boiled down to her famous catch phrase, "Why don't you come up and see me sometime." She was in fact the witty and vivacious shot in the arm that 1930's America needed. It was the Great Depression and people needed a figure who could take their mind off of their money troubles. And what better way to stop thinking about money woes then to think about sex. Whereas most other silver screen starlets tried to mask their sexuality in a coquettish coyness, West would have none of that. She was the P. T. Barnum of sexual politics. Even though she played the siren, she mocked everything it stood for. Examples of this attitude come from some of her famous movie lines like "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" "Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before," and "It's better to be looked over than overlooked." Later in her life, she took vixen her role to the level of self-pardoy, but that could not diminish her past glories. Call her the Queen of Camp, but no one can deny West's place in the Femme Fatale pantheon.