It may seem like all I do is watch movies. Like that's a bad thing. “Poor Things” has got me thinking about the patriarchy. Tadah! But is it a feminist film? Is “Barbie”? What is feminism anyway, and can’t a movie just be good?
Guardian writer Beatrice Loayza says there are so many films about strong women, a Feminist Movie could be a subcategory on Netflix. But she argues the whole debate is meaningless, wondering “Is any film with a strong female character feminist?”. Do we all need to gather en masse, wearing pink, and discuss the state of womanhood?
I call myself a feminist–but WTF does that mean? The real question may be why do I identify with “Poor Things” Bella and not the Barbie movie? Millions see “Barbie” as feminist. To me, it was a clever commercial for a toy. A doll so impossibly perfect it makes many women feel bad about themselves. My mom raised me to think women did not need Barbie to tell them we could be astronauts.
“Poor Things” may be just another male fantasy about an ideal woman. Incoming spoiler alert: It’s a Frankenstein tale where Bella is created by a mad scientist who plants the unborn baby’s brain into the mom’s corpse! She’s a blank slate and feels no shame. Sounds feminist, but is it? Bella starts as a baby in a grown woman’s body who wants nonstop sex, or what she calls “furious jumping”. It’s so good she wonders “Why do people not do that all the time?
I love the anti-shame/anti-rules part — love the patriarchy bashing, woman-roaring themes. And of course, I see Bella’s scenes with Duncan as turning the tables. The womanizing cad can’t control her, gets jealous, and becomes a blithering idiot. I chuckled at his quote “I have become the very thing I hate. A grasping succubus of a lover. I've pried many of them off me. Now I'm it”. Patriarchy defeated!
The movie makers sure push the feminist stuff. “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig says so. Emma Stone says playing Bella was about women’s liberation and freedom. The book “Poor Things” director Yorgos Lanthimos based his film focuses on the patriarchy.
So what is my version of feminism? I like Bella because she is saying something new and unexpected, she is radical and subversive. She is also more like me, not girly, not what many argue a woman is supposed to be, she’s messy, a tomboy, and hard to love. She doesn’t give a shit what other people think. Also perhaps, a bit of a pain.
Barbie, on the other hand, is too perfect, even as an astronaut she is all clothes and hair, definitely girly. She is too high-school prom, too plasticky, and anatomically impossible. Barbie is cowardly, or even worse: obvious. And I may be imprisoned in Feminist Jail forever for not crying with all the others, but I thought the much-ballyhooed speech by America Ferrara was a cliche— full of old humdingers about dude domination, things women have been saying about sexism for 50 years.
But maybe they need saying again. “Poor Things” is about sexual dynamics in Victorian times, but have things entirely changed? Duncan instructs Bella to parrot one of three things at dinner. “Delighted” was deemed acceptable for a woman to say. Number 3 had something to do with making a pie crust. It was funny.
It also brought back unfunny memories from our times, of being told I was too “ambitious” for a woman. My then-true love’s older and very handsome brother said I was fine, if only I weren’t so “ambitious”, meaning I was inappropriate and unfeminine. If I wasn't a feminist already, I certainly became one at that moment.
Is there such a thing as a Feminist Movie? The “Poor Things” director might talk about tackling the patriarchy, but he’s also happy if people just want to enjoy a good romp! Bella not only enjoys herself, she grows, becomes a better person, and learns that real satisfaction is much more than having sex. Unlike her long-ago twin, Frankenstein, she loves her creator and becomes less cynical, and more aware of others. Her tale is ultimately about optimism.
Should films get held up to a feminist measuring stick? Maybe neither Barbie nor Bella are good feminists. Maybe I’m not either. Sometimes female empowerment rules. Other times it’s just art, just another tale about the power dynamic of relationships. My Fair Lady, Frankenstein, Barbie, on we go. I saw “Poor Things” as a feminist movie. But mostly, it’s just a good film.
He’s probably a feminist, but he’s not made a film, he’s a singer-songwriter! Ron Sexsmith says he’s not shy, he’s just Canadian. A Canadian who is admired by the greats, like Bob Dylan.
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