First of all, Emma Stoneâs performance is as good as everybody is saying. Stone takes a very difficult role that easily could have gone very, very wrong and makes it look like the most effortless thing in the world.
I have been looking at the reviews, good and bad, and I think that the minority of people who didnât vibe with this movie had slightly skewed expectations.
Poor Things starts out at Tetsuo The Iron Man levels of fucked up, but by the end it has dropped to Edward Scissor hands levels of fucked up. This is probably plenty of weirdness for the average movie-goer, but true connoisseurs of mondo cinema should calibrate their expectations.
Second, apparently this is being talked up as a sort of feminist coming of age fable chronicling an everywomanâs sexual awakening and liberation, and it really isnât that, and I think if you are hoping for that youâll come away disappointed.
Better, I think, to look at it as an autistic coming of age fable and power fantasy, which I think it does a tremendous job at.
Very minor spoilers under the cut; really, this is more an essay about what I thought the film was about than a review, my review would be that it's somehow simultaneously a feel-good crowd-pleaser AND a movie where an adult woman with the brain of a toddler stabs the eyes out of a corpse with a scalpel and then plays with its penis (I wasn't kidding with the Tetsuo comparison)
Honestly now that I've actually written that out I have maybe underestimated how impressive it is that Yorgos Lanthimos made a movie where that happens on screen but somehow basically everybody loves the movie.
In terms of sex, we do watch Bella discover sex, but she very quickly comes to a conclusion about her relationship with it which never once changes throughout the rest of the movie:
She likes it, she likes it more with an attractive partner, she is utterly lacking in any kind of sexual jealousy, and she doesn't attach too much more to it than that.
This is an odd comparison, but Bella treats sex the way Joey did on Friends. A man acting this way is a sitcom cliche, but a woman acting the same wayâŠ
This is a film that is really, really not interested in the real-world consequences of this kind of sex; in fact, given that a pregnancy is the inciting incident of the film, it came off a little weird to me that the possibility of a pregnancy or STD was never really addressed (unless there was a line or two that I missed while I was in the bathroom).
For the most part, though, I was able to get past it by just thinking of it as a heightened world. The sets and settings are extremely artificial, and ultimately I figured, âHey, if I can buy this kind of thing as harmless and fun in a sitcom, I can buy it in this other kind of heightened reality.
I will say, I don't think Bella is meant to be an every-woman, and that there's textual support for this in the film itself.
All of the women Bella deals with in some way question her approach to sex, making it clear, sometimes through explicit dialog, other times more reading between the lines, that her approach to sex is not for them.
If thereâs any particularly feminist message in the film, itâs that when confronted with Bellaâs bizarre approach to the world, none of the women get angry at her, and most of the men she meets do.
But Bellaâs relationships with other women arenât really the meat of the film, thatâs more about her relationship with men, and particularly the way that they feel, deep in their bones, that they should have control over any woman that they have sex with.
Duncan Wedderburn, when he first discovers Bella and convinces her to go away with him, thinks he is tricking and seducing a beautiful naif who he can use and then discard when he tires of her. Their relationship disintegrates as it becomes clear that Bella hasnât been tricked at all; she wanted exactly what he was able to give, a chance to sow her wild oats by having some no strings attached sex with an attractive, likable person in an exciting foreign city.
This makes Wedderburn increasingly unhappy and unhinged (He says at one point that he has become what he hates, a âgrasping succubusâ) much to Bellaâs growing consternation. She has no idea why he canât simply be happy having sex with her and otherwise letting her do what she wants, and he is so committed to a certain vision of gender roles that he canât even begin to explain it, he can only lash out in frustration.
And that I think is the meatier part of the film; Bella doesnât so much flout social expectations as she is simply totally unaware that they exist.Â
Honestly I think the character isnât so much coded as autistic as she just is autistic. Bella is a woman who is basically totally unaware of social expectations and constantly taken aback to discover that they exist.
More than that, she has to figure out a way to work around the fact that many of the people who become most enraged by her are also so totally lacking in self-reflection, and view their social situation as so normal, so self-evidently obvious that they cannot explain to her why it is she has made them angry. They suddenly fly into rages that clearly perplex Bella and which they themselves donât even bother to explain, because they regard their own ideas as self-evident.
Bella is an idealized autistic hero; personally as outlandish as she is I donât really think the film expects us to take the side of anybody else, and I think there are some fairly subtle and accurate bits of autistic behavior on her part.
She responds to life as a kind of social experiment, attempting to parse out a set of logical rules and, especially in the latter parts of the movie, she often justifies her actions with a perfectly sensible internal logic that the emotional men in her life canât parse out. Late in the film, when she and Wedderburn are destitute, she prostitutes herself for 30 francs, and with implacable logic, explains the two reasons that Wedderburn ought to be quite happy she has done so: First, her john was much worse at sex than Wedderburn, which ought to satisfy his ego, and second, they now have 30 francs and the potential to earn more.
Wedderburn does not appreciate her logical approach.
Another thing that strikes me as very true is that Bella has a very odd theory of mind for other people. Thereâs a scene where, traumatized by the unspeakable poverty and suffering she sees in Alexandria, she puts all of Wedderburnâs money in a box and rushes out to give it to the poor. Unfortunately the ship is leaving, but two port attendants tell her that they will be staying on the island, and would be happy to deliver a package. She tells them that she has a big box filled with money and they should give it to the islandâs poor, and they agree to do so. Now, the film never tells us one way or another whether they keep their word; but Bella herself retains an iron certainty that they did exactly what she asked them to. Now, we know Bella understands what lying and deceit are, because weâve seen her trick people before, like when she chloroforms McCandles to run away with Wedderburn. But it never once occurs to her that these sailors might do something similar. Call it paradoxical, but that kind of thinking is common in autistic people.
Thereâs also the scene where the self-professed cynic Harry Astley shows her the suffering in Alexandria; he admits, when he sees how terribly it has affected her, that he didnât tell her simply because he thought it was the truth of the world, but that her attitude made him angry, and he wanted to hurt her. A very common part of the autistic coming of age is the slow realization that not everything people tell you is part of a dispassionate, scientific search for the truth.
Thereâs also a scene in a whorehouse in which Bella argues that it would make more sense to have the women decide who is to sleep with the johns, so that then the john could be more confident that the girl was attracted to him, which he must doubt if he chooses. You can tell Iâm autistic because I immediately had the thought, âWell, but the johns would probably be worried that nobody would choose them.â
One of Bellaâs fellow working girls instead tells her, âSome of them like the fact that we donât have a choiceâ.
With the s5 finale of wwdits all I can hope for in s6 is that the decision Guillermo made was for ANY reason other than the sitcom "everything stays stagnant and no one changes" issue.
My biggest hope is that Nandor takes time in s6 to truly prepare Guillermo for the realities of being a vampire before ultimately turning Guillermo himself. We would get some Nandor lore, some more angst about Nandor regretting vampirism like he did when he entered the cult, some Guillermo family drama, and most importantly repairing the relationship between Nandor and Guillermo.
But I would settle for any reason at all. I just don't believe that Guillermo truly gave up on his life long dream and goal for over a decade just because drinking from a human wigged him out in the moment.
Loving the thought that Laszlo doesn't want to take responsibility for the entire vampire society when they were appointed to be the new leaders of the council but took responsibility of the little Colin Robinson.
You guys are so delusional I love you. Mac and Dennis are never going to fuck Iâm sorry. Like the way you talk about season 16 makes it sound like the show runners were intentionally and explicitly building two sided sexual tension between Mac and Dennis but you are so obviously grasping at straws here Dennis literally canât stand Mac. U guys got me invested in the ship now too so here I am getting my feelings crushed cuz I go to watch season 16 and realize youâre all delulu <3
Guys...the comparison between Bryan & Aaron's relationship with Mac & Dennis' relationship just fed my fucking soul tonight.
When Mac says he's not allowed to talk and Bryan says 'Me, either' and nods his head in Aaron's direction, you instantly see the comparison in the dynamic.
Also, I think the point is to read Bryan's speech to be his true feelings. I did an immediate re-watch, and in the cold open I noticed how when the reporter asks them specifically about their alcohol, Bryan puts all intellectual credit/responsibility on Aaron, but in a playfully light self-teasing kind of way. Still, he does take removed credit.
But, as we see with the way Bryan acknowledges Mac, he's aware of how Aaron treats him. He's keeping everything low stakes for himself on purpose.
Macdennis brainrot and all that, but their relationship seems to be a main focus this season. If they aren't working as a duo, like in FSEMOTG & TGGC, then we are getting nods to Dennis letting go of secrets from his past and trauma dumps of Macâs heroes failing him, (Charlie too, but focusing on Macdennis for this post) - Though, speaking of Charlie, his character is intentionally split off from them this episode, despite it being their collective pitch. He's absolutely hilarious, but even though they all were in sync about the original idea, the trio doesn't work in the narrative parallel with our celebrity business partners.
This is the episode after Dennis dropped the Johnny Betrayal Bomb. We see Mac and Dennis side-by-side throughout the entire bar scene, standing together as a unit, even in the damn bathroom.
The audience is forced to examine the dynamic of their relationship. The constant tension between them and their bitching is used for comedy, but it's also used as foreshadowing for the belittling that occurs from Aaron towards Bryan.
But the difference is that's Macâs being shitty back; he's not letting Dennis tell him how he feels about his clothes. He flat-out accuses Dennis, 'the smartest guy he's ever met', of choking. He smirks when Dennis stalks off in frustration. He also recognizes and points out the 'abusive relationship'. He even goes all high-neck, absolutely entranced when Bryan gets in Aaron's face.
When Bryan sits down and finishes his speech, 'Who's really in control here?' Dennis looks at Mac and then down for a moment before Bryan has his and scene moment.
Sunny loves her metaphors and parallels, okay?!
Maybe I'm unhinged, maybe I'm feral. But...
This is everything I've ever wanted to see in a dynamic shift.
I literally kept popping back into my Macden memo note when I rewatched FVR, before watching CB:TUCG, I finally started to feel a bit of structure to my fic. There was some growth I needed for Mac's character, so I tried to explain his behavior and overall denial towards Dennis' revelation in FVR. I really went in on his character's history. And I came to a theory about him.
And, honestly, S16E5 did wonders for cat-in-the-wall-ing some serious relationship acknowledgments and comparisons.
Honestly, I'm feeling so vindicated with how well this season is blending comedy with acknowledgments to the trauma of these characters and the picking apart of their dynamics.
I may be wrong, but I feel like there are less jokes per episode this season, and honestly, I mean this as a compliment. This is the longest running sitcom and these characters have been to hell and back. Hell, they've all stabbed each other in the back. But at some point, it has to affect things. We can't wear blinders to what their realities are. The relationships have to be examined, but more importantly, they have to change, even if only a little; otherwise, there's no point in the longest-standing journey.
I was trying to figure out why the whole butt plug chess scene made me a little uncomfortable with Dennis gaining so much satisfaction and clear catharsis from essentially raping frank to pursue such a meaningless goal. But like- that's exactly what Franks done on screen and off screen to Dennis in the early seasons. He was pimping his own son off to further some meaningless b plot scheme and Dennis (mommy AND daddy issues) Reynolds is very much about losing and gaining power back this season.
absolutely insane having bryan show he knows hes in a manipulative relationship and showing that he has the power to break it and reverse the powerâŠ.
and then just not. bc hes fine with it and so is aaron. like when they ask him to invest he immediately goes to aaron after the monologue. and without question agreeing with whatever he says. no interest in completely changing their dynamic
edit: actually by doing this he does change the dynamic a bit. now aaron knows he does have his own thoughts and could leave if he wanted. but he doesnt want to leave
This WHOLE scene was SO macden coded. My stoned ass couldn't concentrate on anything other than how much this is exactly what Dennis has been asking if Mac for the last like 3 seasons. To just DO something. Stand FOR something. But still have Dennis in control. Just to put up a little bit of a fight for Dennis. All I could think of was the face scratching scene. "LOOK AT ME WHEN IM TALKING TO YOU"
I can't believe how much Macden content we're getting even when they're not the central focus.
So far we only had guillermo killing vampires and i feel cheated. Next season I actually want to see him kill human vampire slayers. Directly kill them. The showrunners have to confront the fact that guillermo is a killer upfront. Vampires are people too. How would you feel if nadja or laszlo got killed by a slayer? Would you say they were vampires so it didnât matter? But the thing is, most viewers probably donât see guillermo killing vampires as an act of killing per se; the kind that makes you a certified killer. Some may think guillermo is doing a service to humanity by slaying the monsters. But guillermo is not like that. Heâs not some kind of savior for humankind. Heâs doing it for his vampire family. And the show has to come clean and be more upfront about the fact that guillermo is a killer not a monster-slaying hero.
He's only killed to protect his family. And his family are vampires. I NEED to see him killing people like the others do but for the protection of his family.
He's been killing humans by luring them to the vampires for a decade. Let's not pretend he cares about human life
it feels pretty obvious at this point that nandermo is gonna be canon. in official videos they refer to it as a âwill they wonât theyâ
that being said, im so fucking excited to see HOW they become a couple canonically. these characters are so silly itâs hard for me to imagine what scenario theyâll choose.
personally i think itâll have to be one of the other vampires gets fed up w nandor being an idiot and is just like âyou are so obviously in love with guillermo you pee brainâ
i've seen so many glitched polls already. unvotable polls, polls where you vote for everything, paired polls where voting in one also votes in the other, polls set to last for decades,
no QA team is as good as dropping a new piece of enrichment in our cage and watching us all start to chew on it. it tastes like vanilla extract
This shit's queer bc I said so @sapphicchaos - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
