I took some time on a rainy day to watch ‘Poor Things’ on the advice of a friend whose opinion I value highly. I wanted to attend with an open mind, so I did no prior research save for being told it is a coming of age and empowerment movie from the female perspective. I am intrigued by the entire subject after college courses I have taken, #MeToo, the rulings on Roe V Wade, and my own feelings on the subject. Hopefully from the tone of my review you’ll get a feel of where I stand, otherwise you will just have to follow my blog.
First, I want to say I love this movie! Right from the start it attempts to challenge every one of the world’s preconceived constructs of normality. It is a combination of a Tim Burton production meshed with Frankenstein and the Isle of Dr. Moreau inhabiting a sphere created by Robert Weine (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). The costumes, the scenery, the dialogue, and the lighting all work in perfect harmony. I have not experienced anything else by the director Yorgos Lanthimos, but if this is how he thinks, I will be a devotee. I was also very impressed by the acting, while the movie contained a ton of special effects, the thespians commanded the screen. Above all Emma Stone was fabulous; I have not seen a better individual performance in as long as I can remember. Her character was the engine for the entire cinematic experience. It began with the painfully disjointed spurts and starts much like the toddler and smoothed out as she learned and experienced life as it has for all of us.
No matter how far we feel society has come, there is a definite double standard in what is acceptable from a man and a woman. This movie attacks those fallacious notions head on beautifully with extreme prejudice. First every man in the movie works hard to control Stone’s character Bella Baxter trying to mold and shape her into an obedient pet. She understands this and uses her wiles and their feelings to get her own way while soaking in all life has to offer. The movie demolishes the convention that women should be monogamous or branded a whore while men have unlimited freedom for indiscretions. Stone’s character extricates herself from the Victorian ideals of the time and takes control of her life with a positivity despite the evils of the world. I am a bit idealistic, but I hope the message from this movie can be a catalyst to release women from the conventional bonds placed upon them by society and level the playing field.
