“If the extent of your media criticism is “this made me feel bad” or “I’ve never experienced this” then I fear we need to go back to the well.” LITERALLY I have saved this to use as a mental response to so much internet discourse and weak takes!
I loved this and loved it, really made me think. To me one of the main takeaways was what Charlie was saying to Rachel about how many people must think about it given the frequency that it occurs in America. Socially contagious, like eating disorders or self harm. When Rachel said “so it’s America’s fault” I thought, well yes. Another thing was how Emma said she was attracted to the aesthetics, when you’re a child it’s hard to really comprehend the weight and the depths of death and how far it ripples. I lost a friend in my early 20s and have been processing it for years, especially as the rest of us get older. I think she was portrayed as a really empathetic person, that she couldn’t do it when she was confronted by the reality of death and forced to grapple with the reality of it.
100% agree. I loved how this film depicted how social media moral posturing is bleeding into everyday life and relationships. Charlie reminded me a little too much of Tom Schwartz from VPR.
« is our capacity for love and forgiveness greater than our obsession with punishment?» i’m so obsessed by that quote!!! i think another great movie to talk about punishment is tár, one of my fav movies ever!! and it also revolves around the cancel culture/power dynamics. every time i watch it i notice another new layer i hadn’t noticed before
I did consider the possibility that they made this movie to show how horrible the various Rachels of the world are. Re: trauma, Emma keeps going back to the beginning and starts over. I thought this was the sign that she had been traumatized, since this is how trauma works: you keep going back to the start to redo it. What could have given me trauma was Charlie being the Head Curator at the Met before even getting married.
If that is your takeaway from We Need to Talk About Kevin, I urge you (I implore you!) to read it again. We are not meant to believe Kevin is a sociopath because of Eva, it is purposely told through her perspective so that the reader must choose who bears culpability. Is Eva an unreliable narrator? Did she form his monstrousity by being callous and cold, or was she gaslit repeatedly by her husband and professionals when she asked for help?
Omg yes! I read a piece on here about how Sean Baker is a pervert for all of his movies about sex workers and then, of course, everyone in the comments goes off about Tarantino and the like. I’m an ex-stripper and I loved Anora so, so very much and related to it deeply. Many tears were shed in that movie theater. Maybe Sean’s a pervert IDK but I still think his movie was a beautiful and realistic depiction of what that life is like and not trauma porn. It was just crazy the amount of artistic shielding both the author and commenters called for 🤦♀️ Talk about censorship begins within…
This is so spot on. People saying a movie is sexist because the character does something sexist omg.
I’m bummed I got the drama spoiled before watching it (not here, a different review) but I’m still excited to watch it. I wrote a piece last year called “a movie isn’t good just because you agree with the protagonists”.
Loved the part about how the secret doesn’t matter, it’s the vehicle for this punishment hungry. Before I deleted tiktok, there was a video where someone was saying how doxxing is the worst version of asking for the manager and how it’s bad and we shouldn’t do it, and the comments were all “yea I def agree, except to racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc!”
And it’s like… no…no doxxing isn’t really okay in any situation really. That’s why I kind of wish the had Emma actually done it in the movie. While I appreciate the commentary of “are you bad person because of your thoughts?” (Especially as someone with OCD) I do wonder how many of these people who say they believe in reformative justice, actually do believe that.
I think the other thing not mentioned is that the director dated a 16 year old when he was 27 and then wrote an article defending it. I completely agree with everything about criticism and mortality but it’s hard to separate the art from the artist. I view his work in a different light because of his real life actions. So one of the worst things the director has really done is date a child when he was an adult.
you've never had a bad take, thank you for every single word of this. struggling to even pull one line out because they're all so spot on. we may have a literacy crisis but it's more so a comprehension crisis or even a criticism crisis. where's the room for nuance and thought!
Literally obsessed with everything you say
“I’m very glad you’re the best person in the world, but I must warn you: it’s limiting your scope and it’s making your art bad.”
same this so perfectly put my thoughts on the film and audiences into words
You restore my faith in cultural/arts criticism!
“If the extent of your media criticism is “this made me feel bad” or “I’ve never experienced this” then I fear we need to go back to the well.” LITERALLY I have saved this to use as a mental response to so much internet discourse and weak takes!
I loved this and loved it, really made me think. To me one of the main takeaways was what Charlie was saying to Rachel about how many people must think about it given the frequency that it occurs in America. Socially contagious, like eating disorders or self harm. When Rachel said “so it’s America’s fault” I thought, well yes. Another thing was how Emma said she was attracted to the aesthetics, when you’re a child it’s hard to really comprehend the weight and the depths of death and how far it ripples. I lost a friend in my early 20s and have been processing it for years, especially as the rest of us get older. I think she was portrayed as a really empathetic person, that she couldn’t do it when she was confronted by the reality of death and forced to grapple with the reality of it.
100% agree. I loved how this film depicted how social media moral posturing is bleeding into everyday life and relationships. Charlie reminded me a little too much of Tom Schwartz from VPR.
Omg yes the ultimate worm boyfriend!!!
This is sooo accurate. The awww shucks, spineless, man.
As always, you are phenomenal at your craft
« is our capacity for love and forgiveness greater than our obsession with punishment?» i’m so obsessed by that quote!!! i think another great movie to talk about punishment is tár, one of my fav movies ever!! and it also revolves around the cancel culture/power dynamics. every time i watch it i notice another new layer i hadn’t noticed before
I didn’t even connect this to Brawler…masterpiece
I did consider the possibility that they made this movie to show how horrible the various Rachels of the world are. Re: trauma, Emma keeps going back to the beginning and starts over. I thought this was the sign that she had been traumatized, since this is how trauma works: you keep going back to the start to redo it. What could have given me trauma was Charlie being the Head Curator at the Met before even getting married.
If that is your takeaway from We Need to Talk About Kevin, I urge you (I implore you!) to read it again. We are not meant to believe Kevin is a sociopath because of Eva, it is purposely told through her perspective so that the reader must choose who bears culpability. Is Eva an unreliable narrator? Did she form his monstrousity by being callous and cold, or was she gaslit repeatedly by her husband and professionals when she asked for help?
Omg yes! I read a piece on here about how Sean Baker is a pervert for all of his movies about sex workers and then, of course, everyone in the comments goes off about Tarantino and the like. I’m an ex-stripper and I loved Anora so, so very much and related to it deeply. Many tears were shed in that movie theater. Maybe Sean’s a pervert IDK but I still think his movie was a beautiful and realistic depiction of what that life is like and not trauma porn. It was just crazy the amount of artistic shielding both the author and commenters called for 🤦♀️ Talk about censorship begins within…
This is so spot on. People saying a movie is sexist because the character does something sexist omg.
I’m bummed I got the drama spoiled before watching it (not here, a different review) but I’m still excited to watch it. I wrote a piece last year called “a movie isn’t good just because you agree with the protagonists”.
yes 100% all the way. also the drama is original. anything original deserves to be respected on that alone nowadays
Loved the part about how the secret doesn’t matter, it’s the vehicle for this punishment hungry. Before I deleted tiktok, there was a video where someone was saying how doxxing is the worst version of asking for the manager and how it’s bad and we shouldn’t do it, and the comments were all “yea I def agree, except to racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc!”
And it’s like… no…no doxxing isn’t really okay in any situation really. That’s why I kind of wish the had Emma actually done it in the movie. While I appreciate the commentary of “are you bad person because of your thoughts?” (Especially as someone with OCD) I do wonder how many of these people who say they believe in reformative justice, actually do believe that.
I think the other thing not mentioned is that the director dated a 16 year old when he was 27 and then wrote an article defending it. I completely agree with everything about criticism and mortality but it’s hard to separate the art from the artist. I view his work in a different light because of his real life actions. So one of the worst things the director has really done is date a child when he was an adult.
you've never had a bad take, thank you for every single word of this. struggling to even pull one line out because they're all so spot on. we may have a literacy crisis but it's more so a comprehension crisis or even a criticism crisis. where's the room for nuance and thought!