Sick of male interpretation of media.. especially feminist analysis [Midsommar spoilers/discussion]

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[–]Omina_Sentenziosa 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Dani is manipulated through trauma, brainwashing and gaslighting by the tribe. I have never, for one second, believed that the choice she makes in the end of the movie comes from 100% free will, but from her going batshit crazy after the latest attempt to break her spirit. Attempt that involves her boyfriend cheating on her (from her point of view at least, he is, in fact, raped), which basically means that her losing her entire family, being kidnapped, being treated like shit (by the aforementioned boyfriend and his friends), losing any kind of acquaintance in the middle of nowhere, witnessing people's disappearance and seeing people killing themselves in front of her were things she could get over, but her boyfriend preferring another girl? No, that's too much!

Even assuming her choice is actually genuine, I have no idea how anyone could see it as a feminist positive thing: she chooses to become a murderer over cheating and because a bunch of strangers (responsible of kidnapping and murder) convince her to do it by giving her attention and a flower crown/dress and that's... a good thing?

She switches from a gaslighting boyfriend who treats her like shit to a gaslighting village who makes her a murderer and part of a cult. I am not sure how anyone can see this as a good ending for her.

I don't think the movie is man-hating, but calling it feminist or describing her as a figure of empowerment for women capable of making ponderate choices are the last things I would use to describe this movie.

I don't think the movie was made to show a feminist perspective. In fact, I think it's more a deconstruction and dark satire of the cheap feminist empowerment rethoric that is so common nowadays.

[–]MezozoicGay 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Men are not used to watching female protagonists become truly empowered in any way outside of another male character saving the day.

Not completely, because there are movies and games where only woman is doing everything without man, but there is always one "but". And this "but" is - that woman is always acting like man, she fight with bare hand, showing heroic physical strenght, killing people left and right, very agressive, sometimes she even have men gait (as, obviously, almost all of those movies and games are directed by men). And other "but" is if those women are sexualized over the top (any japanese movie/game, or older Lara Croft games).

[–]Sun_bear 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I haven't seen the film you're talking about (although you've made it seem very interesting) but I agree with you regarding male analysis.

I used to hang around on film message boards years ago and I remember when the first Pirates of the Caribbean film (the one that was actually good) came out reading a man say that it was a film for everyone because boys would watch it and want to be Jack Sparrow and girls would watch it and want to sleep with Jack Sparrow. I thought that was a really odd thing to say at the time, but the more I said I really liked that film the more I kept hearing from men that it was because I wanted to sleep with either Jack Sparrow/Orlando Bloom. It was completely lost on all men that that film is one of the few action films to have a really good, brave, autonomous female character in it and teenage girls liked to empathise with her. It's also a really good story, told really well, with an iconic score and high production values. There's a lot to like there. Yet all men/boys can process is 'women like a thing, women must want to sleep with a thing'.

[–]sisterinsomnia 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I can't comment on that film as I haven't seen it, but I have suddenly watched a lot of stuff because of the lock-down. I hardly watched anything for a few year as I prefer reading (so much faster for me), but that changed recently. I realized fairly soon when a story had only male writers, because some of the plot twists about women just didn't ring right to me. For example, the women in the story would say things that I just didn't think I had heard any woman say ever. I am sure that the same could happen if only women wrote stories about men's psychology, but what makes that less unlikely is that those who rank lower in a society tend to have to learn more about those who rank higher, for surviving or thriving, whereas the more higher ranking can thrive without any such learning about the rest of the society.

[–]marmalade 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I wouldn't say Midsommar is exactly feminist, myself, but it is a great psychological thriller/horror movie and also has very strong things to say about the human capacities for cruelty and hope.