This film sounds interesting to me. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy watching it though. Being 47 it feels like I'm living in that reality and I have to say that it's amazing how much women compartmentalize and just kind of... ignore (?) the fact that eventually no matter what amount of effort they put into preventing it, we're seen even less than we were and our societal value becomes close to zero. And while I am dealing with the issue being more pronounced than it was when I first started hearing my age described as basically "too old to fuck" (like 39 lol) I know that really it's only getting worse from here on out. You can know something because it's been demonstrated to you every day of your life but that's really not enough preparation for the way it's going to make you feel. Knowing that it's ridiculous and shouldn't matter just makes you feel frustrated with yourself for being unhappy about it. Which isn't fair either. The best conversations I've had about this have been some really in depth ones with both men and women who were never considered attractive even when they were in the best shape of their early adulthood. It's kind of awesome that Demi Moore is playing someone who's probably supposed to be closer to my age though! I guess?
My best friend who I talk about going to the movies with? She's in her mid-Sixties, same as I am. She works out and stays in shape, and makes an effort to make up and dress casually but stylishly even at home among friends (my ex-wife used to joke that you knew she loved you when she let you see her before she put her face on in the mornings!).
I don't work out, and never really did except for several years in the Aughts/2010s—I fell out of the habit about the time my marriage was falling apart, and never got back into it.
Anyway, she really loved THE SUBSTANCE, and it gave both of us a lot to think about. Admittedly we got to be friends in the first place because of our shared love of horror and SF movies, and that hasn't changed in the four decades we've known each other....
You might check out Titane; another female-centered body horror film indebted to/critiquing Cronenberg. It's pretty amazing, though not for the faint of heart...
I loved every moment Dennis Quiad was in full close-up, mouth full of beautifully disgusting food, spewing patriarchy from his technicolor wardrobe. Reminded me of the game show scenes from Requiem for a Dream. Everything so surreal.
::Early on, for example, the camera lingers in extreme close-ups of Harvey’s lips moving as he speaks or smokes, and of him eating shrimp. Men are appetite and orifice; Harry see Elisabeth as monstrous because he is monstrous himself.::
I saw this a few weeks back with my best friend and consistent moviegoing companion—and we were pleasantly surprised that at no point did Harvey (or any man) try to force himself on Sue—Harvey didn't even hit on her outside of in that general Male Privilege kind of way. As grotesque as the body horror in the movie is, at no point is Elizabeth/Sue a victim in the literal sense, even while her very existence makes her a victim of societal expectations of female beauty.
Also, is anybody else scratching their heads at the caricature Harvey presents being played by the very same Dennis Quaid who just starred in a hagiography of Ronald Reagan? I mean, maybe it's just Quaid channeling asshole producers he's been screwed over by or has nothing but contempt for, but it's like he's laughing at what he is, or has become. Back when he was still funny, Scott Adams did a DILBERT cartoon about The Pointy-Haired Boss laughing at a DILBERT cartoon of The Pointy-Haired Boss....
This film sounds interesting to me. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy watching it though. Being 47 it feels like I'm living in that reality and I have to say that it's amazing how much women compartmentalize and just kind of... ignore (?) the fact that eventually no matter what amount of effort they put into preventing it, we're seen even less than we were and our societal value becomes close to zero. And while I am dealing with the issue being more pronounced than it was when I first started hearing my age described as basically "too old to fuck" (like 39 lol) I know that really it's only getting worse from here on out. You can know something because it's been demonstrated to you every day of your life but that's really not enough preparation for the way it's going to make you feel. Knowing that it's ridiculous and shouldn't matter just makes you feel frustrated with yourself for being unhappy about it. Which isn't fair either. The best conversations I've had about this have been some really in depth ones with both men and women who were never considered attractive even when they were in the best shape of their early adulthood. It's kind of awesome that Demi Moore is playing someone who's probably supposed to be closer to my age though! I guess?
My best friend who I talk about going to the movies with? She's in her mid-Sixties, same as I am. She works out and stays in shape, and makes an effort to make up and dress casually but stylishly even at home among friends (my ex-wife used to joke that you knew she loved you when she let you see her before she put her face on in the mornings!).
I don't work out, and never really did except for several years in the Aughts/2010s—I fell out of the habit about the time my marriage was falling apart, and never got back into it.
Anyway, she really loved THE SUBSTANCE, and it gave both of us a lot to think about. Admittedly we got to be friends in the first place because of our shared love of horror and SF movies, and that hasn't changed in the four decades we've known each other....
You might check out Titane; another female-centered body horror film indebted to/critiquing Cronenberg. It's pretty amazing, though not for the faint of heart...
Geez, yes! I forget why we missed that when it was in theaters!
I'll see about picking up a copy, since I'm a disc junkie....
I loved every moment Dennis Quiad was in full close-up, mouth full of beautifully disgusting food, spewing patriarchy from his technicolor wardrobe. Reminded me of the game show scenes from Requiem for a Dream. Everything so surreal.
This is some of your best writing. Excellent work!
aw, thanks!
::Early on, for example, the camera lingers in extreme close-ups of Harvey’s lips moving as he speaks or smokes, and of him eating shrimp. Men are appetite and orifice; Harry see Elisabeth as monstrous because he is monstrous himself.::
I saw this a few weeks back with my best friend and consistent moviegoing companion—and we were pleasantly surprised that at no point did Harvey (or any man) try to force himself on Sue—Harvey didn't even hit on her outside of in that general Male Privilege kind of way. As grotesque as the body horror in the movie is, at no point is Elizabeth/Sue a victim in the literal sense, even while her very existence makes her a victim of societal expectations of female beauty.
Also, is anybody else scratching their heads at the caricature Harvey presents being played by the very same Dennis Quaid who just starred in a hagiography of Ronald Reagan? I mean, maybe it's just Quaid channeling asshole producers he's been screwed over by or has nothing but contempt for, but it's like he's laughing at what he is, or has become. Back when he was still funny, Scott Adams did a DILBERT cartoon about The Pointy-Haired Boss laughing at a DILBERT cartoon of The Pointy-Haired Boss....