Broey Deschanel
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Why Are We So Afraid of Old Women? (early access)
🕑 Added 2024-10-29 14:49:30 +0000 UTCThe Substance is a lot of fun, but does it risk contradicting the message it's trying to tell?
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brookelynne
when i saw the teaser for this vid i was SO happy. i saw the film a couple weeks ago and was left with a similar feeling. sifting through my thoughts in my notes app and trying to articulate my point in questioning its effectiveness. i kept coming back to the point of its content contradicting the concept. i love body horror so it was amazing to watch and lovely to see so many people working on the team in the credits. i just felt like i was being fed the message that collectively women already understand, but are made to believe it was made for us as the audience? others may come away with the “point” that’s trying to be made or walk away with nothing to say but poking fun at it. the film focuses more on the social standards than subverting them. i appreciate the conversation starter and more love shown to practical FX. just can’t really sing its praise as much as many people have. always love to hear your thoughts <3
blusocket
Really great thoughts. In the theater I felt like the use of the film language of horror to frame Elisabeth's aging body was justified by the camera being rooted in her perspective (paralleling the way Sue's body is relentlessly sexualized, which represents how the literal TV show cameras are shooting her and how she feels about herself) but I see the argument that it's excessive and exploitative. The part that really bothered me on a pure gut check level was Monstro Elisasue getting ready for the NYE show--that was the moment where I felt like the film was encouraging the audience to laugh in a really cruel way, and then walking it back with Elisasue begging the audience to recognize her and accept her feels like it even undercuts that moment as camp.
Broey Deschanel
hmm well I think it's a confluence of Elisabeth having her power stripped away from her (because she is old and no longer "viable"), and thus wanting desperately to be younger!
Domenica K
For me the tragedy of "The substance" isn't that Elisabeth wants to be younger but that her power is taken away for no apparent reason. Her show is successful and yet the TV producer decided that he wants a new face. Sue does the exact same thing as her counter-part but she is stripped of her legacy. Her posters are taken down and she starts from scratch. It's the same with Jane. A child star who is suddenly cut off from her fame and her fortune. I think the movie makes it clear that their father stole from her and her sister and that both live in poverty.
