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Elle is an "anti-feminist" movie about female empowerment

posted 8 years ago by kepotaz
11 replies | jump to latest

By feminism in the word "anti-feminist" I mean this branch of feminism which is all about women being victims. Huppert's character has all the reasons to be a victim, her father was a mass murderer and the media portrayed her as a child psychopath who helped her father even though that's not true, she gets raped, harassed, publicly humiliated and even that one guy she has affair with is trying to control her and force himself on her. But in none of those cases she acts the role of a victim and instead is in total control of her life and sexuality etc. In that sense this is a very refreshing movie about female empowerment since it's not about pitying the victim and blaming the evil men who victimize her.

[–] Interstellar98 8 years ago

I agree with you.

Despite her having been attacked, she carries herself with strength.

She is a powerful woman.

[–] southlandlover 8 years ago

You could not be more wrong if you tried and your ideas on feminism are somewhat disturbing.

Psychopathy is an hereditary condition and she is definitely her Fathers daughter, a complete psychopath.

Only like 98% of psychopaths she doesn't ever actually kill anyone, she just manipulates, plays games with and destroys everyone around her.

In fact she may have even killed all of his victims and he was completely innocent. Her punishment to him not ever visiting him in prison. Otherwise why would he still be appealing his case 36 years into his sentence.

Either way she is hardly role model for women to look up to.

[–] Line-of-Flight 8 years ago

Maybe she's a role model for that part of the SJW feminists who are like the 98% you discribe, the ones who manipulate and harras people.

[–] kepotaz 8 years ago

Yeah, she might be a psychopath too, but that doesn't negate the so called message of the movie, or the interpretation I made of it. It's telling that the name of the movie is "Elle" which means "she" in French.

[–] tallard 8 years ago

People with PTSD can APPEAR psychopathic. It does not make them psychopaths. Verhoeven's greatest talent is taking a female victim and getting all the males watching the film to think she is a evil psychopath.

***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**

[–] mmajstor 8 years ago

Good point. Nicely spoken.

[–] viperaberus 8 years ago

It seems to me by reading the diverse ways that feminism is brought about, in so many meanings, that the word Feminism is meaningless. Feminism of victimhood is a totally new concept to me. It seems that anything may get feminism coupled to it. Waiting for the vegan feminism.

SPOILERS AHEAD

A story of someone so peculiar, cold, and so easy in the trample of others cannot be for me the paragon of female empowerment. Maybe she is empowered, but not symbolic, because it is too particular.

This is a story about someone unique and in so it feels to me more like a fantasy. This is someone fantasizing about people fantasizing and acting upon their fantasies. The rapist is the expectable fantasist who acts on a fantasy which means brutalizing someone else. Now we get the story of that someone else having fantasies of their own and acting on it. She works on games who play on fantasies. Not coincidental.

This was for me the wtf movie. But what got me more disturbed was the idea that she planned for her son to murder someone.

[–] tallard 8 years ago

Absolutely down to the last line. Poor kid. Her father smeared her childhood with his violence, and now she has smeared her son in her crazy PTSD life. Quite sad.

***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**

[–] nashknight-1 8 years ago

Recently is almost like a rule, when you hear/read the word feminist, you know you'll hear/read something really, really, stupid.

[–] tallard 8 years ago

This IS most certainly a VERY anti-feminist movie:
1-creates the illusion for fetishy males that females like being raped
2-creates the sense that the female rape victim is the big evil in the film, while the rapist is the innocent victim
3-sells the illusion that staff making rape videos of their boss is "funny"
etc, etc, etc.

Every fiber of this movie is anti-feminist.

***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**

[–] chrichrichri (184) 6 years ago

She tries to stay on top whatever happens. No police - they would make her a victim. She even shocks the rapist by telling him she "wants" it.