MovieChat Forums > Promising Young Woman (2020) Discussion > A rational, reasonable opinion...

A rational, reasonable opinion...

posted 4 years ago by RichardBlaine (303)
16 replies | jump to latest

(Those are allowed, yes?)

I liked the film. I thought it was well-made. I thought Carey Mulligan was terrific. The movie kept my interest and I liked the twists and turns.

That all said: good God! We're not ALL rapists and predators. We're really not. But the movie was clearly making the point that we (males) all are. I give you exhibit A: the little notebook. Judas Priest, there were HUNDREDS of marks, meaning hundreds of men. Pages and pages of them. Exhibit B: there were no decent males in the movie, save, perhaps, for her father. But even he seemed fairly clueless. Exhibit C: the boyfriend was an Everyman character. Likeable. Agreeable. The kind of character you become invested in. As a man, I related to him (just like the movie wanted me to.) And then what happens? BAM! He's a slime ball, too. You see? Everyman is a slime ball. Every man is a slime ball.

Hey, I'm a free market, first amendment guy. If you've got an axe to grind and the money to make a film by which to grind it, go for it. But that doesn't make your opinion accurate, Ms. Fennell. And in this case, not by a long shot.

[–] nenneno (13) 4 years ago

"Not all men". I'm glad you are not a slime ball :)

[–] ManToTrust (1663) 4 years ago

Who’s Ms. Fennell?

Go woke, go broke.

[–] RichardBlaine (303) 4 years ago

Writer/Director Emerald Fennell.

[–] kukuxu (5409) 4 years ago

[–] RichardBlaine (303) 4 years ago

I don't completely agree with this, which is why I sought to post something that didn't smack of right-wing angst. There are groups of people in this country that have definitely been put upon. I don't mind admitting that as a white male, I probably got a bit of a head start over others. I think there's a ton of gray area here. And I think that women have a legitimate beef.

That said, your facetious reaction shows why we need more reasonable discussion. It's easy to go overboard on either side of things. Fennell has obviously gone overboard with this film, prompting resentment and reactions like yours, which are completely understandable. In this, she does her side no favors. But we just need to remember that overboard works both ways.

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 4 years ago

" prompting resentment and reactions like yours"

No , he's like that all the time . Every single post is some conflagration of the same schtick , even if its a reply to "isnt peanut butter great?"

You almost joined the club , but after posting
as a white male, I probably got a bit of a head start over others. I think there's a ton of gray area here. And I think that women have a legitimate beef.
...You've really pissed on your chips - you're never getting into the right-wing mysogeny club now (and on this site its a large and popular club!), but as you stated that wasnt the aim.

In response to your actual original post:
I see a lot of posts about this film and others saying "All the (white) men are evil!!"
I dont see a problem with that - the non evil men are not part of the story
in "Predator" non of the friendly Aliens , like Alf , were shown , because the story wasnt about them
in "Death Wish" a pretty similar story , all the bad guys were bad and got executed.

I admit i havent seen this movie - do they actually go overboard tio say "all men are bad" or do they merely not bring in pointless redundent nice guy characters - "for balance"

[–] kukuxu (5409) 4 years ago

No , he's like that all the time . Every single post is some conflagration of the same schtick , even if its a reply to "isnt peanut butter great?"

That's a lie, which means you're a liar.

I use to talk about anime in this forum and (mostly) another one, and it's extremely uncommon I post about religious/political agendas. Of course, the reason is that anime barely has any explicit religious/political agenda. Go figure.

You've really pissed on your chips - you're never getting into the right-wing mysogeny club now (and on this site its a large and popular club!), but as you stated that wasnt the aim.

There's not such "right-wing misogyny club" thing. You just need to put people in bags and label them. I've said more than once that I identify with what used to be the European center-left during the 50s/60s, but hey, who cares, huh? 😃

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 4 years ago

I've literally just come back from the polits board to see a reply i have ( your post)
you know what i found there?
a post saying , in complete seriousnes:

"Its all gone downhill since women stopped doing their woman jobs and started trying to do man stuff"

(not yours , but a member of the mysogeny club)

[–] kukuxu (5409) 4 years ago

I've literally just come back from the politics board [...]

Please, go back to the politics board and stay there. Thanks.

[–] RichardBlaine (303) 4 years ago

moviechatterer, I'll let you watch the film first (which is always a good idea before discussing it) and then you might be able to see what I mean. It's not the characters. It's the characterization of men in general.

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 4 years ago

You didn't get the memo.

If you're white, you're an evil rapist abuser by nature. Your only redemption is to kneel down, confess your sins and offer all you have to non-whites as a way to show your repentance and celebrate to be replaced by them. Anything else is white supremacism and only confirms your evilness.

Welcome to the new (woke) western world 🙂

Wait a minute , you got the wrong pamplet , thats your "poor me , im a downtrodden oppressed white" (comical) proppaganda
Surely ,given the nature of this movie you meant to post your "poor me i'm treated unfairly because im a man " rhetoric? like this:

If you're a man, you're an evil rapist abuser by nature. Your only redemption is to kneel down, confess your sins and offer all you have to women as a way to show your repentance and celebrate to be replaced by them. Anything else is sexism and only confirms your evilness.

Welcome to the new (woke) western world 🙂

[–] gantz8596 (205) 4 years ago

That is the point of the movie. Most of the time those that were accused of sexual assault and then defended strongly by family and friends would be described as a "promising young man", "good man", "this is not him", "I know him", "there is no way he did this", etc.

The movie even took it further and cast actors, that used to get casted as a "good man", as men that the protagonist "hunts" in bars.

The doctor was a good example. We like him, we root for him, he certainly was a good man, and then when it turned out that he actually involved, it was hard to stomach.

The movie was not an attack against men, it's an attack against problems in society, where most of the time, sexual offenders are considered more than the victims.

Besides the father, the lawyer was decent. In fact, the lawyer was probably the only decent person in the entire movie.

[–] RichardBlaine (303) 4 years ago

The lawyer hadn't always been a decent person. He was remorseful.

I get the point of the movie. But I disagree that it was not an attack against men and I refer you to my original post with my reasoning.

What's missing in films of this kind, and the conversations they generate, is nuance. Fennell's movie was a two-by-four to the head. That's okay, she can do what she wants. But sometimes you're going to push more people away with a smack to the head than draw them in.

[–] gantz8596 (205) 4 years ago

I don't remember the book, but I'm pretty sure there were women names also, no? And in the movie, she did confront and punished the women that were involved.

About decent males, I already mentioned the lawyer. He was involved before, but he came to the realization that he was bad on his own, and he's been punishing himself ever since, I'd say that's pretty decent for a human being.

To be honest though, with the exception of neutral characters (parents, friends, polices, etc.), there are almost no decent characters in the movie, male or female, with the exception of Nina's mother and the lawyer.

As for your final point, it was a deliberate effort from the filmmaker, they want us to like the doctor. Just like in my original post, the movie tried to show the fragility of society.

What kind of nuance are you referring to?

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 4 years ago

Its not an attack against all men .

a) "A Lot" of men abuse woman , in a variety of ways , and searching them out as she did will lead to a full notebook.
b) Its not a movie about the 'decent males' why would they be in it?
c) Yes , he was involved , you felt betrayed , i guess its a "twist" in the story , one that several other movies have had. nothing wrong with it.

I guess (C) was to illustrate how this kind of abuse is "institutionalized" , gets put down as "hijinks"

[–] RichardBlaine (303) 4 years ago

Call me naive, but I don't believe searching for rapists by pretending to be drunk to the point of defenselessness will yield an entire notebook of them. No sir. No way.

The camera paused several times over that notebook. If Fennell wasn't making a point with that, then I don't know what point she was making. And the twist was clearly meant to be more than your garden variety plot turn. An interesting narrative arc is surely the goal of any film, but this film's goals were bigger. This film had an agenda that was blatantly obvious - to portray men, as a collective group, as predators.

We're not.