Welcome back Chaise Lounge readers! We have a new president here in the United States, and we are looking forward to a brighter future. With the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, we enter a new era where issues important to women and healthcare will get a hearing. Not to mention the historical significance of Harris’s election. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done and barriers to overcome, but at least our leadership is on the right path. The future is brighter today.
This week’s long article reviews the movie “A Promising Young Woman”. The movie explores a novel revenge fantasy where a survivor of rape culture gets justice. While it is billed as a dark comedy, I found it to be two things. First, it is a comment on our present culture which I will discuss in the article. Second, it made me think of the article that I wrote last month regarding the ways that rape survivors are trying to find justice on their own terms. While I would not endorse the protagonist’s methods, I can understand where her need for justice arises. I would love to host a discussion of this movie and its messages. If you watch it, please send me a message or comment below.
Global issues
The BBC provides a deep dive into “Why Do We Still Distrust Women as Leaders?”
The article provides an excellent discussion of many of the myths about women leaders across the world and the hidden biases that both men and women hold. And, my friend Akshi Chawla of the Women Lead newsletter is quoted as well saying “that the media and creators of popular culture have a key role.” This sentiment is connected to today’s movie review (below) where we see the tired tropes of rape culture come alive in a twisted manner in a movie. So much of our thinking is shaped by media and entertainment, and unfortunately, it is not always in a positive manner.
National Issues
As I reported in last week’s newsletter, women’s employment is in a precarious state as a result of the pandemic. The Biden-Harris administration recognizes this and has wasted no time in forming a Gender Policy Council headed by Jennifer Klein, the Chief Strategy and Policy Officer at Times Up, and Julissa Reynoso, who is the incoming Chief of Staff for First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. According to a press release, the council will:
“guide and coordinate government policy that impacts women and girls, across a wide range of issues such as economic security, health care, racial justice, gender-based violence, and foreign policy, working in cooperation with the other White House policy councils.”
We will keep our eyes on the work of this council as they get to work.
Movie Review: “A Promising Young Woman”
Note: This article contains spoilers for the movie. If you are planning to watch it, read this afterward and let me know your thoughts.
Have you ever dreamt of getting revenge on someone who wronged you or a close friend? What did that look like? For the protagonist in “A Promising Young Woman,” it is a combination of deceit and putting herself in imminent danger. Cassie is obsessed with getting justice for her friend, Nina, who was raped by a fellow medical school student in full view of others while drunk at a party seven years prior. Nina dropped out of medical school in the aftermath of the incident, and Cassie followed her in order to take care of Nina. The film implies that Nina committed suicide.
Cassie has a singular purpose of obtaining some sort of revenge for Nina. She goes to clubs and feigns being very drunk where every single time, some man comes up to her to “check on her to make sure she’s ok”, but ultimately takes her home to have sex with her. But just as the man is about to have sex with her, she reclaims her power by saying, “What are you doing?” and letting them know that she is totally sober. The men are, of course, taken aback and each one panics and then tells her that he is a “nice guy”. The problem is, they really believe that about themselves as so many men in the real world do. In case it needs saying, you are not a nice guy if you think that having sex with someone who is not in shape to consent is “nice”. You know that deep down inside.
The movie explores many of the stories that our culture tells us repeatedly including the “she asked for it” narrative. The movie flips that on its head by showing the predatory nature of some men. The men at the bar joke with one another about “taking her home”, and when one does make the move, the others laugh with him. Why do some men target women who are incapacitated? Why do some men put roofies in women’s drinks? Why do some men attempt to get women drunk before trying to have sex? Because they know that if the woman is sober, it is unlikely that she will consent. And if you must drug a woman to get her to consent to have sex with you, what does that say about you?
The movie doesn’t let women who support patriarchal attitudes off the hook easily either. When Cassie confronts the Dean of Medical School about the rape, the dean tells her that there are 1-2 complaints each week, and she does not remember Nina’s case. A former female medical school friend gives the excuse that it was a wild time and they all drank enough to blackout. Both of these women aided and abetted the abuse by not believing Nina’s accusation and were more concerned about the male medical school student’s future. Once Cassie manages to put the medical school friend in the same situation, however, the friend changes her mind. Once she thinks that she has been raped while blackout drunk, she suddenly recalls that there is a video of Nina’s rape and shares it with Cassie. And the dean does not even remember Nina’s case or seem to care until Cassie tells her that she has taken the dean’s teenage daughter and left her with a group of drinking male med students. It is only when these women believe that they are experiencing what Nina experienced that they relent in their blindness to the misogyny of their positions.
The other trope the movie explores is the “we were kids” excuse. In the movie, the rape happened several years prior, and the medical school students involved have all graduated and moved on in their careers. When confronted with the past, they all use the “we were kids” excuse. But when Cassie reveals that she has a video of the incident and threatens the doctors with exposure, they are all horrified and plead with her not to expose them because it will “ruin their lives”. None of them seem to acknowledge that ruined Nina’s life.
The movie’s ending is heartbreaking, although it is clear that Cassie knows that she is walking into danger. Because she knows that she is in danger, Cassie has left a series of notes with people and the video. The police arrive at the wedding and arrest the groom, so justice is finally served, but only after Cassie’s body has been burned.
Emerald Fennell, the writer, director, and producer of the movie received a lot of pushback regarding the ending. Viewers wanted to see Cassie triumph. In an interview with Collider, Fennell explains,
“There was no happy ending to this movie. All there is, is somebody who needs to show people, to deliver justice. And she does do that, but at a very, very heavy price. I didn't believe that a woman of Cassie's size would be able to physically overpower a very strong man. All of that stuff. And it was important that it interrogated the myth of the revenge journey.”
The chilling message of this movie is that when a woman wants to attempt to get justice for an act of sexual violence, she must be willing to give up her life. And while that might seem like hyperbole, we see it play out every day all over the world. Cassie is a woman who will not take no for an answer when it comes to justice for Nina, even if it means she must surrender her own life. While certainly a disturbing message, it is, unfortunately, a reflection of our current culture.
What I loved about Promising Young Woman was how it showed that sexual predators come in various forms. They can be 'nice guys', they can be creeps, they can be doctors...
The film also does a fantastic job of pointing out how men often get the upper hand when facing rape allegations. Although many men are falsely accused, I've no doubt that many more get away with it - an issue deeply embedded in our society.
As for the unhappy ending—and I speak purely as a film critic here—it was refreshing. As 99% of Hollywood films have a happy ending, they're predictable and any moments of peril are quickly offset by the knowledge that it will all be okay in the end. Sadly, that's not always the case for victims of abuse and this film does well to remember that.
For my full review of Promising Young Woman head to Salty Popcorn: https://saltypopcorn.substack.com/p/4-promising-young-woman