It’s too bad this review got mired in the metoo at the expense of talking about the film itself. Sean Baker is a talented director interested in doing more than reworked comic book heroes and films with lots of explosions and gun battles. He has come up the ranks doing independent films about people living gritty lives we mostly don’t want to know too much about, illegal migrants and prostitutes. In the process, he gives a wrenching insight into those lives. In Red Rocket he explores the impact a washed up pornstar has on the life of his burned out former co-star as he muscles his way into the home she shares with her impoverished mother in rural Texas. We watch as he discovers a beautiful, naive underage teenager who he sees as his return ticket to the porn industry. In The Florida Project he takes us along on a ride through the life of a couple of children who get into highjinks at a seedy motel as their mothers ply their trade. Baker has thought more about the lives of women and children in the meat grinder of the sex industry than many performative pundits. Anora was another of his films that ratchets between laugh out loud funny, and sadness. I hope it is the subtlety at the end of Anora that prevents people from understanding that her life has degraded her so much that she can’t recognize the genuine care of the thug who is assigned to make sure she never bothers the crime family again. The thug, as her fate is being decided, actually suggests that the family owes her an apology! When Anora discovers he has stolen her diamond ring back for her, his tenderness breaks down all the layers of armor she has built up, and reduces her to the frightened, hurt woman she is. That is Sean Baker.
Hmm. Something's "off" with this analysis, I think. Maybe MeToo collapsed because women found out that the cost of making constant accusations was status, reputation, and people's patience. "Believe every woman" did in fact collapse under the weight of actual facts. Maybe the whole thing just got tired. People do not like Harpies. Maybe women sank MeToo because it was hurting their chances with men who were going "on strike." Maybe women involved with meToo figured out that they were being used by other women, being fenced off to open the field for the more powerful women. I guess I just don't buy the "powerful men" thesis. Respectfully submitted.
I think part of what's missing in the analysis is intrasexual competition between females. It's not "powerful men" creating the Pareto distribution of 80% of females chasing the top 20% of men. Women don't have to engage in casual sex (and it's a mystery to me why they want to mate with a man who demands this, or even why they think engaging in casual sexual would get them any closer to achieving commitment).
When I watch movies like Anora, Fellini’s and Wertmueller’s movies come to mind. These are eternal in their portrayals of men and women and the different classes that highlight the real issues and leave you thinking. I really liked Anora because it came close to the nub of reality and left a tiny bit of room to think. All the crap like Wicked and Barbie are given the “empowerment” accolades. These are American movies and therefore to me I never expect them all to operate except on the FairyTale level even when they’re trying apparently to do something gritty and real like Anora. American film is still crap. Mostly. And when people expect anything more than “good old fashion entertainment” and try to show real stories, well…
I was surprised when Madison won her undeserved Oscar - her previous claim to fame - being torched at end of Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood" and T is no shy abuser of women in his films...! Special category - Marisa Tomei Oscar.
It’s too bad this review got mired in the metoo at the expense of talking about the film itself. Sean Baker is a talented director interested in doing more than reworked comic book heroes and films with lots of explosions and gun battles. He has come up the ranks doing independent films about people living gritty lives we mostly don’t want to know too much about, illegal migrants and prostitutes. In the process, he gives a wrenching insight into those lives. In Red Rocket he explores the impact a washed up pornstar has on the life of his burned out former co-star as he muscles his way into the home she shares with her impoverished mother in rural Texas. We watch as he discovers a beautiful, naive underage teenager who he sees as his return ticket to the porn industry. In The Florida Project he takes us along on a ride through the life of a couple of children who get into highjinks at a seedy motel as their mothers ply their trade. Baker has thought more about the lives of women and children in the meat grinder of the sex industry than many performative pundits. Anora was another of his films that ratchets between laugh out loud funny, and sadness. I hope it is the subtlety at the end of Anora that prevents people from understanding that her life has degraded her so much that she can’t recognize the genuine care of the thug who is assigned to make sure she never bothers the crime family again. The thug, as her fate is being decided, actually suggests that the family owes her an apology! When Anora discovers he has stolen her diamond ring back for her, his tenderness breaks down all the layers of armor she has built up, and reduces her to the frightened, hurt woman she is. That is Sean Baker.
Hmm. Something's "off" with this analysis, I think. Maybe MeToo collapsed because women found out that the cost of making constant accusations was status, reputation, and people's patience. "Believe every woman" did in fact collapse under the weight of actual facts. Maybe the whole thing just got tired. People do not like Harpies. Maybe women sank MeToo because it was hurting their chances with men who were going "on strike." Maybe women involved with meToo figured out that they were being used by other women, being fenced off to open the field for the more powerful women. I guess I just don't buy the "powerful men" thesis. Respectfully submitted.
I think part of what's missing in the analysis is intrasexual competition between females. It's not "powerful men" creating the Pareto distribution of 80% of females chasing the top 20% of men. Women don't have to engage in casual sex (and it's a mystery to me why they want to mate with a man who demands this, or even why they think engaging in casual sexual would get them any closer to achieving commitment).
When I watch movies like Anora, Fellini’s and Wertmueller’s movies come to mind. These are eternal in their portrayals of men and women and the different classes that highlight the real issues and leave you thinking. I really liked Anora because it came close to the nub of reality and left a tiny bit of room to think. All the crap like Wicked and Barbie are given the “empowerment” accolades. These are American movies and therefore to me I never expect them all to operate except on the FairyTale level even when they’re trying apparently to do something gritty and real like Anora. American film is still crap. Mostly. And when people expect anything more than “good old fashion entertainment” and try to show real stories, well…
I was surprised when Madison won her undeserved Oscar - her previous claim to fame - being torched at end of Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood" and T is no shy abuser of women in his films...! Special category - Marisa Tomei Oscar.