Absolutely exquisite. I just restacked it with a comment. These are perhaps THE most effective intraspecies predators on the planet. Brian Klaas writes about the biology of deceit beautifully. I think we all could use more literacy around these topics. Thank you for adding to the conversation.
I know! I thought the movie itself offered very little help with this. I could see her as lying in order to shake up Elizabeth’s feeling that she understands this “character,” thus saying “You’ll never really understand me.” Or the brother...he had plenty of reason to lie. Maybe will have to watch it again.
Thanks for the insightful comments on a powerful movie. I did wonder about the fox and what it meant to her, especially since she didn’t shoot at it. When she returned from the hunt and told Elizabeth at the graduation she had never been abused by her older brother, was that true? Or was it a lesson she learned from the fox? I still can’t decide. Would love to hear other opinions.
You know, I really don't know about that moment of denying her childhood abuse. It felt very ambiguous and I've found myself going off on a number of different paths of potential explanation. I could imagine her denying a real history of abuse as a way of maintaining a sense of power and control—or I suppose she might (wrongly) see past abuse as challenging her cover of naïveté and innocence? Or maybe her son really is lying!
Whew. An amazing analysis of what I assume will be a disturbing movie for me to see. Thanks for the heads up about the direction of the movie. I hope to see it. I love how deeply your brain delves into the important issues, ones I often glance over.
The movie is worthy of much reflection. It brought up so much for me as well. You had some wonderful observations about it. So much to unpack! I just finished reading EVE - How the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution - by Cat Bohannon. An amazing book I highly recommend! Along with yours, Want Me, of course!
If you ever do audiobooks, which I prefer at this point only because I find it so hard to fit sitting still and reading in my schedule... Cat’s reading of her book is so entertaining as she has such a great sense of humor which is especially highlighted in her delivery!
This was excellent--I'm bookmarking for how to describe abuse when it's described as "marriage"--something I write about. Seeing the genders flipped from the usual shed it in a new light. Thanks for this!
This was a brilliant read! This film has had my brain spiralling since I watched it. May December has some of the most complex characters I've seen on screen in a while and your interpretation captures that so beautifully.
Absolutely exquisite. I just restacked it with a comment. These are perhaps THE most effective intraspecies predators on the planet. Brian Klaas writes about the biology of deceit beautifully. I think we all could use more literacy around these topics. Thank you for adding to the conversation.
Thank you so much! I just saw your note and adore "sugar on top, machete underneath."
Just wrote you back. I really need to distinguish between Notes, Comments and Chat. Hahahaah!
I’m having trouble figuring out the notes, posts, and podcast delineations too. Thanks for mentioning this.
It’s so confusing on mobile!
My pleasure. You are not alone!
LOVED this
Honored! Love your stuff.
thank you!
I know! I thought the movie itself offered very little help with this. I could see her as lying in order to shake up Elizabeth’s feeling that she understands this “character,” thus saying “You’ll never really understand me.” Or the brother...he had plenty of reason to lie. Maybe will have to watch it again.
Yes, totally plausible as a power play over Elizabeth!
Thanks for the insightful comments on a powerful movie. I did wonder about the fox and what it meant to her, especially since she didn’t shoot at it. When she returned from the hunt and told Elizabeth at the graduation she had never been abused by her older brother, was that true? Or was it a lesson she learned from the fox? I still can’t decide. Would love to hear other opinions.
You know, I really don't know about that moment of denying her childhood abuse. It felt very ambiguous and I've found myself going off on a number of different paths of potential explanation. I could imagine her denying a real history of abuse as a way of maintaining a sense of power and control—or I suppose she might (wrongly) see past abuse as challenging her cover of naïveté and innocence? Or maybe her son really is lying!
Whew. An amazing analysis of what I assume will be a disturbing movie for me to see. Thanks for the heads up about the direction of the movie. I hope to see it. I love how deeply your brain delves into the important issues, ones I often glance over.
The movie is worthy of much reflection. It brought up so much for me as well. You had some wonderful observations about it. So much to unpack! I just finished reading EVE - How the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution - by Cat Bohannon. An amazing book I highly recommend! Along with yours, Want Me, of course!
I have that on my holds list at the library! And ty for the nod to my book! 😊
If you ever do audiobooks, which I prefer at this point only because I find it so hard to fit sitting still and reading in my schedule... Cat’s reading of her book is so entertaining as she has such a great sense of humor which is especially highlighted in her delivery!
Love an audiobook, esp (and most essentially!) when it’s read by the author.
This was excellent--I'm bookmarking for how to describe abuse when it's described as "marriage"--something I write about. Seeing the genders flipped from the usual shed it in a new light. Thanks for this!
Oh I love to hear that. A bookmark for later reference is the ULTIMATE win!
This was a brilliant read! This film has had my brain spiralling since I watched it. May December has some of the most complex characters I've seen on screen in a while and your interpretation captures that so beautifully.
Thank you, I'm so glad it resonated. I similarly can't stop thinking about this movie--I could have written twice as many words on it!