Alexandra Essoe, Noah Segan, Fabianne Therese, Pat Healey. Dir. Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmeyer, Dark Sky, 2014
"As men go, you at least seem not to see all women as sex objects," a close female friend of mine said to me on July 4, 2016. I always struggle with compliments, but that one made me squirm more than usual. Said with all sincerity, I at once reflected on a lifelong and unhealthy relationship with porn, unsure whether my friend's kind words felt true. A year later, the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke open, inspiring both #MeToo and #TimesUp. Those events forced me to look at my own problematic behavior without my usual fallback, "I have more women friends than male."
Which, while true, has nothing to do with whether or not I've always acted honorably toward women. I haven't. Millions of other men have not, either, and many of those have done far worse than I, but that doesn't excuse my transgressions. What others have done does not free me from an obligation to look at my own actions and attitudes.
I do not entirely understand why I have been graced with so many women friends, but after Weinstein, rather than continue pursuing what makes me so awesome, I started asking them about their experiences dealing with men, and making sure I heard their answers. Which opened my eyes to a world that always existed right in front of me and which male privilege allowed me to acknowledge as much or as little of as I wished. I thought I was some kind of awesome dude because I told women I thought them beautiful. When women didn't fall all over themselves to thank me, I would make it all about my hurt feelings. When I started asking and listening, I heard the same thing, repeatedly.
"Anytime a man compliments my appearance, I wonder what he wants from me. That word never comes without expectations."
My mother told me that, even when her own kids say "I love you, Mom," she tenses up because experience tells her the words are always mean someone wants something from her. I no longer tell my mother I love her and I don't tell women they're beautiful. To my considerable surprise, I obtain far better results from not doing those than I ever did from doing them. Women rule.
In my life I have been abused, bullied, and picked on and, while my pain from those is valid, most women I know endure more, and worse, in one day than I do in one year. Seeing this moves me to say to myself, "Russell, your women friends put up with incomprehensible amounts of bullshit and never play the victim card. Why are you always so eager to lead with yours?"
Incredibly obvious statement: In the great horror literature and films, the monster/evil force/bad place et al symbolizes and reinforces the real horror. Cronenberg's movies concern the fear of penetration, the horror of the flesh and its thousands of betrayals. The true horror in the FRIDAY THE 13th movies is being abandoned/betrayed by an irresponsible parent. HALLOWEEN deals with having to share parents with a new sibling. And so on.
In Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmeyer's 2014 indie horror film, STARRY EYES, which was financed largely through a kickstarter campaign, the true horror concerns the incredible amount of humiliating horseshit young women endure as they try to succeed. Though STARRY EYES contains elements of body horror, slashers, and SATAN SATAN SATAN, what Alexandra Essoe's Sarah Walker, a young actress struggling for her breakthrough role, endures from friends, employers, producers, and her own self harming tendencies at least rivals the indignities a demonic cult will visit upon her later in the story. Her frenemy, Erin (JOHN DIES AT THE END's Fabianne Therese), another young actress, steals parts from her. Her boss at a fast food restaurant, Carl (a smarmy Pat Healy) infantilizes her. When stressed or upset with herself, Sarah rips clumps of hair from her scalp.
At an audition for a once-influential production company, Astraeus Pictures, one of the producers (Maria Olsen) finds her in the bathroom ripping at her hair and grants her a second chance if she self harms in front of them. Throwing herself into it, Sarah finds herself dismissed once again.
Sarah decides to quit her job to pursue what she calls "a gateway part," in the Astraeus project, and gets called in to meet the head of production (Louis Deszeran), a sleazy, older man obviously modeled on Roger Corman, who offers the part in exchange for sexual favors. Which, after at first running away, she accedes to, only to be betrayed and abandoned once more. Shortly after her sexual encounter with The Producer, Sarah begins to experience bodily and mental changes she cannot explain. I won't give anymore of the story away, but it's a horror film, so you may safely conclude it doesn't improve.
Alexandra Essoe won Best Actress at the 2014 Saturn Awards for her portrayal of Sarah, a well-deserved accolade. She has to cover the emotional spectrum, from giddy ecstasy to despair to murderous envy, and she delivers on all fronts. Essoe has made a career in horror pictures, including playing Wendy Torrance in the Shining sequel, DOCTOR SLEEP. I won't say she could do better, but I hope someone soon gives her a chance to do more, different kinds of roles.
She's matched by the rest of the cast. The aforementioned Therese, also a horror-film regular, plays a passive-aggressive frenemy with enough authenticity that I crossed my fingers and hoped she's nicer off camera. Rian Johnson collaborator Noah Segun (terrific in LOOPER, which I watched last night) plays a well-meaning filmmaker-aspirant with a perfect blend of earnestness and cluelessness. Maria Olsen is creepy and menacing as the Casting Director. Pat Healy plays smarmy assholes as well as any working actor today, and Louis Derzsan as the Corman stand-in, combines hubris, sleaze, and evil in a performance almost as revelatory as Essoe. According to his IMDb, Derzsan averages one project per year, which constitutes criminal under-use.
Once, I watched tons of horror movies. I slowed down when I realized they seldom scared me. Today, I think that's a silly metric. To work well, horror doesn't need to frighten so much as horrify. STARRY EYES horrified me, disturbed me, and made me aware all over again that what we subject women, particularly young women, to is far worse than even Sarah's fate. Whether or not men suck, women rule. Thanks to STARRY EYES for the reminder.
Incredibly obvious statement: In the great horror literature and films, the monster/evil force/bad place et al symbolizes and reinforces the real horror. Cronenberg's movies concern the fear of penetration, the horror of the flesh and its thousands of betrayals. The true horror in the FRIDAY THE 13th movies is being abandoned/betrayed by an irresponsible parent. HALLOWEEN deals with having to share parents with a new sibling. And so on.
In Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmeyer's 2014 indie horror film, STARRY EYES, which was financed largely through a kickstarter campaign, the true horror concerns the incredible amount of humiliating horseshit young women endure as they try to succeed. Though STARRY EYES contains elements of body horror, slashers, and SATAN SATAN SATAN, what Alexandra Essoe's Sarah Walker, a young actress struggling for her breakthrough role, endures from friends, employers, producers, and her own self harming tendencies at least rivals the indignities a demonic cult will visit upon her later in the story. Her frenemy, Erin (JOHN DIES AT THE END's Fabianne Therese), another young actress, steals parts from her. Her boss at a fast food restaurant, Carl (a smarmy Pat Healy) infantilizes her. When stressed or upset with herself, Sarah rips clumps of hair from her scalp.
At an audition for a once-influential production company, Astraeus Pictures, one of the producers (Maria Olsen) finds her in the bathroom ripping at her hair and grants her a second chance if she self harms in front of them. Throwing herself into it, Sarah finds herself dismissed once again.
Sarah decides to quit her job to pursue what she calls "a gateway part," in the Astraeus project, and gets called in to meet the head of production (Louis Deszeran), a sleazy, older man obviously modeled on Roger Corman, who offers the part in exchange for sexual favors. Which, after at first running away, she accedes to, only to be betrayed and abandoned once more. Shortly after her sexual encounter with The Producer, Sarah begins to experience bodily and mental changes she cannot explain. I won't give anymore of the story away, but it's a horror film, so you may safely conclude it doesn't improve.
Alexandra Essoe won Best Actress at the 2014 Saturn Awards for her portrayal of Sarah, a well-deserved accolade. She has to cover the emotional spectrum, from giddy ecstasy to despair to murderous envy, and she delivers on all fronts. Essoe has made a career in horror pictures, including playing Wendy Torrance in the Shining sequel, DOCTOR SLEEP. I won't say she could do better, but I hope someone soon gives her a chance to do more, different kinds of roles.
She's matched by the rest of the cast. The aforementioned Therese, also a horror-film regular, plays a passive-aggressive frenemy with enough authenticity that I crossed my fingers and hoped she's nicer off camera. Rian Johnson collaborator Noah Segun (terrific in LOOPER, which I watched last night) plays a well-meaning filmmaker-aspirant with a perfect blend of earnestness and cluelessness. Maria Olsen is creepy and menacing as the Casting Director. Pat Healy plays smarmy assholes as well as any working actor today, and Louis Derzsan as the Corman stand-in, combines hubris, sleaze, and evil in a performance almost as revelatory as Essoe. According to his IMDb, Derzsan averages one project per year, which constitutes criminal under-use.
Once, I watched tons of horror movies. I slowed down when I realized they seldom scared me. Today, I think that's a silly metric. To work well, horror doesn't need to frighten so much as horrify. STARRY EYES horrified me, disturbed me, and made me aware all over again that what we subject women, particularly young women, to is far worse than even Sarah's fate. Whether or not men suck, women rule. Thanks to STARRY EYES for the reminder.
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