Really enjoyed this piece, especially as my other post-watch media thing from my favourite podcast turned out to be one long 'it had some qualities but we hated it', lol.
I enjoyed the film too! I don't know if I've made this up in my head, but I feel like there is a fun double entendre with
1. Oliver's simultaneous hatred and love of Felix (which feels like a metaphor for our relationship with the hyperrich in the instagram, 73 questions with vogue era), and
2. Felix's appreciation for Oliver clearly being tied to admiration for Oliver's suffering, a performance that 'just gave you what you wanted' (which was a great premonition for some journalists have judged the film, including one insane take that Fennell should have given Keoghan a role that pays respect to his working class heritage?!?!?).
Like maybe the film accidentally says something about the messy, paradoxical ways that the classes percieve eachother in this messed up country.
This piece is definitely coloured by the fact that I went into the film wanting a genuine erotic thriller, because it led with that in the marketing and we've been starved of them forever and like how are you going to make Jacob Elordi cum in the bath and die and still not have the film be an erotic thriller at heart. BUT. I enjoyed it regardless of the fact that Emerald Fennell is addicted to writing shit endings, because there's so many ideas to pick up on – like the two you've mentioned. Some are done well, some less so, and ultimately they don't come together in a satisfying way. I would probably agree that if it says anything about class it's accidental lol but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's in there somewhere.
Oh yeah I definitely agree, also I think it would have been a lot easier to put more of a ribbon on the themes if it was more focussed on the eroticism. I just saw one short trailer one time before seeing Bottoms (which does pretty much the same thing of turning a serious subject into a background for pulp) and thought it also looked fun and aesthetically inspired (also £8.70 Monday Picturehouse tickets yass), which prepared me very well for a film that was mainly nondescript vibes
Really enjoyed this piece, especially as my other post-watch media thing from my favourite podcast turned out to be one long 'it had some qualities but we hated it', lol.
I enjoyed the film too! I don't know if I've made this up in my head, but I feel like there is a fun double entendre with
1. Oliver's simultaneous hatred and love of Felix (which feels like a metaphor for our relationship with the hyperrich in the instagram, 73 questions with vogue era), and
2. Felix's appreciation for Oliver clearly being tied to admiration for Oliver's suffering, a performance that 'just gave you what you wanted' (which was a great premonition for some journalists have judged the film, including one insane take that Fennell should have given Keoghan a role that pays respect to his working class heritage?!?!?).
Like maybe the film accidentally says something about the messy, paradoxical ways that the classes percieve eachother in this messed up country.
This piece is definitely coloured by the fact that I went into the film wanting a genuine erotic thriller, because it led with that in the marketing and we've been starved of them forever and like how are you going to make Jacob Elordi cum in the bath and die and still not have the film be an erotic thriller at heart. BUT. I enjoyed it regardless of the fact that Emerald Fennell is addicted to writing shit endings, because there's so many ideas to pick up on – like the two you've mentioned. Some are done well, some less so, and ultimately they don't come together in a satisfying way. I would probably agree that if it says anything about class it's accidental lol but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's in there somewhere.
Oh yeah I definitely agree, also I think it would have been a lot easier to put more of a ribbon on the themes if it was more focussed on the eroticism. I just saw one short trailer one time before seeing Bottoms (which does pretty much the same thing of turning a serious subject into a background for pulp) and thought it also looked fun and aesthetically inspired (also £8.70 Monday Picturehouse tickets yass), which prepared me very well for a film that was mainly nondescript vibes