Cronenberg's Trans Existentialism in Crimes of the Future (2022) | Video Essay

[@JaneIsntSane]

Actually he wrote crimes of the future in the late 90s the film was supposed to begin production in 2003 with nicolas cage in the starring role but it couldn’t get the funding so he moved on to other projects

[@MGraweyFilms]

I meant to put that in on screen but forgot to. I think it was titled painkillers in the original script

[@JaneIsntSane]

@@MGraweyFilms yes it was! honestly a shame it wasn’t made, nic cage is my fav actor and it’s a shame ill prolly never see him work with cronenberh

[@Ce13stialBunny]

Trans Fem here. Crimes of the Future immediately shot into my favorite films of all time, it is INCREDIBLE. His son, Brandon Cronenberg, also did a very trans film, Possessor (2020) And finally Titane (2021) by Julia Ducournau I think also falls into the trans movies in the horror genre, great films that I recommend to people non-stop The latter two are very trans masc, I recommend them a lot to friends that might be questioning

[@connerblank5069]

Not gonna lie, I was genuinely not aware Cronenberg was still alive. This information has made my day. Thank you for that, if nothing else.

[@brandonhamaguchi]

Great analysis! I think the video title could be just "Cronenberg's Trans Existentialism", since you cover the whole filmography from that angle. It will be more honest, direct and simple, and also maybe more friendly to the algorithm. It will not only focus on one movie, will be more broad and pick interest on more people imo. Imagine a thumbnail with David's face and many of his characters, it may reach more people. Great work.

[@martinpadilla4992]

Great video, man! Love Cronenberg’s work as well as your analysis on it. So nice to see someone dive deep into his works

[@Ce13stialBunny]

I really enjoy the novel Crash is based on, it’s simple to understand and kind of disgusting but super philosophically interesting, one of my favorites of all time. It’s written in first person in the novel, I say this because I did not like the adaptation Cronenberg did at all. Cronenberg shot with this separation of the subject, showed things as they were without judgement, which works fine in other stories but I think missed the main point of the book. I think the movie should’ve been shot very much IN with the sex, directly reveling in the events like the book did, unbound by morality or law, the evolution of human sexuality as it has become irreversibly tangled with the evolution of technology. The movie was a boob shot here and there and I found it kind of dull. Unsure if I even think it should’ve been NC-17. The book was just really intense and dissected a lot of cool ideas that I think the adaptation missed. The ideas of the novel were explored much better in Crimes of the Future (2022), and that film I absolutely love, my favorite Cronenberg by far.

[@kat8559]

love cronenberg and philosophy (especially trans/queer theory) so this is right up my alley. will definitely check out the links you provided too! thanks!

[@flakimboo]

really good video like really good but I can't lie ur voice was so relaxing I fell asleep and had to rewatch 😂

[@kau-hnk]

so brilliant!!

[@joeq3838]

Interesting how I always read that line in M. Butterfly completely differently. In that scene Song Liling is talking to a female soldier of the Communist Party about why female roles in traditional Chinese theater are played by men, and I always interpreted it as “what a woman is” to be a fantasy created by men, and women would play a female role too realistic and destroy that sexist fantasy. To me that line was always a jab at sexism and gender roles.

[@roryh3307]

Bestie, you need to watch Crash. I find it more akin to Videodrome than any other movie. Also thank u for this video

[@spacemanjames855]

GenZ Jesse Eisenberg

[@juhaniwinter]

I thought future crimes was allegory for a trans person who can’t accept his body, and in the end where the plastic bar represents being normal and having normal wants and needs, he accepts is , he gets out of the perverted space he has been in his whole existence

[@lamugre9386]

it's so weird analysing cronenberg and using words like "perverted", especially implying that his characters' become realized' when getting out of said perversion, a very christian view that at least to me defies so much of what he explores when talking about the body, violence, sex and ourselves as a group and how we interact with one another.

[@juhaniwinter]

I think you can’t grasp butterfly, because you don’t/won’t see from the point of view from a man during colonialism. Of course only a man knows what a woman truly should be; he knows what he wants, what his mother was like, etc. if you only look at films trough a political lens, and being grown in a bubble and most likely having been groomed (I truly am not trying to be mean here), you’re missing how men feel about such scenarios as in the film.

[@juhaniwinter]

What I mean is: none of these films are trying to educate or confirm your own views

[@haleypickelsimer7242]

hey! maybe lets not assume things about people just from a youtube video essay! that's pretty harmful don't you think? even if you "truly weren't trying to be mean" that's still wildly inappropriate to say!

[@Ce13stialBunny]

People don’t watch and cannot interact with art in a vacuum Their past experiences, present ideologies and future goals will affect any art consumed by them and ultimately impact their interpretation of the work Ironically, it seems to me your own beliefs would like to dictate how others interpret and interact with this work, doubtful you would’ve made such a comment had it affirmed your own beliefs This is just one interpretation of many differing interpretations, one person sharing their view based on their own life and experiences People don’t typically make things just because, they have a reason to do so. Cronenberg especially has always leaned into political and social dissections through his films, it is willfully ignorant to say otherwise, 50 years of this stuff with a statement to make or an idea to explore

[@Lee-fs1rg]

​@@Ce13stialBunny 100% agree!

[@MizardWizard]

Yo what the fuck