Poor Things - Philosophical Analysis

[@natanijelvasic]

For me, the film is an original way of portraying childhood development, although ultimately, the development of human subjectivity itself. Specifically, the main theme of the film is the passage from drive to desire i.e. from "oral" drives (spitting food, shoving fingers in one's mouth), playful/violent drives (smashing plates, stabbing the corpses), sexual drives (mindless masturbation, touching others' genitals) etc... to desire. The beautifully crafted turning point, is exactly when Bella demands that her customer in the prostitution house tells an anecdote about his life, followed by her telling a joke, and only then can they start undressing - it functions as some arbitrary rule that nonetheless establishes some minimum level of desire between them (you can imagine that Bella is thinking about the customer's childhood anecdote as they are engaging in their business); it is at this point that we see Bella imposing symbolic rules and prohibitions all by herself, and not simply rebelling against the mindless order of "polite society", which previously seemed to act as just a barrier. In short, Bella discovers how to break free from the monotony of pure drives, and begins to experience the subjective (although deferring) nature of desire. Another observation: Bella's creator, God, is a Christian God. Although he initially functioned as a kind of strict Law, it was God that kissed Bella on the forehead, and let her go out into the unknown world, trusting that she will learn to live with others, and in doing so, God would finally believe that just maybe he created a world (for her) that is worth living in. That's why God's death at the end, with the marriage, is an optimistic death.

[@julianphilosophy]

This is excellent, thank you! I wish I’d made these points myself. Now I want to make a longer and better video. You’ve outdone me.

[@natanijelvasic]

@@julianphilosophy I went to see the film last night in the cinema, in the hopes of just relaxing to an "18+", but unfortunately it turned out to be a pretty good film, so I was forced to recall Slavoj's "Screw the movie! I am a corrupted theorist!". Anyway, I'm looking forward to your long version - please do use any of the points above. One final addition: Bella's realisation that she is a proper subject is expressed towards the end in her "It was just a story of someone else, not Bella Baxter" - the idea being that, even though she was learning about her past from the accounts of the oppressive first husband, it is as if his so-called "objective truth" no longer matters - it is Bella who will re-write her own past, and not some story that is told to her, and so she understands the falsity of a return to one's "authentic roots".

[@mehowkielan1984]

​@@julianphilosophyi'm not educated in lacanian psychology or any other for that matter, but what about the relation between Bella and her mother? How one had to die for the other to be born and discover herself and ultimately her mother story using her body in the process.

[@erelian_sardonic]

Nice. When death of god in anime like Evangelion is usually an existential catastrophe and war, a death of god interpreted to this movie was a gladdening thing. Wish nowadays was more of the latter. And it's perhaps possible.

[@henridaillie8246]

@@julianphilosophy It's a porno. Pretty much. Idk what was so interesting, it was a perverted movie that the main character had an autistic child's brain, it's not deep or philosophical unless you make it so in means to defend the fact that you enjoy a pseudo c++ld porn film. Academia leftists like some weird stuff, Foucault and Sarte both pushed to abolish age of consent laws. Now this film is praised by academic leftists and feminists, seems to be a revival of this way of thinking, sad and Truly Disgusting. Should be rated NC-17 and there should be an extra tax that goes straight to busting child traffickers. If Julian de Medeiros views this I would be curious to what he would have to say. I am truly astonished. He clearly is well studied but this is putting it to negative use to say the least. If this film was made just a decade ago the reaction would have been way different I will tell you that.

[@dangood8839]

Thanks for your thoughts. As a budding psychologist, I loved many aspects of this film. One concept that kept coming back to me was that of the monad, an individual who is self-made requiring little influence from others. This film provides a window revealing that this is simply not the case. Yes, Bella is an individual ultimately, but is also shaped by people who share in and help create her subjective experience; something called intersubjectivity. Thanks again

[@CarterMuller]

Mark Ruffalo funny actor man

[@GrimellaBlackrose]

I love this analysis so much! I adore this movie! I missed out on seeing this in theater. Do you think they'll release it again? I would really love to go see it on the big screen! ♥️🌹

[@vivahansen]

I also saw it as a refreshing challenge of narrative tropes and viewer expectations. As you said, contradictions were emphasized, not static ideological positions embodied by frozen characters. In this way it was skillful perversion. Skillful “teaching” us how to view. Watching Bella evolve also exposed the many stories we as adults tend to carry around, stories and assumptions which we react to and disfigure ourselves to appease the Other which we’ve created in our minds. I also enjoyed her method of communication, which I can best describe as spontaneous truth telling: simply orally mapping emotions as they arise, quite an effective and innocent way to convey subjective experience. It was refreshing to watch characters actually change and evolve out of themselves.

[@JuHim92]

Hey, Julian! Where can i find your lecture on art theory/art history? thanks in advance

[@thinker8923]

Movie suggestion to cover in the future has to be Phantom Thread! I think there is a lot of psychoanalytic interpretations you can delve into for that movie Julian

[@julianphilosophy]

One of my favorite movies. I’ve discussed it before for the patron audio but can revisit here

[@ihmintz]

the artsy indie theatre i watched Poor Things in closed down. if that says anything about the future of… where we view films, at the least

[@kavwangalintini5969]

She just won best actress!!!

[@grosbeak6130]

Acting is not a goddamn horse race. - Richard Burton.

[@blacksource5044]

@@grosbeak6130Well she’s wearing a wreath and eating sugar cubes, nevertheless 😭

[@commonwunder]

The clue to this films adaptation of Alasdair Gray's book, is the Blessington characters monologue on the cruise ship. "Life is meaningless and humans are monsters". By the end of the film... Bella is content to be the metaphorical, and literal monster, she knows she is. Not here to help humanity, but to experiment on it. The core of the film illustrates that humans are irredeemable. That's why the 'happy ending' is so unsettling. It is the malevolent quietude in the garden of utter madness. *Most men believed 'fully grown women' were still 'internally' infantile children. See Schopenhauer's ( now infamous, yet then taken as empirically valid ) 1851 'On Women' essay. This is literally the case with Bella. But the film asks the viewer... what happens if the child grows up? Although not to a happy resolution, a fairytale conclusion, but to fully realise humans were never benign to begin with. To understand ... only the veneer of societal conditioning, disguises what humans truly are. To help hide this fact, humans invent fabulous illusionary stories about themselves. That they're nothing but flightless angels. Women birth monsters, as Bella rightfully takes over her 'father's', Godwin ( God's ) obsession. This film isn't about feminism or overcoming mens attitudes to womanhood. The reaction to this film is...of women wishing to distance themselves, from men, in order to disown the inner monster which inhabits them both. It is this more unsettling truth, which the film uncovers.

[@Ruvine_]

Could someone tell me what is the title of this short Kafka's story?

[@telefunkenguy6107]

Maybe you can also watch and make a video about Dogtooth(2009) [if you havent already]. The movie that made Lanthimos famous. Its greek indie cinema, pretty perverted and talks about the family and power. Even KKE the communist party labeled the film as an anti communist propaganda about Stalin and soviet union (it was not).

[@marintiamng]

Great perspective! Thanks a lot!

[@keshavnandhan1234]

Please talk about Zone of Interest!!!! wanna know what you think about it

[@legalcoffee5315]

I wasn’t into the movie (I realize I have a minority opinion here) - and I do love film - I also did see parallels with Flaubert’s Madam Bovary and, of course, Shelly’s Frankenstein while watching it - and I agree that it was visually wonderful (compositionally and costumes) - I just couldn’t get into it - it was kind of like The Lighthouse - full of symbolism, beautifully shot, but somewhat viscerally disturbing

[@carmelle2665]

Only tangentially related to the film.. but can any light be shed on the psychology on Barry Humphries, alter egos like Dame Edna,, there seems to be several similar manifestations. Where would I glean more psychoanalytic understanding of this phenomenon?

[@julianphilosophy]

My ebook is available here: www.patreon.com/julianphilosophy

[@marcsilverstein7991]

Did you notice Bella was reading Spinoza's Ethics in the movie?

[@jurekovacic1739]

On the 5:17 mark you say that that we don't yet know that the Bella had a child's brain inside but I would say that you are partially wrong. We get explicit explanation when the apprentice comes to Godwins house, by Godwin himself, that blunt forced trauma caused Bellas brain to essentially reset and that she needed to relearn everything. It was known that Bella represented a child's, in this case "a brain of a baby of undetermined sex in female body", development. This makes very interesting also from sociological point of view because it shows how the society, experience, upbringing and environment shape a person to be what he is and not biology. It is basically saying, to use a bit of feminism, that it isn't biology that puts women in inferior position but society, and when they are allowed to grow, be "free", to be thought etc. they become equal or in Bellas case superior. It is the same for boys. This movie has so many angles, from feminism, nihalism, cynism, socialisation etc and is thus one of the best movies of the current era.

[@o_nazim]

how does one get in touch with you?

[@MrAndrewChung]

why not just read it

[@Ericwest1000]

Wow, intellectual tour de force disguised as a film review. What a concept!

[@ihmintz]

it’s hard to see optimism from this movie - it shows the dichotomy between the innocent and reality. it’s about the necessity to be above the realities of the world- to maintain your individuality in order to take charge of your world as a means of making sense of the chaos

[@owenmb984]

It's optimistic because it presents the "realities of the world" as beautiful. We aren't a happy, healthy, meaningful species in spite of the "harsh necessities" of pain and suffering, it is because of our exposure to that very pain and suffering, as well as love and wonder and everything in between, that we have become the great society we are today. Think of all the art and music that has come out of people's depression and heartbreak. All of the life-saving medicines that were invented because someone suffered through disease. All of the roads and railways we have because for centuries people struggled on foot.

[@hyogu]

A needlessly baroque interpretation of perversion per se. The movie was pointless and wasteful, self-admiring and, despite the load of intellection, stupid.

[@aryaasghary7238]

No I don't think so

[@alexxx4434]

Throughout the film the heroine shows little to no empathy to anyone, especially for men. No romantic relationships is shown to develop with anyone either. Then in one scene she suddenly breaks into hysteria over seeing dying poor. Besides that event she is rather emotionally cold. Is this bad character writing or a point about a child growing without loving mammy and daddy is destined to be emotionally aloof?

[@henridaillie8246]

The movie is sick dude. I can’t recommend any deep thinker see this film. Nearly threw up after watching this.

[@louisuniverse]

You missed the point then

[@ViVeriVniversvmVivusVici]

I agree this was a crude smut masquerading as an art film

[@henridaillie8246]

​@@ViVeriVniversvmVivusVici It's a porno. Pretty much. Idk what was so interesting, it was a perverted movie that the main character had an autistic child's brain, it's not deep or philosophical unless you make it so in means to defend the fact that you enjoy a pseudo c++ld porn film. Academia leftists like some weird stuff, Foucault and Sarte both pushed to abolish age of consent laws. Now this film is praised by academic leftists and feminists, seems to be a revival of this way of thinking, sad and Truly Disgusting. Should be rated NC-17 and there should be an extra tax that goes straight to busting child traffickers. If Julian de Medeiros views this I would be curious to what he would have to say. I am truly astonished. He clearly is well studied but this is putting it to negative use to say the least. If this film was made just a decade ago the reaction would have been way different I will tell you that.

[@QuinnYouTube]

the silver screen is a mirror

[@alexxx4434]

It's about women's revolt against patriarchy, dude!