With the violet gaze we ponder seeing movies made by morras. Netflix It does not have the most extensive catalog of films created by women, the same situation happens on other platforms. And it is that in most of the areas structured from the patriarchal logic, there is abundance of what is created by men. Therefore, watching films made by women is a feminist political position, and although it is difficult to find in a conventional medium, we can achieve it on the so popular platform.
In this vein, I want to recommend a film by a wonderful director. In addition, the film that I will detail shortly consists of a theme that provides us with enough meat for feminist analysis.
I recommend The Voices (2014) by filmmaker, actress, cartoonist and illustrator Marjane Satrapi, who also directed the autobiographical film Persepolis – Launched in 2007 and unmissable, if you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for! – Inspired by the graphic novel of the same name – also made by her, obviously – where she recounts the memories of her childhood, youth and adulthood, traversed by the Islamic revolution in Iran, an event that marked her life due to the repression that it implied and so particularly in the lives of women (such as the compulsory use of the hijab).
Returning to the center of this note, the movie The Voices (2014) starring Ryan Reynolds as Jerry. His performance is very different from what he usually performs, because in fact it is outstanding, deep and quite good. Likewise, throughout the film we will see the interaction that Jerry has with other women; on the one hand, her colleagues Fiona (Gema Arterton) and Lisa (Anna Kendrick) from the administrative area of the tub factory where she works as a laborer; on the other hand with his psychiatrist Dr. Warren (Jacky Weaver. Finally, the relationship that is key to complicate the plot is with his mother (Valeri Koch). They are the women who make up the life of this apparently good man, caregiver inveterate of his talkative pets: the evil cat Mr. Whiskers and the sympathetic dog Bosco.
The film takes place in Germany, the photography, the colors, locations and in general all the aesthetics of it are beautiful. Although of course, being horror movies, the precious aesthetics is not constant, although it does shine most of the time. The film is in vivid and gloomy hues, creating a witty and unexpected narrative. However, it is interesting to think about how a woman recreates the male perspective, where in his mind there is neither machismo nor violence, only inevitable circumstances -according to the subjectivity of the subject.
In The Voices (The Voices, 2014), Ryan Reynolds plays Jerry Hickfang
The aim of this note is not to spoil, but to generate in those who read it the desire to watch this film with the perspective that feminism offers us. For this to take place, I invite you to answer the following questions during or after watching it: What gender asymmetries do you distinguish throughout the film? Do women in history manage to break gender stereotypes? Is Jerry’s type of interaction with women intrinsic to his bond with his mother? How does the myth of romantic love cut through the plot? Do you think that women directors tell stories from another place?
I conclude by stating that when we incisively question everything around us – even what we consume just to entertain and de-stress ourselves – we sharpen our critical thinking. Looking, contemplating, enjoying, thinking and living life with the tools that feminism offers us upsets and moves us from the common places. This is not a small thing, because it enables a transformation of the orders – symbolic and social – established both at the individual and collective level.
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* Margarita Mantilla (Mexico City, 1985) Sociologist and feminist researcher, Master in Women’s Studies from the UAM-X. Co-founder of CoCu (Colectiva Cuerpa), Feministas de la UAM-X, Me gusta menstruar and creator of Tallercitas feministas (space for feminist political training). Specialist in feminist theory, from where she deals with the issues of motherhood, feminist economics, street harassment, surrogacy, gender relations, fat Phobia and more. Passionate about music, cinema and literature, especially where the filmmakers are women.
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