Where I’m at from what I’m watching
To ease myself into unknown blogosphere waters, I thought I'd talk about the topic occupying a decent chunk of my mind lately: movies. Now please don’t immediately give up on me. I can recognize the horrifying sight of a 20-something online sharing unsolicited film commentary, but I promise I come from a place of having no room to judge. I haven't seen a majority of the classics, and I have a major soft spot for superhero movies, so trust me when I say I will never be the purest cinephile. This is me telling you to watch Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. However, over the last few years, I've dedicated much of my free time to watching more movies, since I felt I had drifted away from the love I had for them as a child. The movie theatre has become my favourite place to spend my free evenings.
The continued thriving of our local theatres has also given me so much comfort in a current social climate that feels wholly disconnected from long-form content. I saw the Wachowskis' debut, Bound (1997), last year in the same theatre where I watched one of my best friends present a short film in high school. It's been locally owned and operated for longer than I've been alive, nestled only a block from my grandparents' home, on a quiet one-way street. I feel simultaneously so old and so young every time I visit. That night remains one of my favourite theatre experiences because 1) lesbians and 2) Jennifer Tilly. I can’t verbalize how special it is to experience movies in theatres. There’s no closer feeling to community, especially in packed shows full of eclectic laughs. Shoutout to all the snort-laughers. I see you, I am you.
So! What is PJ watching? I decided on a whim one day that I’d like to do a deep dive into David Cronenberg’s filmography. I love that strange, off-putting man, and the joy I feel seeing how deeply Canadian many of his films are is unmatched. I can’t explain why, but you know what I mean. This is my OFFICIAL SPOILER WARNING for the rest of the post. I don't go into full detail, but it would be remiss of me if I didn't cover my bases. I started with The Brood (1979), which is the most CANCON out of them all. One of my favourite things about Cronenberg’s horror movies, besides the practical gore yum yum, is how they’re often explorations of fractured relationships at their core. This delicate line trembles at the introduction of hubris. The Brood is definitely flawed in its result, and the mutant children left me laughing rather than fearful, but at its heart, it’s a drama about men who refuse to see women beyond their societal expectations. The arrogance in their assertion over Nola's mind and body is what leads to the carnage. Frank can’t accept his wife’s mental illness for what it is: a part of her. Meanwhile, her psychologist uses her as a means to further his research and career. The mutant limb birth is, in my opinion, one of the most blatant physical depictions of generational trauma; Nola births mutant children who are representative of her unresolved torment. They enact her aggression when she is held captive in therapy-speak. She isn’t truly seen, not really, just surveilled. Justice for Mrs. Mutant Mother!!
Next, I gave in to my anticipation and jumped to Cronenberg’s most commercially successful movie, 1986’s The Fly. First off, WHY DO I WANNA PET HIM IN FLY FORM? WHY HE KINDA CUTE? Ok, it’s out of my system. But truly, the costuming, effects, and overall nastiness of this can’t be praised enough. Like this shit is GROSSSSSSS (complimentary) and I’m not even mad it took me this long to watch it because it was such a good first watch. I think the crossroads of humanity and hubris are most obvious in this one; Seth’s desperate clawing at scientific discovery is what leads to his (literal) decomposition. But I think what makes this character arc stand out beyond its on-the-nose motivations is his earnestness to have people understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. He maintains many of the classic arrogant scientist tropes, but still clings to the idea of belonging even as his brain succumbs to Fly-dom. He wants Ronnie to see his success, but more than that, he wants Ronnie to believe in it just as much as he does. It’s not enough to be seen when to be understood is the true release. It makes that ending acknowledgement between the two all the more heartbreaking.
My third Cronen-binge (I’m sorry) was good ol’ Dead Ringers (1988), which I was surprised to learn isn’t technically a horror film despite its marketing. The horror elements ultimately come from the twins' symbiotic relationship. So sorry to twins, but having another me staring right back at me sounds like a horror in itself. I’ll admit I struggled to keep up with who was Ellie and who was Bev half the time, but that challenge really connects to the message in the end. You can’t truly separate the two, not without mortally wounding the other, in both the physical and the spiritual. Both display arrogance in their work, but the most powerful implementation of hubris is their deception of women and the subsequent invasion of their bodies. Ellie revels in deceiving women for his own professional and sexual gains, but Beverly’s meek counter personality holds just as much blame despite his perceived morality. Part of me wants to say they're two sides of toxic masculinity— the overt, physical threat versus the unconscious misogyny laid dormant. That thought is still cooking, though. Perhaps I'll come back to it. It’s not until Bev falls in love with Claire that he sees a woman as a fully formed person. Even then, at the slightest inkling of her infidelity, he sails even further beyond Elliot in the dehumanization of women. They are mutants, vile beasts to dissect, carve, and violate beyond solely the physical. The twins can’t be great individually, nor can they be weak individually. One must always bear the brunt, leading the other to meet in the viscous middle.
If I had to choose a favourite so far, it would have to be The Fly. I don’t care if it’s the basic choice— that shit is good for a reason. And it’s really fun to see where common sayings come from (“Be afraid, be VERY afraid.”) In total, there are 23 Cronenberg dirty gems to watch. I’m not sure where I’ll land next; maybe you all could give me suggestions! If you’ve made it this far, thanks homie, you’re a real one. Special thanks to good pals Sam, for teaching me the ways of Bear Blog, and Vic, whose recent Substack post was an insightful read and reignited my desire to spew words into the void of whoever will listen. If you’d like to sign up for email notifications for my posts, you can enter your address into the textbox below. Pretty please, it would be so cool and hot and sexy of youuuuuuuuu!! If you see any grammatical errors... no you didn't.
Talk to you when I feel like it,
PJ
No, but seriously, pls look at the mutant children.
