Women Talking -Hot Oscar Take

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Women Talking (2022 US)Based on the book of the same name. It's #FemaleFimmakerFriday and todays entry is this Oscar nominee from Sarah Polley. The women and girls of an isolated religious community have been repeatedly drugged and raped. The women all know about it but the question is what do they do? I watched this yesterday and my brain is still processing it. This was one of the most philosophical and intellectual films I've seen in a long time. Much of the film is a debate about what to do. Hence the women talking label. There is not a lot of movement and much of the film takes place in the barn loft. The colors are desaturated and the costumes are not meant to grab your attention. You're there to listen.  Although, it is very powerful what they say I have a few criticisms. Firstly, I really don't like the name. Women Talking lends itself too easily to be a joke which I am seeing. Hell I was actually tempted but nah. The themes in it are too serious. Secondly, this film was meant to be about feminism. Polley wrote the script and she lays it out. Great! But as it was pointed out to me by my husband its an all white cast. What's the problem? Critics have long cast the Feminist movement as for white college educated women only. Mel Brooks has pointed that out in his History of the World part II and his Shirley Chisholm depiction (with help from Wanda Sykes). Presidential candidate Chisholm is too black for the feminist endorsement and too feminine for the Black Caucus endorsement. What this film does is nail down that belief of an exclusive group not open to anyone of color. So as 90 plus year old Brooks pointed out, women of color don't have a seat at the table and any movement that excludes wont go anywhere. Yes I know Sykes wrote a lot of it but she still had to run it past him. If a 90 year old dude can see it then white women should be able to see it too. Now back to the film . Yes yes I know "the book says X". As a filmmaker you are in control. she could have completely changed the landscape of the film or...or and this is the biggie, do something else. Nobody is making you do this, this way. Find it on Amazon or for rent on most streaming. Find History of the World part II exclusively on Hulu. 
 

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