LogFAQs > #965081760

Inviso posted...

I will say that, in retrospect, the female characters seem to get more brutal deaths than the males. Sawed in half; left dying with a gunshot to the face, only to get gunshot overkilled; skinned alive (I think she was still breathing when the sister found her); face cannibalized alive; eyes gouged out. Compared to stabbed a bunch; decapitated; decapitated and displayed as a jack o'lantern; bludgeoned.

Totally agree the women suffer more brutality, but they're also in the ones in the movie's spotlight. The most impactful deaths are often reserved for major characters and those they care about.

Suprak the Stud posted...

I definitely got the same vibes Lightning did. It isn't so much that I'm accusing them of having weak female characters. I mean, I am, but the male characters here are also awful too. The female characters are weak not because of misogyny but because the person writing this might've been two eight year olds sitting on each others shoulders inside a trench coat.

But the violence is highly sexualized. The male body count might be higher but at no point does the clown cut off one's dick and walk around as a penis unicorn. You're free to have your own interpretations, of course, but like Lightning I'm glad I watched this one alone.

Fair enough. It's worth noting however that the first on-screen kill involves Vicky gouging out the eyes of a talk show host who insults Vicky's physical appearance. So while there may not be sexualized violence against men, the movie does punish a character who judges a woman based on her looks.

Lightning Strikes posted...

Im not going to bash anybodys opinions or interpretations because its all entirely subjective so I dont think anybodys bad for liking it or thinking that it isnt misogynistic, but just to clear some things up:

I dont think the film is promoting violence against women, I just think its asking the audience to luxuriate in it unironically, which is a contrast with American Psycho which is extremely self-critical.

Also I was going to mention the body count of men as a defence. The difference is the violence against them isnt gendered in the way it is against the female characters. If he were ripping their penises off Lily style that would be very different. Now, you obviously got more out of it than just liking the violence and saw it differently so I wont say youre wrong, that is the beauty of film. Im just explaining why I (and others going off of the writeups) saw it that way. What I will say however, is that there is another film on this list that does what you describe much better. We will get to that!

No worries, Lightning. When you said you couldn't understand why anyone would rank it highly, I felt that I had to defend it. Enjoyed the movie way too much not to.

And I think I know the movie you're referring to, but we'll keep things spoiler-free for now.