I remember seeing a disgusting comment saying the lead actress “wouldn’t be a victim of rape because she’s unattractive and Black” as if Black women aren’t the most assaulted demographic in the U.S. and a make up a large amount of sex trafficked victims
I remember a journalist saying the same thing to Carrie Mulligan for Promsiing Young Woman (not the black part** of course, but that her role should have gone to someone men would find more voluptuous)
It pretty much just ties into the 'What was she wearing?' type of mindset that suggests rape and SA are because of percieved desirability and not of wanting power over a victim. The misogynoir that comment had plays into the exact same attitude that leads to so many black women being assaulted in the first place. Sad to see
A Black woman finally allowing themselves to indulge in selfishness and self preservation is in fact a triumph as in media, we are ALWAYS sacrificing ourselves, the “greater good” while simultaneously being oppressed. We’re not slaves, saviors or sacrificial lambs anymore. We’re human beings with human needs..
@@simplysafiyah but why does her selfishness and self perseveration, have to be her enacting the same trauma that was given to her? you can find your happiness outside of men, human needs don't have to be tied to trauma - all she did was continue the cycle in her own way - that's not happiness. not to me at least.
@ because in this case it’s applicable. The point isn’t about happiness it’s about indulging in humanity the way that every other group of people gets to do. It’s literally showcase in the movie . Mainstream never lets black women get the last laugh that is why it’s a triumph. For once can a Black woman not be the savior for everyone else.
The first ten minutes of this were so captivating; i genuinely forgot this video was about Blink Twice. Also , i appreciate that you say the actual word instead of just SA. I know most social media sites, RUclips included, don’t like that, but I feel like the forced censoring of the word can lessen the impact of talking about it.
Yes! Call it out for what it is! I'm sorry words like 'rape' and 'sexual assault' are triggering for some, but at least saying these words enforce how DISTURBING and DISGUSTING these acts of violence really are.
@@KnarfStein using words such as snowflakes to talk abt victims who may not be okay with hearing abt their SA ( WHICH IS 100% FINE) UNDER a comment section of a video talking abt AGAIN SA.. Truly has to be ironic.
@@KnarfStein Absolutely idiotic. Leftists are typically feminists and stringent advocates for survivors, who are not ones to use euphemisms for the act. Harris did nothing but emulate a moderate Republican party and try to sway centrists, arguing for a stronger border and refusing to stand up for trans people or Palestinians, not addressing economic anxiety, student loans, or health care, alienating huge swaths of young people who didn't vote. Trump had 3 million less votes than last time and it still didn't matter because the Democratic party refuses to do anything that engages people or make them feel that their lives would be meaningfully different if they went to the polls.
I never thought we were supposed to be on her side. I thought the cycle didn't stop and she became a part of the problem to have the power she always wanted. I felt like the movie was a warning to what really happens when people "sell their soul" for power and "success." I thought Frida was a reflection of some women in the industry ( in a bad way ). I DID NOT see her as a girl boss at the end.
i thought she was a girlboss, and that was the point - being a survivor of abuse and oppression didn't make her immune to committing those same abuses of power.
Thats how I viewed it too. If anything camela, I think it was i view more girl boss and who genuinly wanted justice. Frida just took advantage of the fact they were bad people too to get what she wanted.
@@PrettyPearPricess what does that have to do with my point about taking money to become powerful not being the same thing and brutalizing multiple women? She said it’s not a “good ending”, but good for who? Bc a white man is now a victim at a far less severe rate than the women, I’m supposed to think the ending isn’t good? Not being lawful and ethical, sure but it was good for Frida
i think if there were more visual or audio cues highlighting the ugliness of frida's decision in the end, it would have been clearer that it's a cynical ending not to be celebrated by the audience. jess and lucas were the true tragic figures of the movie - the plot let them down the same way frida let them down.
@@toriyt2714 sacrifice her best friend for what? it was clear that she was equally horrified by what had happened to them and wanted revenge, not power.
@@sainttheresetaylor2054 she convinced her friend to stay and not leave to not ruin this opportunity for her even though her bf was clearly in panic and unease actually she was frightened but Frida ultimately only cared about herself and opportunity to access
@@sainttheresetaylor2054no she actually from the start let’s her down by buying dresses instead of paying rent, then every time her friend tries to give her a warning she fights it, if you watch attentively her friend was authentic and she did sacrifice her, had she listen the first time, she could’ve saved her
this movie could have been really interesting if it was reframed. you dont even have to change the plot that much or at all. it could have been a movie about how solidarity between women who are victims often gets traded in to secure a bag or to climb a social ladder, how even women who are victims sometimes can weaponize their victimhood to harm other women (and often themselves). the ending is the same: becoming the enemy is a hollow victory, and the smile at the end would be terrifying rather than "satisfying".
It was a significant plot point, the fact that jess tried to connect with frida, who turned her down because of slater and finally being "here", then the other girl also didn't want to believe frida, but had to face reality because of the name Jess written on the lighter. The whole thing was only made possible because the women chose peen and fantasy over common sense. I think much of this movie went over these viewer's heads 🤔
The Lucas subplot is so strange. I could see it working if his character was shown maybe turning away from the assaults happening and trying to make excuses to himself on why he couldn't do anything to stop it (losing his position in that society for one), but showing him actively putting himself in harm's way to stop the assaults and then getting drugged to forget makes no sense if the message is about complicity. Also only using the native people of the island as a plot device sucks so much when their way of life has been obliterated by people like Slater and will continue to be so even after his loss of power.
Right! It’s weird because there’s a scene was the camera guy is chasing Lucas and holding him down so to some extent Lucas is also a victim. They also give him the memory wiping serum so he doesn’t remember. But it’s never really explored not even a little until the very end when Slater says a throwaway line and he dies like right after that. His subplot felt so weirdly placed in the story.
I feel like Frieda being black and the girl bossification of her trauma are linked. We don't let black women just sob and grieve the things that were done to them in fiction. Instead there's this thing where they have to be badass and strong even when white women who've had the same things happen to them don't have to be. The end result is that we can't have Frieda show the very real PTSD she'd be experiencing after all of this or have her manipulate the rich man out of his money but retreat into seclusion or anything else that would be a very normal, human response to trauma. She doesn't get to be treated like a normal human by the narrative. She has to be the Strong Black Woman trope, and for reasons I will never understand, people think 'strong' and 'has trauma' are mutually exclusive.
I’m curious to what kind of ending do you think would have showcased the vulnerability you’re describing. I’ve seen people have the opposite take and feel the ending was in contrast to the black savior position black women put into.
13:30 she gave an interview (idk with who), where she talks about the ending and she admits that the ending is ironic in that oppressed becomes the oppressor. It's not a feel good movie and it's not meant to empower. That should be obvious because of two things; she kept Slater alive and held her own gala... She decided to continue the cycle despite being a victim herself. So in short, the idea you had about the ending was the exact point of the movie.
I need to rewatch the movie to be sure, but maybe the point could be made more obvious by having a few moments in the beginning that really stress the willingness of our protagonist to ladder climb despite morality. We only really see her break rules at work to meet a celebrity, something a lot of people might justify. But if we saw her throw a coworker under the bus or something more universally offensive but mild, it would have laid better groundwork for her now irresistible and inevitable turn as a villain.
I’m pretty sure she gets that. She wasn’t saying the ending didn’t make logical sense. The video is about how she disliked the movie as the bleak experience that it was.
@Poorstargazer23 idk imo and my experiences thats exactly how other victims are like too. They may not show obvious evidence that they have ulterior motives doesnt mean they don't. People lie to get what they want, even victims do and some victims have their own greedy agenda.
Been waiting on a black femme to talk about this movie. I had so many thoughts most of which you illustrated here. I would add that Frieda being black carries a lot of weight in her girl boss decisions at the end. I think black women have a uniquely tenuous relationship with the concept in that we tend to be a bit less critical of black women pursuing the girl boss status considering that the alternative is far more perilous for them. On the other hand, it's still bad at the end of the day and there's a need to point that out. I was shocked and appalled at the pro genocyd response of a lot of black women on tik Tok after the election, but I was happy to see so many other black women come forward to call that out, but they also faced significant backlash for doing the right thing. This obviously came out before the election but to me the ending takes on that same conflict. Are black women allowed to be girl bosses... Obviously no. Who gonna call that out. Not my ass 😂. In that regard I wonder if we're meant to be critical of Frieda at the end. There's maybe not a lot of textual evidence to say so, but idk. As for the young dude who did nothing. I didn't see his experience as one of abuse, but solely of inaction, and then obliviousness. And while there's an argument that he doesn't deserve retribution, I think it was best to let him catch hell. I'd have been even more turned off by the film if they did a "one of the good ones" character on top of everything else.
The women would've killed him too once they got their hands on him anyways. They wanted to kill every man on that island until Frida got the idea to poison Slater's vape to save herself and Sarah
Inaction and complacency can be just as evil as taking an active role. What is that saying? I can only remember the quote from Boondocks Saints off the top of my head, "Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."
i think Blink Twice is similar to a lot of other movies where people identify the finale as a “good for her” when in reality that is not at all what the film was going for. for example Midsommar, Pearl, and The VVitch all have similar takeaways when not analyzed in depth. i think by taking the fact that Slater doesn’t get what he deserves at face value does a disservice to the movie and blinds you from seeing that this cycle of abuse, while less intense and horrific, has just been continued in another form with Frida now in control.
kinda off topic but ty for mentioning how people call certain movies "good for her" movies when they really arent. like carrie. i hate when ppl say carrie is a good for her story.
i agree, and i also think that frida being so captivated by the idea of success and attention to the point that she will ignore her own friend’s concerns is indicative of her priorities - she would still choose the success and attention every time. i liked frida’s character but i thought that she was supposed to be read as also slightly unhinged and power-hungry, making this less of a “good for her” story and more of a “the cycle of abuse will continue” story. there’s definitely still story issues and music choices that can lead to a person thinking that it’s supposed to be a “girl boss” ending though so i understand why people would read it as such!!
@@zerocaloriedelights what could have happened to slayer for him to have “gotten what he deserves”? Frida killing him? That doesn’t help out the other victims and the world still sees him as a billionaire will potential to revitalize his image. Going to the police? We all know what would’ve came out of that.
I very much agree. It never even occurred to me that the ending was framed positively. I saw it as Kravitz acknowledging what a traitor Frida was to her class and gender.
The ending doesn't work, but it does seem very honest about the director's experiences -- whether she realizes it or not. She knows what happens, but she wants to win the game and is willing to leave out the gaps that show that even when those gaps are easy to notice. Because a winner doesn't have to answer for those.
Lucas is also killed in the end as a direct result of trying to help the women. Even if he was complicit before, the message seems to be “it actually is too late to do the right thing, trying to help victims will be pointless and get them to attack you”
The charitable reading of it, is that Lucas is an actual victim and Slater is just gaslighting him, and him catching a stray/friendly fire is in contrast with how Stacy is actually complicit but the girls mistakenly think she's a fellow victim, and when people talk about abuse it's common to reduce it to a strict binary that sometimes throws male survivors of abuse under the bus, while expecting solidarity from women who actually have none.
@@umusuuk I read it as Slater trying to program him into feeling complicit, didn't love the film but I don't think it would contradict itself that badly. Wasn't sure whether he was another SA victim or if they saw him as someone they could get some blackmail on and when he wasn't into it they just dosed him and kept him trashed/drugged up after he got in the way.
Is it possible the ending is another critique? She gets what she wants, but it’s not justice-it’s money, fame and power? I think most people see that as a win. But should they? Somebody ask Ms. Kravits. Really good video though!
Does it matter if her intention was "Frida is a traitor, bad" if most people walk out of the movie with the conclusion "yay girlboss"? Many people nowadays subscribe to the philosophy Death of the Author, meaning their interpretation is just as valid even if it's not what the creator intended. Even if Zoe Kravitz comes forward and says "Frida bad" most people will go "nah, don't think so" because the movie does indeed frame Frida's ending as a victory. Basically, if the ending intended to be critical, it doesn't come across, and at this point people have formed their own opinions and you (general you) can't tell them they're wrong to feel happy when the ending was depicted as an epic win
I think this thought process is valid considering how often Slater compared himself for Frieda. He called her his best friend and meant it. He was gonna keep her around even if EVERYONE ELSE was killed. He saw a kindred spirit, and I believe it was more than just their mutual trauma.
this was the first commentary on blink twice that I've read (upon fd's rec) and agree so much. i would say that i think its a good film, i recommended it to friends and really appreciated a lot of kravitz's visual handling of the material (particularly compared to the usual rape-revenge film, which you discuss). i wasn't happy with the ending either, but i was also accepting of the fact that maybe frida is just a victim AND a corrupt woman. your thoughts get right to the underlying issue though, that maybe she is, but the framing of the last scene fails to communicate that, and without that intention, it reads as the capitalist girlboss dream. really appreciated this video!!
9:20 - that's part of why Promising Young Woman was so astounding, the scene under discussion was purely seen by reaction, which keeps the focus on how horrible it is
I didn't think the audience was meant to see the ending as good and be on Frida's side at the end? My interpretation was that we were supposed to go "Oh, Frida's selfishness makes the tools of oppression just as dangerous in her hands as they were in Kane's." I haven't rewatched the movie since i saw it in august though, so maybe i'm missing something. I completely agree about the way the movie treats the islanders, though, and i think a better movie, or perhaps a sequel, could give them a more active role, maybe dismantaling the unbalanced and exploitative use of the island's resources. The movie has flaws but i just don't think we're meant to see Frida's choices as justice.
Agree with you. I saw the ending as the cycle of abuse will continue in a different form. Money is never the solution. I wish the ending was setup differently to explore that.
Same, Frida was always very selfish and self centered, I mean she spent part of the rent on some dresses and peer pressured her friend into giving up her phone. She also didn’t ever really seem guilty about ignoring her friends concerns after discovering her missing. I also don’t think it’s a good thing that they memory-roofie the other girls instead of just convincing them to leave, slater always says that they’re free to leave so that could’ve been challenged in the daylight. I do really like this movie but I don’t feel like it a girl boss ending, at the end slater is legitimately shaking like he has nerves damage, I feel like it’s implied that Frida is hurting him as well. There’s even a muffled line where the security grab Rick and pull him aside for some mysterious reason as well, most likely for Frida’s revenge.
how the hell are the tools of oppression just as dangerous in her hands? how are traumatised women doing the best they can in a male-run society just as bad qs the people who set it up? and they didn’t build up frida’s character enough for me to buy her ‘inherent selfishness’, choosing not to reveal what had happened in order to gain power. but even if that was the case, there is no perfect victim.
I think that's the natural inclination/interpretation. But I don't think the movie is actively communicating that. Friday is framed as the victor without any in-movie critique
Maybe I’m part of the minority, but I thought the movie implied that Frieda was also somewhat of a villain, or I guess not necessarily a hero when she pulls Slater out of the fire rather than the girl. That to me was a jaw drop moment that revealed her true intentions of selfishness and her betrayal of the other woman. I definitely didn’t walk away feeling like I wanted to root for Frieda, nor did I really feel like I was led to.
I think the ending was meant to be unnerving. I think we’ve seen the ‘justice’ type ending before and Zoë chose not to go in that direction. Having a black woman as the lead does add a different dynamic to the story, I think. It makes me wonder what really happens to a black woman on an island full of dead rich white men? The ending feels like it's asking which is more valuable. Justice or reparation?
If we had to translate the story into reality, Freida wouldn’t get the justice she deserves. She would be questioned and scrutinised to no end. She would be victim blamed and practically crucified as a black woman in the media. If you’ve noticed, black women tend to be scrutinised in the media for just simply having emotions. So I’m not totally against Freida getting her cake and eating it.
I saw the ending of Blink Twice as posing the question: Why play fair in an unfair system? Frida, being in the position she's in, couldn't really count on the justice system standing by her in ensuring that rich man got justice. Why would she risk martyring herself for the small chance of justice being served, when she can have her own form of justice. One that doesn't include her going through all of that, just to be exactly where she was before, scraping by to survive for a second time.
And I think it's outlandish to say she's just as bad or is continuing the cycle of abuse because she's NOT allowing him to continue hurting women. Also, for all we know, she's donating to a charity for assault victims, taking his money and using it to help people. To assume that she's just happy to be rich is a grim take. However, she also sucked, so maybe! Not really a great film, but it's a first effort, so I await Zoe's next endeavour.
What happens to Sarah? Also, I assumed that one of the reasons Frieda took over Slater’s life was that she intended to get revenge on the men that frequented the island. That’s what I got from her interaction with Rich.
I can't say I was completely satisfied with the ending, but I liked that it was different from something like I Spit On Your Grave. I wouldn't be surprised if Frida convinced herself that going to the police wouldn't bring accurate justice and everyone involved isn't guaranteed punishment by law, especially if they give information that grants immunity or a lesser sentence. As someone that has watched men in poverty get away with crime, I can only imagine what the 1% are up to. With how powerful the men seemed to be, who knows if it would have even gone to trial. I don't think it's entirely accurate to compare Jess trying to help Frida versus Frida not helping Stacy though. Jess and Frida were unknowingly drugged to where their decision making became heavily impaired and at that point no one was remembering anything entirely so though Jess was right, Frida wasn't wrong either because she was glamoured, but she did listen and tried to save the other girls once her and Sarah realized what was going on. Stacy was not only a willing participant, but tried to kill Frida first and if we're going to hold Frida to the same standard, we would have to look at Stacy and how much she let carry on and would continue to let carry on as long as she was drugged into forgetting and Frida successfully disappeared. Stacy knew of the dangers and could have been a victim herself, but there's no indication of that nor did she try to help take down Slater, even when the opportunity became apparent. I'm kinda tired of the stigma/pressure that survivors are solely responsible for pushing justice in order to prevent further victimization. Yes, you should report that you were assaulted, but that should be for you first and the future second. In the end you mentally have to be ready for the scrutiny you're going to receive if charges are pressed and I can understand it being a lot. It also has to be understood that the Justice system is a dice roll so you never know even when you're sure you do. How is Frida going to think so far ahead when she just experienced her trauma multiple times over, realized what happened and watched people go tragically within hours? At that point, you're kinda screwed either way and I think some people miss that there's no triumph in any direction other than to heal how you can. Some people may not like that and that's fine, but it's also life. Frida's now a willing participant within her Stockholm Syndrome, but one thing that could be said is though she didn't go to court, she also didn't continue on like Stacy who knew far more than her and who knows how long. I think whoever finds her a hero or bad person could be projection of morals. There are no perfect victims, but they're still surviving their trauma like any other victim. As far as Lucas goes the movie is already explaining it to us through presentation. Slater is manipulative, gaslit Lucas into confusion and questioned his character in order to continue improper actions, hence why he simply sighed when Lucas was shot. Slater lightly warned Lucas not to go near the door, but Lucas being so terrified could only think of running from the realization of who the monster is and unfortunately became a casualty. Sarah didn't know who would be at the door let alone if he were a real ally, especially with all the chaos. Lucas is a victim in many ways and we could branch out into discussing male victims, but there's still something to be said about those who genuinely know what's going on and do nothing like people around Diddy or R. Kelly and that's where the focus should be on in that regards. I think the point is to question everything and infer, but we do have to ask the right questions when we do. If Frida went to the police, what would be the odds everyone would feel justified? Investors now go rogue, the IRS is involved and now you have a target on your head for possibly making people lose money or worse. You can consider her being part of the problem by staying quiet and collecting a check and that's fair, but I definitely wouldn't be mad at it. We always want reparations in a nice neat box, but sometimes that box is empty.
Just making a line where it's stated that Lucas chose to forget would solve his storyline, he's not just ignoring it but constructing a world for himself where the rapes never happened.
This was such a fantastic video! Also I’m so glad you talked about Lucas, I was really surprised by how Kravitz chose to characterize him. The scene where slater “calls out” Lucas always rubbed me the wrong way becuz throughout the film I thought it was pretty obvious that Lucas was also a victim.
@@Belihoneyyea I thought so too. Like what happens with so many young boys and men in the entertainment industry… they’re abused and go on to become abusers or complacent in the abuse of others. I read this study about how frat boys who go through violent hazing will over value the benefits of acceptance in the group over the harm they’ve experienced so their minds can come to terms with the trauma. It seems the pursuit of class mobility and power cause the same behaviours
@@sainttheresetaylor2054 It's really hinted at. He is a guest, he uses the perfume along with the women, and he forgets everything. He has bruises along with the women. During the violent scenes, he is terrified. Slater says he did nothing for himself or the women.
@@sainttheresetaylor2054 one can say that he too got R --ed by one of the other men on the island and they made him forget it. or maybe he's gay and they gave him the black eye for not R--ing one of the women on the island because thats what " men are supposed to do " coming from the prospective of the abuser Slater king or lucas just does not think its right to R---- women for fun and does nothing in shock, watching what happens also makes him a victim but also a contributor in the women's abuse. he can be both the 2 aren't mutually exclusive. Humans are complex begins. You can be so many different things at once. Also at the start of the movie they said he made his CFO into CEO (Vic Mahoney) who was the guy that got his head smashed in, makes you wonder since he is older than Salter King was he making slater forget to take over the company maybe? or was Slater king abused by Vic Mahoney and was were lucas was before seeing what he did nothing then started doing evil shit with Vic reasons to give him the CEO position because he was better at hiding stuff? theres lots to unpack here!!
But isn't that the point of the movie?. I felt that the film was trying to discuss how the influence of capitalistic success co ops everything that brings justice to humans? I don't think Zoe was trying to glorify it by her decision. I think she was trying to portray the condition that we are in. And how we view that condition as pretty and glorious as long as the ends justify the means. Because a pay day. Is the only thing that makes sense to us in the current condition we find ourselves in.
Also, i'm not sure Frida expressing she feels lonely, safe and seen to Jess is gaslighting... is it a tad manipulative, maybe. Terrible instincts and bad friend? hell yeah. But not everything is gaslighting - now, had she known they were in danger and she still said that bullshir, yes, gaslighting.
Good point. We do tend to overuse that words. Frida at that time, was just ignorant and in general it's not exactly a crime to be ignorant and try to convince your friend that something is a good idea even though it may not be.
My (too charitable) reading of Lucas' treatment is that he's getting gaslit by Slater and that even women don't take male victims seriously sometimes. Even when all the signs are there that he's not "one of the boys", it's just assumed he should have done more because he's a man. He's not a perfect victim, so he's not a victim at all. But if that did happen to be what they were going for, the execution is not great. They should have leaned more obviously into cynicism, like you said.
When considering Frida’s ending, I saw it w/ another woman that’s an acquaintance and the first thing she said to me was, “I hate the ending, she was just as bad as the men!” That made me stop in my tracks bc how in the world was she as bad as the men? I thought of the ending as a way to subvert the justice system bc we know we can’t trust it. Even earlier in the video, Yhara includes a clip of a police officer insinuating that a SA victim “brought it on herself” thus cops and the legal system can’t be trusted to carry out correct justice. Who was the judge that said, “that shouldn’t dictate his future” when referring to a young man that brutally r*ped a young woman? So I saw Frida’s enslavement of King as insurance, so that he couldn’t just get away w/ it like he did before time and time again. And it’s a lil bit since I’ve seen the movie but the ending scene was for a charity of hers, right? And lastly, I really really agree w/ everything Yhara said about Lucas. THAT was the biggest issue w/ the ending that I had, was he a victim or was he complacent and if he was both, why kill him off by the hands of the women?! So confusing! Love this vid 🩵
I’m glad you shared your take on this. I remember sitting in the theatre and feeling something was off as the film came to an end. I wanted to root for this film’s protagonist, but couldn’t fully get behind her. You succinctly hit the nail on the head about several issues here. What message is the film trying to send its viewers? Should women aspire to financial upward mobility over believing each other, and protecting our closest friendships and strong communal bonds? And who among us is allowed to be put down or sacrificed, vs. who is not? The loss of the protagonist’s best friend is so insidious, because for much of the movie, the characters and viewers don’t even realize she’s gone. And after her loss, how is she remembered or canonized? How are other women protected, so that the same losses don’t take place for others? Also, your views about the character Lucas were illuminating. I hadn’t considered him much at all, but he was also a victim, which I think touches on the ultimately damaging aspects of males as they matriculate through patriarchy. It’s striking, how flawed and contradictory the film’s messaging is, but how it also tries to speak for women. Thank you for shedding light on it all.
I was surprised a lot of ppl didn’t like the ending. A survivor choosing the money and power, especially when she speaks about always wanting power, instead of pseudo “justice”. The crime probably couldn’t have even been proven since Channing Tatum didn’t even remember it and the other perpetrators were dead. If she didn’t choose the money/power then she would’ve went back home to her shitty apartment with nothing but the memories of her abuse,
I think that's the problem with the ending, it's individualistic. It implies that after all these women team up to kill their abusers (most of them also dying in the process) the primary survivor does nothing to honor their sacrifice or the truth of her own experience. Instead she keeps the most powerful abuser alive so she can siphon his wealth and power for herself. It's only a victory for HER, it's the exact opposite of solidarity.
@ what could she have done to honor them? U think if she went to the police as a poor black woman and said the rich white man did these horrible things with no proof that anything would’ve came out of it? Or would killing him have sufficed which would have not benefited her in the slightest? Going back to her broken apartment with less money than before and now traumatized. It’s very reminiscent of the real world where it’s expected for the black woman to take on all the pain and suffering as a courtesy to everyone else on top of her own with no complaints instead of putting herself first and doing something selfish to benefit her.
i didn't think that the movie was trying to tell us that the ending is good tbh. it seemed to me like it was showing us the cycle of abuse and that we weren't supposed to think frida got a happy ending in any way, i interpreted it as a bad ending because there's no justice for anyone
Ugh thank you! I watched this during an early screening, and i couldn't get behind the girlboss-ification of her trauma. It felt like trauma (c)orn at a point that so many people swept into the trope of female rage.
I remember telling a friend about the "you did nothing" scene because the writing was so overt. It makes sense that they had to overly explain the meaning since they didn't really portray a complicit nature.
I'm glad somebody's bringing attention to this movie, I consider it to be the Stepford's Wives movie our time because it was able to do what Don't Worry Darling couldn't Given everything that has come out about Diddy and Epistein's Island. This movie is very relevant 👌
something i did appreciate about this movie was that it addressed the assault and abuse as exactly what it was, something don’t worry darling was afraid to do once they cast harry styles as the lead. and yeah, i’ve been unable to stop thinking about this movie since everything that’s come out about diddy and gisele pelichot’s trial.
The whole plot line with Lucas made me feel like I was going crazy. They spent so long making him out to be sympathetic and then just... forgot at the end.
As a forced participant in capitalism, I liked the ending because I liked that Frida got what she wanted: other people to serve her champagne. Though, after listening to this, I have to agree that it is not justice for all, but justice for one.
Thank you for saying this!! I kept thinking that the part about being a white male billionaire with a private island was enough to warrant revenge from a woman like Frieda. We didn’t need the graphic depiction and/suggestion of assault. Also it really bothered me that a female director wouldn’t include details that would truly be horrifying to experience if so much time was passing without realizing it- like your hair or nails or bikini line growing out, getting your period etc, there could have been more tactile ways to show how traumatic it would be to be held against your will for such a long time without your knowledge.
I got the vibe that it's sorta supposed to be gross. She is now continuing the cycle of abuse that was inflicted onto her. oftentimes that's exactly what happens in reality. At first it seems like a win until you realize the cycle never ends. I didn't get that immediately though, I had to look into others ideas about it too understand and come to that conclusion. Zoe Kravitz did a wonderful job with this movie
I liked the ending. It takes in consideration the fact that when you are a victim of rape, if you try to seek help or official justice, you will be mocked, humiliated, called "hysterical" or "paranoid", and it might destroy your life as weel as your family's. Speaking from experience. I wish I had never tried to report a rape and instead got revenge by myself in silence. It is the smarter things to do in today's world. Maybe one day, but I don't have any hope on this, it will be smartest to seek justice, but today it is NOT. And pretending it is is just participating in putting all the victims in more danger. I say that as someone who, once, was all about social contract, but undrstand now it is just a facade for a country to appear superior to others because citizens don't, in the end, get the rights they are supposed to get by obeying to the law. And those who break the law in the most awful ways are those who always get away with it.
My heart goes out to you. I made the immensely demoralizing mistake of attempting to pursue a disciplinary case against my r*pist in college. because I made the mistake of being assaulted in a slightly ambiguous way, the case did not work out in my favor (nothing like having to write a five paragraph essay about how reporting your assailant was a violation of your school's code of conduct). One of the only things that I can make my peace about is that it was the second time he had been reported to the folks that handled sexual misconduct cases on campus so when a third case was brought up against him later on he finally got the school was kind of like "...okay yeah this young man appears to have a pattern of sexually assaulting his classmates so while we STILL WON'T EXPEL THE FUCKER we will give him heavy disciplinary sanctions that would make it very hard for him to continue to attend this institution"
I really apprpeciate you including the history of this genre! It puts into context the problem I've been having with the sa revenge stories, as a csa survivor. Especially in the last of us tv show, it was quite horrible watching the main character brutally murder their assaulter. Knowing where it comes from makes sense.
this is a great video!! i really enjoyed this movie, mostly for the reasons you disliked it! i found everything with frida, including how self serving she is, to be like...purposeful and the point, which is why i liked it. frida is not a kind person! even her early interaction with jess where she scolds her bff for "giving up her power" was nasty. even during the gala after learning to walk from jess she starts to ditch her friend with her eye on the prize before she tripped and fell. i think, narratively, frida does believe the things she says about "believe women" and everything else, but not above herself. its why jess is so easily forgotten. i even think the framing of the island workers/natives plays into this. but i dont disagree with any of your criticisms of the film tho. especially the point about lucas (tho part of me looks at it as frida wouldnt view him that light but that may be too charitable on my part). and yeah...after the election this movie does hit very differently.
You're in good company. I liked the movie for the same reasons she was critiquing lol! Let's just all agree calling the movie "Pussy Island" like Zoe Kravitz intended was a TERRIBLE idea!
All of this! Kravitz has also said the ending is open to interpretation for however the viewer feels which I think is important to note. My biggest criticism is the character of Lucas, but my main overall takeaway is I cannot wait to see Kravitz’s next film. (I also think P*ssy Island is the best title for the film it is!)
@@starcherry6814 omgg yes! I’m so glad she chose the name ‘blink twice’ rather than ‘pussy island’. I feel like ‘blink twice’ is a much better title and the latter just felt unnecessarily crude and lazy.
It’s interesting because I took the ending just as that, cynical and that it’s a cycle she can benefit from. She chose personal revenge, not justice. When she pulled him out the fire, I thought it was showing how they have trauma bonded and how sometimes women will protect/forgive their abusers until I saw the ending. I sort of thought the point was to be a not feel good ending (maybe cuz I didn’t feel good about the ending lol) given Frida has been shown to prioritize herself constantly. But hearing your perspective I can see how it’s suppose to be shown as a good “girlboss” ending instead of a dark one.
You're one of the few, maybe only, youtubers I would trust to review this movie and the genre as a whole. Thanks for educating me on the topic and confirming my instincts to not see the movie. I am going to watch it at some point, but with the additional context you've provided.
When it came to the ending, I loved it since she was able to indulge in some of the best cathartic revenge I've ever seen. Justice can take many forms, and I feel like her not only torturing slater for the rest of his life while also becoming rich, is not a bad resolution. It's not the best, but I don't feel right to say that the way she dealt/is dealing with her abuser is wrong. many people wish the worst on their abuser, she just happens to also gain from it. That i can't be mad at.
I feel like people in general love to police victims of abuse on how to feel or how to forgive. I do believe it’s more nuanced than that. Yes, maybe her actions are questionable, but I personally couldn’t tell her that she isn’t justified.
I love the way you give a background on the history of this subgenre so we can better understand how its changed over time and what it's come to mean today!
Would LOVE to hear your thoughts on The Nightingale (2018). It's often left out of conversations on rape revenge movies, and I wish there was more discussion about it.
I think I disagree with your criticism of the ending, at least partially. My first reaction was also that Slater King's punishment doesn't match his crime. But thinking about it, if Frieda had left him in the burning building that would not be a happy ending. How is she supposed to get off the island? And if she does, how is she supposed to convince the authorities she isn't guilty of killing these rich and powerful men and burning the evidence? Unfortunately, I think Frieda controlling King with the same memory loss perfume was the only way she could have safely gotten off the island. Ultimately I don't see Frieda as selfish for inheriting King's empire because I'm not sure she had another choice. If so wants to survive she can't kill him, at least not right away, but she also can't let him go. So making him her slave might have been the best thing she could have done. Personally, the capitalist nature of the ending doesn't really bother me because the film isn't really trying to talk about capitalism. Tech CEOs are bad regardless of their gender, but for this film I don't think the ending contradicts what it was trying to say or achieve, so I see it as more of a philosophical disagreement I have rather than as a flaw with the film. It might have been better if the film had tackled the ways in which capitalism and patriarchy are intersected, but that might also make it more difficult to tell a focused story with a strong, singular theme. But maybe I'm wrong about that, I can at least see your point here. I was also unsettled by the final scene but for different reasons. Frieda keeping her abuser around her, even if he is subservient, seems like a really emotionally brutal thing to put yourself through. Ultimately, I really liked the film even if I have a couple nitpicks.
The thing about the workers/people/residents on the island...I was so angry cause I was like 'oh it's going to be like a twist...they are under some kind of spell or drug of their own.' because I thought there was no way they could actually be that way in a movie in 2024...just like these silent people that smile and serve. I don't know if that's my place to say that as a white lady....but I have adopted sisters of west Asian descent and as a result it's weird....my mum and dad go to places all over and I've been to some...and the people are of course beautiful but they also HAVE to be cheery and their survival depends on going above and beyond with acts of service. It might have been a cool opportunity to make some kind of comment on that...but they're just seen like westerners see these people...just kind of flat smiling people there to serve. Right down to where they just smiled when she asked 'where am I supposed to go?' . A luxury island is a perfect place for dirtbags like that to exploit their workers. You don't have to make a comment about EVERYTHING in your movie but it was RIGHT there.
It reminds me of the entire episode of Outlander that shows the rape of the male lead. I could not keep watching the show after watching it. Yet I know many women who love that show, but see no issue with a 45 minute prison rape.
.......Can't the ending be BOTH, tho? Like it frames the protagonist as very morally gray, which I think is more thought provoking as having her be a more two dimensional victim that has no complicity. Perhaps I'm a cynic, but I also see the complicity of all the female characters to varying degrees, be it in flirting with a billionaire they KNOW from the jump to have assaulted previous women, to competing for his attention with the other women in slightly possessive undermining ways, to the older woman who chooses to forget, and finally the end scene to take over the company instead of expose what happened on the island, to be realistic ways women often respond to these choices in patriarchy.
There is no way to know if the other girls received any "justice "....Frida ends up with untold wealth...whats to say she didn't take care of the other victims families...or isnt pouring millions into rape victim charities. Maybe thier "stories" werent told but i belive the frida would do good philanthropic things with her newly aquired wealth.
I had mixed feelings about the film. I enjoyed the visual style but I thought it was full of contradictions and not half as smart as it thought it was. I disliked the ending at first because Kravitz didn't fully commit to the cynicism of her choices as a writer and director. I think framing it as a victory/girl boss note at the end actually robs the ending of its impact because most audiences read it as a genuine victory instead of Freida now embracing and becoming part of the systems that oppressed her. I also thought the film skipped any nuanced engagement with how Freida's experience as a black women impacts her decisions.
I really appreciate that you don't use any of those weird youtube euphemisms like "grape" that always take me out of the video and make things feel less serious.
i'm pretty sure lucas is a "guest" of one of the older more powerful men on the island. i don't think that scene was him trying to help one of the women, i think he's being toyed with and chased just like the women are. i think just because he is a man he is overlooked as being a victim by frida and sarah
I haaaaaaaaaaated the ending of Blink Twice. What an effective horror film throughout with the most confusing ending. I can understand the concept of “dismantling the system of abuse from the inside” but jfc why would she want to keep a rapist/murderer alive???
When I heard people talking about the “Girlboss ending” I thought the women all struck a cringe fighting pose like the gals at the end of avengers endgame or something… kinda sad that would at least be a moment of solidarity and the reality is one woman drinking bubbles at the met gala with the guy who endgamed her best mate.
So glad for this analysis - I just watched the movie after much anticipation and really hated it. Everyone else I watch seemed to love it and I was shocked to see no one else being critical of it at all. Insightful and thorough as always! ♥
I’m glad you mentioned how bizarre the treatment of Lucas is. A general rule of thumb I’ve noticed is that if your grand, feminist revenge movie, created by women and starring women etc etc starts veering into…questionable commentary and portrayals of male victims, then keep an eye out because you’re probably gonna be subjected to some victim blaming logic bullshit.
I so strongly disliked this film, especially the ending. I’m so glad I found this video because I felt like I was going insane, seeing other people just calling it ‘boring’ or even just making fun of the main actress’ appearance. I even saw a reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes call her ugly and a “creature of the night”, and that he felt sorry that Tatum had to kiss her, like did we watch the same f-ing movie???
I 100% agree with you especially about the ending, though I didn’t hate it, leaving me with kind of bad taste in my mouth for the same reason you stated, it felt disjointed. The mishandling of Lucas that to me appeared to be victim and it wasn’t properly clarified what his roles was, plus they sort of already told that plot line with the manager who wanted to forget. The injustice for Jess who got no retribution from presumably close friend comes across as callous by the ending. You can’t stick a girl boss narrative in an abuse story, it doesn’t mix. I will say I think both titles are good but I’m someone who only saw the trailer. However the elements I did enjoy were the subtle hints of losing time and misplaced or new items and the build up to the main event. I just wish it had better resolution to the entire story.
Great video!!! Though the SA scene wasn't as bad as in the films you've mentioned I think it didn't need to be that graphic. I find problematic when the most uncomfortable and brutal scene is the SA instead of the revenge ones
What I got from it briefly was the imagery of the island (garden of Eden), snakes giving the women the knowledge of what was real going on (snake spoke to Eve and convinced her to eat of the tree of knowledge) Once they had received the knowledge of good and evil they had to leave the garden forever. In the Bible there was angel barring reentry. Also after they both ate the forbidden fruit by the snake man and woman were cursed. Men to work and women to give birth in pain. This is far from an articulate argument but there’s something there.
22:47 “c’mon guys, believe women” from a woman who literally glossed over her female friend’s safety concerns for monetary reasons is definitely wild even before the election I think the potential for the ending to be cynical vs. triumphant comes down to the editing, and every bit of the ending is giving “yes girlboss, get that bag and fuck those guys!” Or, like, having some sort of darker twist to imply this revenge of success is actively harming Slater. We… almost… get it with her knowing the doctor, but all we really see is Slater getting a taste of his own literal medicine and it’s just not great. The victory is clearly just from being in that place of power and abuse and doing nothing about the literal bodies it took to get to that spot.
Just to speak on Lucas I had a wildly different interpretation and thought he was solely a victim just as much as the women were and I thought that was the implication in the flashback was them trying to overpower him. And Slaters criticism of him basically to say he's a bystander in his own life who didn't do anything for the men who really had control on that island cause he was boring. Gave me a lot to think on with this video.
"We regret to inform you that the woman you were rooting for the entire movie is in fact Bad." I just find it really funny that both this one and Poor Things went for a very similar type of ending.
The ending reminds me of Midsommar or The Witch: looks like the protagonist got what she wanted, but she's in fact completely consumed by the corruption of her wish.
There’s something about not liking the ending that’s rings a similar tune to Daniel Caesar’s “why are black ppl being mean to Yes Jules”. I have a hard time understanding why people that watch films like this have an issue with the protagonist getting even in whatever way they see fit. In school did you tattle on your bully every single time or did you eventually slap the shit outta them? If you never fought back AND WON you won’t understand how gratifying this ending is
The way I CACKLED just now 🤭🤭🤭 I truly understand the comparison. Because the protagonist did what worked FOR HER. That’s IT THATS ALL. Great Video Though.
Death wish 2 genuinely is the most disturbing movie I’ve ever seen cuz I remember seeing a brutal, drawn out SA scene and thinking “Oh, this is literally r*** p*rn”
My hatred for Blink Twice is something I have never felt for a movie before. It caused such a visceral reaction in me, I was dry heaving and hyperventilating in the bathroom, and a fight actually broke out in the theater. I'm not even kidding. This movie is evil. Vile. Should not exist.
Thankyou for making this!!! I actually watched this film with my Mum (I was surprised she wanted to watch) and when we left the cinema she was in awe of Kravitz and felt vindicated by the ending. I said from the jump it screamed girl boss feminism and we went back and forth over this for so long. Kravitz '"feminism" is very Hilary 2016 and points to the limitations of identity politics. If a woman/queer person/poc is at the top (irregardless of what they are on top of or what they do within that position) then everyone is winning.
I think the movie’s intention with the Lucas character, and Slater’s line about “doing nothing for himself or the women”, is just as depressing and cynical as the rest of the movie, in that it’s meant to imply that while Lucas was also a victim like Frida, he was unlike Frida in being unwilling to strategize his own upward mobility, and therefore deserving of his fate for being passive and weak.
I HATED THE ENDING! All those men got away with it and we didn't get to see A SINGLE WILLIE HALVED LONGWAYS AND THEN HALVED AGAIN WITH THAT CHEF'S KNIFE 😡
I didn't like the ending either, but I think it's meant to accurately represent how women in Hollywood adjust to what has happened to them (by becoming complicit/turning a blind eye in order to advance their own interests). I don't see her as a girl boss nor do I think that's what the movie was going for. I think Kravitz withheld context in the end so the audience could decide what Frida's actions represented. Also, Slater was drunk on power and control (control of his image, company, women, etc). Him losing that without him even knowing it was revenge, at least to Frida. I think the fact that there was no justice, only revenge, was the whole point. Perhaps that's all women can hope for in that industry. Dark and bleak for sure. The movie bypassing Lucas' experiences, is a great representation of how male victims are treated. However, I hated how he was just killed off like that. He didn't even get clarification on what happened to him. Ugh. I'm trying to find the symbolism and falling short with this one.
I like the ending because it is realistic to human nature and the justice system. After r*pe there is no true justice. The act itself can’t be undone, and assault changes your brain chemistry forever. You are different, fridas flaws were obvious. She is self centered, materialistic and selfish to the point of prioritizing her happiness over Jess. However she has some redeemable qualities like courage, and strength, and love. She’s human tho so her duality is evident she is both bad and good. Because no punishment will ever fit the crime for Slater, and also the influence he has he can pay someone to change the story and he has protection since other powerful men know what he’s doing and partake he will be saved to a degree. And him dying isn’t enough cuz In order to suffer you must live, she did what she believed was right. She gets rich like she wanted without working for it and she gets to control the narrative and ensure he will not be able to do Anything else cuz she made him incapacitated. The ending feels human and not like rainbows and butterflies it feels genuinely twisted and vengeful to a degree. She got a happy ending after assault most of us never will.
I’m glad it’s not just me and that the ending is getting some discourse. At the time it felt like a weird decision for an ending to the movie. Like, it’s a really personal revenge for a widespread/systemic wrong. I saw where they were going and just sat in the theater like “oh…ok…” I think the ending conceptually could’ve worked, but not for the movie we got.
and the depicted king at the climax like a super villain immune from guns and knives at that point i was like this is such an abstract almost cartoonish view of assault i did really enjoy everything before the climax tjo and i loved the reveal
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
That scene when one of the girls asks “wait why are we running…” was so haunting to me
Yeah, me too.
felt like almost muscle memory
I remember seeing a disgusting comment saying the lead actress “wouldn’t be a victim of rape because she’s unattractive and Black” as if Black women aren’t the most assaulted demographic in the U.S. and a make up a large amount of sex trafficked victims
I remember a journalist saying the same thing to Carrie Mulligan for Promsiing Young Woman (not the black part** of course, but that her role should have gone to someone men would find more voluptuous)
Men will literally have sex with inanimate objects idk why people think there’s a limit
It pretty much just ties into the 'What was she wearing?' type of mindset that suggests rape and SA are because of percieved desirability and not of wanting power over a victim. The misogynoir that comment had plays into the exact same attitude that leads to so many black women being assaulted in the first place. Sad to see
Worst of all, we weren't even competing for it.
I would go as far as to say that it made the most sense for the main character to be a Black woman because no one questions when we go missing.
It’s strange to consider that this ending would work as incredibly dark cynicism but, instead, is played as triumphant.
The choice of song is to blame!
A Black woman finally allowing themselves to indulge in selfishness and self preservation is in fact a triumph as in media, we are ALWAYS sacrificing ourselves, the “greater good” while simultaneously being oppressed. We’re not slaves, saviors or sacrificial lambs anymore. We’re human beings with human needs..
@@simplysafiyah but why does her selfishness and self perseveration, have to be her enacting the same trauma that was given to her? you can find your happiness outside of men, human needs don't have to be tied to trauma - all she did was continue the cycle in her own way - that's not happiness. not to me at least.
@ because in this case it’s applicable. The point isn’t about happiness it’s about indulging in humanity the way that every other group of people gets to do. It’s literally showcase in the movie . Mainstream never lets black women get the last laugh that is why it’s a triumph. For once can a Black woman not be the savior for everyone else.
@@jalaartsI think that’s the point though - a lot of us do just that.
The first ten minutes of this were so captivating; i genuinely forgot this video was about Blink Twice. Also , i appreciate that you say the actual word instead of just SA. I know most social media sites, RUclips included, don’t like that, but I feel like the forced censoring of the word can lessen the impact of talking about it.
Yes! Call it out for what it is! I'm sorry words like 'rape' and 'sexual assault' are triggering for some, but at least saying these words enforce how DISTURBING and DISGUSTING these acts of violence really are.
@@danavixen6274This is tangential, but I honestly think this snowflake attitude on the left had contributed to the U.S. 2024 election results.
@@KnarfStein using words such as snowflakes to talk abt victims who may not be okay with hearing abt their SA ( WHICH IS 100% FINE) UNDER a comment section of a video talking abt AGAIN SA.. Truly has to be ironic.
@@KnarfStein Absolutely idiotic. Leftists are typically feminists and stringent advocates for survivors, who are not ones to use euphemisms for the act. Harris did nothing but emulate a moderate Republican party and try to sway centrists, arguing for a stronger border and refusing to stand up for trans people or Palestinians, not addressing economic anxiety, student loans, or health care, alienating huge swaths of young people who didn't vote. Trump had 3 million less votes than last time and it still didn't matter because the Democratic party refuses to do anything that engages people or make them feel that their lives would be meaningfully different if they went to the polls.
@@KnarfSteinyou do realise this is about censorship from companies and trying to not be demonitized rather than being a snowflake
I never thought we were supposed to be on her side. I thought the cycle didn't stop and she became a part of the problem to have the power she always wanted. I felt like the movie was a warning to what really happens when people "sell their soul" for power and "success." I thought Frida was a reflection of some women in the industry ( in a bad way ). I DID NOT see her as a girl boss at the end.
I see a mess of both happening at the same time.
i thought she was a girlboss, and that was the point - being a survivor of abuse and oppression didn't make her immune to committing those same abuses of power.
@@flowerheit4512 wait how did she abuse her power? she went on to rape people? what are you talking about?
EXACTLY HER BEST FRIEND DIED SHE BECAME ONE OF THEM AND USED HIM AS HER SHEEP
Thats how I viewed it too. If anything camela, I think it was i view more girl boss and who genuinly wanted justice. Frida just took advantage of the fact they were bad people too to get what she wanted.
Perfect timing having just watched Gladiator II, which repeats a line to the effect of "You can't get revenge on a person by becoming that person".
That moment when gladiator two is more emotionally intelligent than your elevated feminist horror movie.
@@spectrumefp the idea that her keeping him alive to take his money is being compared to him victimizing so many woman and brutalizing them is crazy.
@@patriece2215 exactly like wtfff
@@patriece2215that was literally her point 😭 she said in a couple interviewers, this is not a good ending the cycle is repeating its, she knows
@@PrettyPearPricess what does that have to do with my point about taking money to become powerful not being the same thing and brutalizing multiple women? She said it’s not a “good ending”, but good for who? Bc a white man is now a victim at a far less severe rate than the women, I’m supposed to think the ending isn’t good? Not being lawful and ethical, sure but it was good for Frida
I Thought I may Destroy you was a really well put together show tackling subject material like this
I love that show and there is nothing else like it.
Great effing show!
Excellent show
That show is one of my faves!
i think if there were more visual or audio cues highlighting the ugliness of frida's decision in the end, it would have been clearer that it's a cynical ending not to be celebrated by the audience. jess and lucas were the true tragic figures of the movie - the plot let them down the same way frida let them down.
Maybe all along she was willing to sacrifice her best friend. It was a by any means necessary
@toriyt2714 maybe so. dang, that's so dark.
@@toriyt2714 sacrifice her best friend for what? it was clear that she was equally horrified by what had happened to them and wanted revenge, not power.
@@sainttheresetaylor2054 she convinced her friend to stay and not leave to not ruin this opportunity for her even though her bf was clearly in panic and unease actually she was frightened but Frida ultimately only cared about herself and opportunity to access
@@sainttheresetaylor2054no she actually from the start let’s her down by buying dresses instead of paying rent, then every time her friend tries to give her a warning she fights it, if you watch attentively her friend was authentic and she did sacrifice her, had she listen the first time, she could’ve saved her
this movie could have been really interesting if it was reframed. you dont even have to change the plot that much or at all. it could have been a movie about how solidarity between women who are victims often gets traded in to secure a bag or to climb a social ladder, how even women who are victims sometimes can weaponize their victimhood to harm other women (and often themselves). the ending is the same: becoming the enemy is a hollow victory, and the smile at the end would be terrifying rather than "satisfying".
I think all those themes were present. They weren't the focal point, but they were all there.
It was a significant plot point, the fact that jess tried to connect with frida, who turned her down because of slater and finally being "here", then the other girl also didn't want to believe frida, but had to face reality because of the name Jess written on the lighter. The whole thing was only made possible because the women chose peen and fantasy over common sense. I think much of this movie went over these viewer's heads 🤔
The Lucas subplot is so strange. I could see it working if his character was shown maybe turning away from the assaults happening and trying to make excuses to himself on why he couldn't do anything to stop it (losing his position in that society for one), but showing him actively putting himself in harm's way to stop the assaults and then getting drugged to forget makes no sense if the message is about complicity. Also only using the native people of the island as a plot device sucks so much when their way of life has been obliterated by people like Slater and will continue to be so even after his loss of power.
Right! It’s weird because there’s a scene was the camera guy is chasing Lucas and holding him down so to some extent Lucas is also a victim. They also give him the memory wiping serum so he doesn’t remember. But it’s never really explored not even a little until the very end when Slater says a throwaway line and he dies like right after that. His subplot felt so weirdly placed in the story.
I feel like Frieda being black and the girl bossification of her trauma are linked. We don't let black women just sob and grieve the things that were done to them in fiction. Instead there's this thing where they have to be badass and strong even when white women who've had the same things happen to them don't have to be. The end result is that we can't have Frieda show the very real PTSD she'd be experiencing after all of this or have her manipulate the rich man out of his money but retreat into seclusion or anything else that would be a very normal, human response to trauma. She doesn't get to be treated like a normal human by the narrative. She has to be the Strong Black Woman trope, and for reasons I will never understand, people think 'strong' and 'has trauma' are mutually exclusive.
I’m curious to what kind of ending do you think would have showcased the vulnerability you’re describing. I’ve seen people have the opposite take and feel the ending was in contrast to the black savior position black women put into.
@@morganqorishchi8181 yeah compared to the ending of Anora I can see this...
13:30 she gave an interview (idk with who), where she talks about the ending and she admits that the ending is ironic in that oppressed becomes the oppressor. It's not a feel good movie and it's not meant to empower. That should be obvious because of two things; she kept Slater alive and held her own gala... She decided to continue the cycle despite being a victim herself. So in short, the idea you had about the ending was the exact point of the movie.
interesting! i hadn’t heard of that interview and i want to try to find it now.
I need to rewatch the movie to be sure, but maybe the point could be made more obvious by having a few moments in the beginning that really stress the willingness of our protagonist to ladder climb despite morality.
We only really see her break rules at work to meet a celebrity, something a lot of people might justify. But if we saw her throw a coworker under the bus or something more universally offensive but mild, it would have laid better groundwork for her now irresistible and inevitable turn as a villain.
I’m pretty sure she gets that. She wasn’t saying the ending didn’t make logical sense. The video is about how she disliked the movie as the bleak experience that it was.
how does her holding the gala ‘make her the oppressor’? like, in a capitalistic sense?
@Poorstargazer23 idk imo and my experiences thats exactly how other victims are like too. They may not show obvious evidence that they have ulterior motives doesnt mean they don't. People lie to get what they want, even victims do and some victims have their own greedy agenda.
Been waiting on a black femme to talk about this movie. I had so many thoughts most of which you illustrated here. I would add that Frieda being black carries a lot of weight in her girl boss decisions at the end. I think black women have a uniquely tenuous relationship with the concept in that we tend to be a bit less critical of black women pursuing the girl boss status considering that the alternative is far more perilous for them. On the other hand, it's still bad at the end of the day and there's a need to point that out. I was shocked and appalled at the pro genocyd response of a lot of black women on tik Tok after the election, but I was happy to see so many other black women come forward to call that out, but they also faced significant backlash for doing the right thing. This obviously came out before the election but to me the ending takes on that same conflict. Are black women allowed to be girl bosses... Obviously no. Who gonna call that out. Not my ass 😂.
In that regard I wonder if we're meant to be critical of Frieda at the end. There's maybe not a lot of textual evidence to say so, but idk.
As for the young dude who did nothing. I didn't see his experience as one of abuse, but solely of inaction, and then obliviousness. And while there's an argument that he doesn't deserve retribution, I think it was best to let him catch hell. I'd have been even more turned off by the film if they did a "one of the good ones" character on top of everything else.
You should do a video on the topic regardless! I have not seen many people in general be critical enough of this film and it feels weird.
The women would've killed him too once they got their hands on him anyways.
They wanted to kill every man on that island until Frida got the idea to poison Slater's vape to save herself and Sarah
Inaction and complacency can be just as evil as taking an active role. What is that saying? I can only remember the quote from Boondocks Saints off the top of my head, "Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."
Omg you're here hahaha love your videos
FD being earlier to the video than me is crazy. Got him thinking he a bigger Yhara stan than me. Tuh
i think Blink Twice is similar to a lot of other movies where people identify the finale as a “good for her” when in reality that is not at all what the film was going for. for example Midsommar, Pearl, and The VVitch all have similar takeaways when not analyzed in depth. i think by taking the fact that Slater doesn’t get what he deserves at face value does a disservice to the movie and blinds you from seeing that this cycle of abuse, while less intense and horrific, has just been continued in another form with Frida now in control.
kinda off topic but ty for mentioning how people call certain movies "good for her" movies when they really arent. like carrie. i hate when ppl say carrie is a good for her story.
i agree, and i also think that frida being so captivated by the idea of success and attention to the point that she will ignore her own friend’s concerns is indicative of her priorities - she would still choose the success and attention every time. i liked frida’s character but i thought that she was supposed to be read as also slightly unhinged and power-hungry, making this less of a “good for her” story and more of a “the cycle of abuse will continue” story. there’s definitely still story issues and music choices that can lead to a person thinking that it’s supposed to be a “girl boss” ending though so i understand why people would read it as such!!
@@zerocaloriedelights what could have happened to slayer for him to have “gotten what he deserves”? Frida killing him? That doesn’t help out the other victims and the world still sees him as a billionaire will potential to revitalize his image. Going to the police? We all know what would’ve came out of that.
@@patriece2215 i agree, i think the ending was very calculated in how it was played out and fit the movie and the theme of power well.
I very much agree. It never even occurred to me that the ending was framed positively. I saw it as Kravitz acknowledging what a traitor Frida was to her class and gender.
The ending doesn't work, but it does seem very honest about the director's experiences -- whether she realizes it or not. She knows what happens, but she wants to win the game and is willing to leave out the gaps that show that even when those gaps are easy to notice. Because a winner doesn't have to answer for those.
Well put.
Lucas is also killed in the end as a direct result of trying to help the women. Even if he was complicit before, the message seems to be “it actually is too late to do the right thing, trying to help victims will be pointless and get them to attack you”
The charitable reading of it, is that Lucas is an actual victim and Slater is just gaslighting him, and him catching a stray/friendly fire is in contrast with how Stacy is actually complicit but the girls mistakenly think she's a fellow victim, and when people talk about abuse it's common to reduce it to a strict binary that sometimes throws male survivors of abuse under the bus, while expecting solidarity from women who actually have none.
@@umusuukThank you for sharing your thoughts. Very insightful 💚.
@@umusuuk I read it as Slater trying to program him into feeling complicit, didn't love the film but I don't think it would contradict itself that badly. Wasn't sure whether he was another SA victim or if they saw him as someone they could get some blackmail on and when he wasn't into it they just dosed him and kept him trashed/drugged up after he got in the way.
Is it possible the ending is another critique? She gets what she wants, but it’s not justice-it’s money, fame and power? I think most people see that as a win. But should they? Somebody ask Ms. Kravits. Really good video though!
Does it matter if her intention was "Frida is a traitor, bad" if most people walk out of the movie with the conclusion "yay girlboss"?
Many people nowadays subscribe to the philosophy Death of the Author, meaning their interpretation is just as valid even if it's not what the creator intended. Even if Zoe Kravitz comes forward and says "Frida bad" most people will go "nah, don't think so" because the movie does indeed frame Frida's ending as a victory.
Basically, if the ending intended to be critical, it doesn't come across, and at this point people have formed their own opinions and you (general you) can't tell them they're wrong to feel happy when the ending was depicted as an epic win
@ Good point, thanks for mentioning it. Interesting to think about🤔
I think this thought process is valid considering how often Slater compared himself for Frieda. He called her his best friend and meant it. He was gonna keep her around even if EVERYONE ELSE was killed. He saw a kindred spirit, and I believe it was more than just their mutual trauma.
this was the first commentary on blink twice that I've read (upon fd's rec) and agree so much. i would say that i think its a good film, i recommended it to friends and really appreciated a lot of kravitz's visual handling of the material (particularly compared to the usual rape-revenge film, which you discuss). i wasn't happy with the ending either, but i was also accepting of the fact that maybe frida is just a victim AND a corrupt woman. your thoughts get right to the underlying issue though, that maybe she is, but the framing of the last scene fails to communicate that, and without that intention, it reads as the capitalist girlboss dream. really appreciated this video!!
9:20 - that's part of why Promising Young Woman was so astounding, the scene under discussion was purely seen by reaction, which keeps the focus on how horrible it is
I didn't think the audience was meant to see the ending as good and be on Frida's side at the end? My interpretation was that we were supposed to go "Oh, Frida's selfishness makes the tools of oppression just as dangerous in her hands as they were in Kane's." I haven't rewatched the movie since i saw it in august though, so maybe i'm missing something.
I completely agree about the way the movie treats the islanders, though, and i think a better movie, or perhaps a sequel, could give them a more active role, maybe dismantaling the unbalanced and exploitative use of the island's resources.
The movie has flaws but i just don't think we're meant to see Frida's choices as justice.
Agree with you. I saw the ending as the cycle of abuse will continue in a different form. Money is never the solution. I wish the ending was setup differently to explore that.
Same, Frida was always very selfish and self centered, I mean she spent part of the rent on some dresses and peer pressured her friend into giving up her phone. She also didn’t ever really seem guilty about ignoring her friends concerns after discovering her missing. I also don’t think it’s a good thing that they memory-roofie the other girls instead of just convincing them to leave, slater always says that they’re free to leave so that could’ve been challenged in the daylight. I do really like this movie but I don’t feel like it a girl boss ending, at the end slater is legitimately shaking like he has nerves damage, I feel like it’s implied that Frida is hurting him as well. There’s even a muffled line where the security grab Rick and pull him aside for some mysterious reason as well, most likely for Frida’s revenge.
@@faithharris919 her guilt about her friend going missing is literally what pushes her to unravel the whole mystery…what are you talking about?
how the hell are the tools of oppression just as dangerous in her hands? how are traumatised women doing the best they can in a male-run society just as bad qs the people who set it up?
and they didn’t build up frida’s character enough for me to buy her ‘inherent selfishness’, choosing not to reveal what had happened in order to gain power. but even if that was the case, there is no perfect victim.
I think that's the natural inclination/interpretation. But I don't think the movie is actively communicating that. Friday is framed as the victor without any in-movie critique
Maybe I’m part of the minority, but I thought the movie implied that Frieda was also somewhat of a villain, or I guess not necessarily a hero when she pulls Slater out of the fire rather than the girl. That to me was a jaw drop moment that revealed her true intentions of selfishness and her betrayal of the other woman. I definitely didn’t walk away feeling like I wanted to root for Frieda, nor did I really feel like I was led to.
I think the ending was meant to be unnerving. I think we’ve seen the ‘justice’ type ending before and Zoë chose not to go in that direction.
Having a black woman as the lead does add a different dynamic to the story, I think. It makes me wonder what really happens to a black woman on an island full of dead rich white men?
The ending feels like it's asking which is more valuable. Justice or reparation?
If we had to translate the story into reality, Freida wouldn’t get the justice she deserves. She would be questioned and scrutinised to no end. She would be victim blamed and practically crucified as a black woman in the media. If you’ve noticed, black women tend to be scrutinised in the media for just simply having emotions. So I’m not totally against Freida getting her cake and eating it.
I saw the ending of Blink Twice as posing the question: Why play fair in an unfair system?
Frida, being in the position she's in, couldn't really count on the justice system standing by her in ensuring that rich man got justice. Why would she risk martyring herself for the small chance of justice being served, when she can have her own form of justice. One that doesn't include her going through all of that, just to be exactly where she was before, scraping by to survive for a second time.
And I think it's outlandish to say she's just as bad or is continuing the cycle of abuse because she's NOT allowing him to continue hurting women. Also, for all we know, she's donating to a charity for assault victims, taking his money and using it to help people. To assume that she's just happy to be rich is a grim take. However, she also sucked, so maybe! Not really a great film, but it's a first effort, so I await Zoe's next endeavour.
yhara zayd thank you for not quitting this means so much to me omfg
she was gonna quit?
What happens to Sarah?
Also, I assumed that one of the reasons Frieda took over Slater’s life was that she intended to get revenge on the men that frequented the island. That’s what I got from her interaction with Rich.
I can't say I was completely satisfied with the ending, but I liked that it was different from something like I Spit On Your Grave. I wouldn't be surprised if Frida convinced herself that going to the police wouldn't bring accurate justice and everyone involved isn't guaranteed punishment by law, especially if they give information that grants immunity or a lesser sentence.
As someone that has watched men in poverty get away with crime, I can only imagine what the 1% are up to. With how powerful the men seemed to be, who knows if it would have even gone to trial. I don't think it's entirely accurate to compare Jess trying to help Frida versus Frida not helping Stacy though.
Jess and Frida were unknowingly drugged to where their decision making became heavily impaired and at that point no one was remembering anything entirely so though Jess was right, Frida wasn't wrong either because she was glamoured, but she did listen and tried to save the other girls once her and Sarah realized what was going on.
Stacy was not only a willing participant, but tried to kill Frida first and if we're going to hold Frida to the same standard, we would have to look at Stacy and how much she let carry on and would continue to let carry on as long as she was drugged into forgetting and Frida successfully disappeared. Stacy knew of the dangers and could have been a victim herself, but there's no indication of that nor did she try to help take down Slater, even when the opportunity became apparent.
I'm kinda tired of the stigma/pressure that survivors are solely responsible for pushing justice in order to prevent further victimization. Yes, you should report that you were assaulted, but that should be for you first and the future second. In the end you mentally have to be ready for the scrutiny you're going to receive if charges are pressed and I can understand it being a lot. It also has to be understood that the Justice system is a dice roll so you never know even when you're sure you do.
How is Frida going to think so far ahead when she just experienced her trauma multiple times over, realized what happened and watched people go tragically within hours?
At that point, you're kinda screwed either way and I think some people miss that there's no triumph in any direction other than to heal how you can. Some people may not like that and that's fine, but it's also life.
Frida's now a willing participant within her Stockholm Syndrome, but one thing that could be said is though she didn't go to court, she also didn't continue on like Stacy who knew far more than her and who knows how long. I think whoever finds her a hero or bad person could be projection of morals. There are no perfect victims, but they're still surviving their trauma like any other victim.
As far as Lucas goes the movie is already explaining it to us through presentation. Slater is manipulative, gaslit Lucas into confusion and questioned his character in order to continue improper actions, hence why he simply sighed when Lucas was shot. Slater lightly warned Lucas not to go near the door, but Lucas being so terrified could only think of running from the realization of who the monster is and unfortunately became a casualty. Sarah didn't know who would be at the door let alone if he were a real ally, especially with all the chaos.
Lucas is a victim in many ways and we could branch out into discussing male victims, but there's still something to be said about those who genuinely know what's going on and do nothing like people around Diddy or R. Kelly and that's where the focus should be on in that regards. I think the point is to question everything and infer, but we do have to ask the right questions when we do.
If Frida went to the police, what would be the odds everyone would feel justified? Investors now go rogue, the IRS is involved and now you have a target on your head for possibly making people lose money or worse. You can consider her being part of the problem by staying quiet and collecting a check and that's fair, but I definitely wouldn't be mad at it. We always want reparations in a nice neat box, but sometimes that box is empty.
Just making a line where it's stated that Lucas chose to forget would solve his storyline, he's not just ignoring it but constructing a world for himself where the rapes never happened.
This ❤
This was such a fantastic video! Also I’m so glad you talked about Lucas, I was really surprised by how Kravitz chose to characterize him. The scene where slater “calls out” Lucas always rubbed me the wrong way becuz throughout the film I thought it was pretty obvious that Lucas was also a victim.
I thought that was a comment on what the patriarchy does to young men. Indoctrinate them into harming others through harming them
@@Belihoneyyea I thought so too. Like what happens with so many young boys and men in the entertainment industry… they’re abused and go on to become abusers or complacent in the abuse of others. I read this study about how frat boys who go through violent hazing will over value the benefits of acceptance in the group over the harm they’ve experienced so their minds can come to terms with the trauma. It seems the pursuit of class mobility and power cause the same behaviours
how was Lucas also a victim?
@@sainttheresetaylor2054 It's really hinted at. He is a guest, he uses the perfume along with the women, and he forgets everything. He has bruises along with the women. During the violent scenes, he is terrified. Slater says he did nothing for himself or the women.
@@sainttheresetaylor2054 one can say that he too got R --ed by one of the other men on the island and they made him forget it. or maybe he's gay and they gave him the black eye for not R--ing one of the women on the island because thats what " men are supposed to do " coming from the prospective of the abuser Slater king or lucas just does not think its right to R---- women for fun and does nothing in shock, watching what happens also makes him a victim but also a contributor in the women's abuse. he can be both the 2 aren't mutually exclusive. Humans are complex begins. You can be so many different things at once. Also at the start of the movie they said he made his CFO into CEO (Vic Mahoney) who was the guy that got his head smashed in, makes you wonder since he is older than Salter King was he making slater forget to take over the company maybe? or was Slater king abused by Vic Mahoney and was were lucas was before seeing what he did nothing then started doing evil shit with Vic reasons to give him the CEO position because he was better at hiding stuff? theres lots to unpack here!!
But isn't that the point of the movie?. I felt that the film was trying to discuss how the influence of capitalistic success co ops everything that brings justice to humans? I don't think Zoe was trying to glorify it by her decision. I think she was trying to portray the condition that we are in. And how we view that condition as pretty and glorious as long as the ends justify the means. Because a pay day. Is the only thing that makes sense to us in the current condition we find ourselves in.
Also, i'm not sure Frida expressing she feels lonely, safe and seen to Jess is gaslighting... is it a tad manipulative, maybe. Terrible instincts and bad friend? hell yeah. But not everything is gaslighting - now, had she known they were in danger and she still said that bullshir, yes, gaslighting.
Good point. We do tend to overuse that words. Frida at that time, was just ignorant and in general it's not exactly a crime to be ignorant and try to convince your friend that something is a good idea even though it may not be.
My (too charitable) reading of Lucas' treatment is that he's getting gaslit by Slater and that even women don't take male victims seriously sometimes. Even when all the signs are there that he's not "one of the boys", it's just assumed he should have done more because he's a man. He's not a perfect victim, so he's not a victim at all. But if that did happen to be what they were going for, the execution is not great. They should have leaned more obviously into cynicism, like you said.
When considering Frida’s ending, I saw it w/ another woman that’s an acquaintance and the first thing she said to me was, “I hate the ending, she was just as bad as the men!” That made me stop in my tracks bc how in the world was she as bad as the men? I thought of the ending as a way to subvert the justice system bc we know we can’t trust it. Even earlier in the video, Yhara includes a clip of a police officer insinuating that a SA victim “brought it on herself” thus cops and the legal system can’t be trusted to carry out correct justice. Who was the judge that said, “that shouldn’t dictate his future” when referring to a young man that brutally r*ped a young woman? So I saw Frida’s enslavement of King as insurance, so that he couldn’t just get away w/ it like he did before time and time again. And it’s a lil bit since I’ve seen the movie but the ending scene was for a charity of hers, right?
And lastly, I really really agree w/ everything Yhara said about Lucas. THAT was the biggest issue w/ the ending that I had, was he a victim or was he complacent and if he was both, why kill him off by the hands of the women?! So confusing!
Love this vid 🩵
I’m glad you shared your take on this. I remember sitting in the theatre and feeling something was off as the film came to an end. I wanted to root for this film’s protagonist, but couldn’t fully get behind her. You succinctly hit the nail on the head about several issues here. What message is the film trying to send its viewers? Should women aspire to financial upward mobility over believing each other, and protecting our closest friendships and strong communal bonds? And who among us is allowed to be put down or sacrificed, vs. who is not? The loss of the protagonist’s best friend is so insidious, because for much of the movie, the characters and viewers don’t even realize she’s gone. And after her loss, how is she remembered or canonized? How are other women protected, so that the same losses don’t take place for others? Also, your views about the character Lucas were illuminating. I hadn’t considered him much at all, but he was also a victim, which I think touches on the ultimately damaging aspects of males as they matriculate through patriarchy. It’s striking, how flawed and contradictory the film’s messaging is, but how it also tries to speak for women. Thank you for shedding light on it all.
The way you described Bastiéns work is exactly how I feel about yours.
I was surprised a lot of ppl didn’t like the ending. A survivor choosing the money and power, especially when she speaks about always wanting power, instead of pseudo “justice”. The crime probably couldn’t have even been proven since Channing Tatum didn’t even remember it and the other perpetrators were dead. If she didn’t choose the money/power then she would’ve went back home to her shitty apartment with nothing but the memories of her abuse,
I think that's the problem with the ending, it's individualistic. It implies that after all these women team up to kill their abusers (most of them also dying in the process) the primary survivor does nothing to honor their sacrifice or the truth of her own experience. Instead she keeps the most powerful abuser alive so she can siphon his wealth and power for herself. It's only a victory for HER, it's the exact opposite of solidarity.
@ what could she have done to honor them? U think if she went to the police as a poor black woman and said the rich white man did these horrible things with no proof that anything would’ve came out of it? Or would killing him have sufficed which would have not benefited her in the slightest? Going back to her broken apartment with less money than before and now traumatized. It’s very reminiscent of the real world where it’s expected for the black woman to take on all the pain and suffering as a courtesy to everyone else on top of her own with no complaints instead of putting herself first and doing something selfish to benefit her.
i didn't think that the movie was trying to tell us that the ending is good tbh. it seemed to me like it was showing us the cycle of abuse and that we weren't supposed to think frida got a happy ending in any way, i interpreted it as a bad ending because there's no justice for anyone
Ugh thank you! I watched this during an early screening, and i couldn't get behind the girlboss-ification of her trauma. It felt like trauma (c)orn at a point that so many people swept into the trope of female rage.
😊😊😊😊😊
I've rarely seen such difficult subject matter handled so well (referring to Yhara's essay, not the film she's discussing).
I remember telling a friend about the "you did nothing" scene because the writing was so overt. It makes sense that they had to overly explain the meaning since they didn't really portray a complicit nature.
I've been WAITING on this one...
I read that title and felt validated because no, that ending does not work for me either. I felt like its message fell off a cliff into bullshit
I'm glad somebody's bringing attention to this movie, I consider it to be the Stepford's Wives movie our time because it was able to do what Don't Worry Darling couldn't
Given everything that has come out about Diddy and Epistein's Island. This movie is very relevant 👌
something i did appreciate about this movie was that it addressed the assault and abuse as exactly what it was, something don’t worry darling was afraid to do once they cast harry styles as the lead. and yeah, i’ve been unable to stop thinking about this movie since everything that’s come out about diddy and gisele pelichot’s trial.
Same !
The whole plot line with Lucas made me feel like I was going crazy. They spent so long making him out to be sympathetic and then just... forgot at the end.
As a forced participant in capitalism, I liked the ending because I liked that Frida got what she wanted: other people to serve her champagne.
Though, after listening to this, I have to agree that it is not justice for all, but justice for one.
Thank you for saying this!! I kept thinking that the part about being a white male billionaire with a private island was enough to warrant revenge from a woman like Frieda. We didn’t need the graphic depiction and/suggestion of assault.
Also it really bothered me that a female director wouldn’t include details that would truly be horrifying to experience if so much time was passing without realizing it- like your hair or nails or bikini line growing out, getting your period etc, there could have been more tactile ways to show how traumatic it would be to be held against your will for such a long time without your knowledge.
the ending was soooo misguided and gross
it's a horror film , so it fits.
I got the vibe that it's sorta supposed to be gross. She is now continuing the cycle of abuse that was inflicted onto her. oftentimes that's exactly what happens in reality. At first it seems like a win until you realize the cycle never ends. I didn't get that immediately though, I had to look into others ideas about it too understand and come to that conclusion. Zoe Kravitz did a wonderful job with this movie
It feels illintended
Great video. Thought the title of the movie should’ve been ‘red rabbit’
I liked the ending. It takes in consideration the fact that when you are a victim of rape, if you try to seek help or official justice, you will be mocked, humiliated, called "hysterical" or "paranoid", and it might destroy your life as weel as your family's.
Speaking from experience.
I wish
I had never tried to report a rape and instead got revenge by myself in silence. It is the smarter things to do in today's world. Maybe one day, but I don't have any hope on this, it will be smartest to seek justice, but today it is NOT.
And pretending it is is just participating in putting all the victims in more danger.
I say that as someone who, once, was all about social contract, but undrstand now it is just a facade for a country to appear superior to others because citizens don't, in the end, get the rights they are supposed to get by obeying to the law. And those who break the law in the most awful ways are those who always get away with it.
My heart goes out to you. I made the immensely demoralizing mistake of attempting to pursue a disciplinary case against my r*pist in college. because I made the mistake of being assaulted in a slightly ambiguous way, the case did not work out in my favor (nothing like having to write a five paragraph essay about how reporting your assailant was a violation of your school's code of conduct). One of the only things that I can make my peace about is that it was the second time he had been reported to the folks that handled sexual misconduct cases on campus so when a third case was brought up against him later on he finally got the school was kind of like "...okay yeah this young man appears to have a pattern of sexually assaulting his classmates so while we STILL WON'T EXPEL THE FUCKER we will give him heavy disciplinary sanctions that would make it very hard for him to continue to attend this institution"
I really apprpeciate you including the history of this genre! It puts into context the problem I've been having with the sa revenge stories, as a csa survivor. Especially in the last of us tv show, it was quite horrible watching the main character brutally murder their assaulter. Knowing where it comes from makes sense.
this is a great video!! i really enjoyed this movie, mostly for the reasons you disliked it! i found everything with frida, including how self serving she is, to be like...purposeful and the point, which is why i liked it.
frida is not a kind person! even her early interaction with jess where she scolds her bff for "giving up her power" was nasty. even during the gala after learning to walk from jess she starts to ditch her friend with her eye on the prize before she tripped and fell.
i think, narratively, frida does believe the things she says about "believe women" and everything else, but not above herself. its why jess is so easily forgotten. i even think the framing of the island workers/natives plays into this.
but i dont disagree with any of your criticisms of the film tho. especially the point about lucas (tho part of me looks at it as frida wouldnt view him that light but that may be too charitable on my part). and yeah...after the election this movie does hit very differently.
You're in good company. I liked the movie for the same reasons she was critiquing lol!
Let's just all agree calling the movie "Pussy Island" like Zoe Kravitz intended was a TERRIBLE idea!
All of this! Kravitz has also said the ending is open to interpretation for however the viewer feels which I think is important to note. My biggest criticism is the character of Lucas, but my main overall takeaway is I cannot wait to see Kravitz’s next film.
(I also think P*ssy Island is the best title for the film it is!)
@@starcherry6814 omgg yes! I’m so glad she chose the name ‘blink twice’ rather than ‘pussy island’. I feel like ‘blink twice’ is a much better title and the latter just felt unnecessarily crude and lazy.
YEEEEESSSS IVE BEEN WAITING FOR A VIDEO ON THIS EXACT TOPIC THE ENDING PISSED ME AWWWWWFFF
It’s interesting because I took the ending just as that, cynical and that it’s a cycle she can benefit from. She chose personal revenge, not justice. When she pulled him out the fire, I thought it was showing how they have trauma bonded and how sometimes women will protect/forgive their abusers until I saw the ending. I sort of thought the point was to be a not feel good ending (maybe cuz I didn’t feel good about the ending lol) given Frida has been shown to prioritize herself constantly. But hearing your perspective I can see how it’s suppose to be shown as a good “girlboss” ending instead of a dark one.
You're one of the few, maybe only, youtubers I would trust to review this movie and the genre as a whole. Thanks for educating me on the topic and confirming my instincts to not see the movie. I am going to watch it at some point, but with the additional context you've provided.
When it came to the ending, I loved it since she was able to indulge in some of the best cathartic revenge I've ever seen.
Justice can take many forms, and I feel like her not only torturing slater for the rest of his life while also becoming rich, is not a bad resolution. It's not the best, but I don't feel right to say that the way she dealt/is dealing with her abuser is wrong. many people wish the worst on their abuser, she just happens to also gain from it. That i can't be mad at.
I feel like people in general love to police victims of abuse on how to feel or how to forgive. I do believe it’s more nuanced than that. Yes, maybe her actions are questionable, but I personally couldn’t tell her that she isn’t justified.
Thank you!
I love the way you give a background on the history of this subgenre so we can better understand how its changed over time and what it's come to mean today!
Would LOVE to hear your thoughts on The Nightingale (2018). It's often left out of conversations on rape revenge movies, and I wish there was more discussion about it.
I think I disagree with your criticism of the ending, at least partially. My first reaction was also that Slater King's punishment doesn't match his crime. But thinking about it, if Frieda had left him in the burning building that would not be a happy ending. How is she supposed to get off the island? And if she does, how is she supposed to convince the authorities she isn't guilty of killing these rich and powerful men and burning the evidence? Unfortunately, I think Frieda controlling King with the same memory loss perfume was the only way she could have safely gotten off the island. Ultimately I don't see Frieda as selfish for inheriting King's empire because I'm not sure she had another choice. If so wants to survive she can't kill him, at least not right away, but she also can't let him go. So making him her slave might have been the best thing she could have done.
Personally, the capitalist nature of the ending doesn't really bother me because the film isn't really trying to talk about capitalism. Tech CEOs are bad regardless of their gender, but for this film I don't think the ending contradicts what it was trying to say or achieve, so I see it as more of a philosophical disagreement I have rather than as a flaw with the film. It might have been better if the film had tackled the ways in which capitalism and patriarchy are intersected, but that might also make it more difficult to tell a focused story with a strong, singular theme. But maybe I'm wrong about that, I can at least see your point here.
I was also unsettled by the final scene but for different reasons. Frieda keeping her abuser around her, even if he is subservient, seems like a really emotionally brutal thing to put yourself through. Ultimately, I really liked the film even if I have a couple nitpicks.
The thing about the workers/people/residents on the island...I was so angry cause I was like 'oh it's going to be like a twist...they are under some kind of spell or drug of their own.' because I thought there was no way they could actually be that way in a movie in 2024...just like these silent people that smile and serve. I don't know if that's my place to say that as a white lady....but I have adopted sisters of west Asian descent and as a result it's weird....my mum and dad go to places all over and I've been to some...and the people are of course beautiful but they also HAVE to be cheery and their survival depends on going above and beyond with acts of service. It might have been a cool opportunity to make some kind of comment on that...but they're just seen like westerners see these people...just kind of flat smiling people there to serve. Right down to where they just smiled when she asked 'where am I supposed to go?' . A luxury island is a perfect place for dirtbags like that to exploit their workers. You don't have to make a comment about EVERYTHING in your movie but it was RIGHT there.
It reminds me of the entire episode of Outlander that shows the rape of the male lead. I could not keep watching the show after watching it. Yet I know many women who love that show, but see no issue with a 45 minute prison rape.
.......Can't the ending be BOTH, tho? Like it frames the protagonist as very morally gray, which I think is more thought provoking as having her be a more two dimensional victim that has no complicity. Perhaps I'm a cynic, but I also see the complicity of all the female characters to varying degrees, be it in flirting with a billionaire they KNOW from the jump to have assaulted previous women, to competing for his attention with the other women in slightly possessive undermining ways, to the older woman who chooses to forget, and finally the end scene to take over the company instead of expose what happened on the island, to be realistic ways women often respond to these choices in patriarchy.
There is no way to know if the other girls received any "justice "....Frida ends up with untold wealth...whats to say she didn't take care of the other victims families...or isnt pouring millions into rape victim charities. Maybe thier "stories" werent told but i belive the frida would do good philanthropic things with her newly aquired wealth.
Thank you for articulating the problem, this movie really bothered me lol
It’s worrying that just saying “Billionaire” and “abuse” in the same sentence is enough to let the audience know how much danger there is
I had mixed feelings about the film. I enjoyed the visual style but I thought it was full of contradictions and not half as smart as it thought it was. I disliked the ending at first because Kravitz didn't fully commit to the cynicism of her choices as a writer and director. I think framing it as a victory/girl boss note at the end actually robs the ending of its impact because most audiences read it as a genuine victory instead of Freida now embracing and becoming part of the systems that oppressed her. I also thought the film skipped any nuanced engagement with how Freida's experience as a black women impacts her decisions.
"Thank you Yhara, this was so good!"
*We all say in unison*
also there's the other contradiction if Lucas gets to die for being inactive what does that MAKE FRIEDA for sitting beside her "bestie's" murderer?
I really appreciate that you don't use any of those weird youtube euphemisms like "grape" that always take me out of the video and make things feel less serious.
My Dad is 73 and he always absolutely loved Death Wish he was a boomer girl Dad he tried he's learned a lot and votes for our rights
i'm pretty sure lucas is a "guest" of one of the older more powerful men on the island. i don't think that scene was him trying to help one of the women, i think he's being toyed with and chased just like the women are. i think just because he is a man he is overlooked as being a victim by frida and sarah
what amazing timing! thank youuuu ❤❤❤
So excited to hear your thoughts on this film!
I haaaaaaaaaaated the ending of Blink Twice. What an effective horror film throughout with the most confusing ending. I can understand the concept of “dismantling the system of abuse from the inside” but jfc why would she want to keep a rapist/murderer alive???
When I heard people talking about the “Girlboss ending” I thought the women all struck a cringe fighting pose like the gals at the end of avengers endgame or something… kinda sad that would at least be a moment of solidarity and the reality is one woman drinking bubbles at the met gala with the guy who endgamed her best mate.
So glad for this analysis - I just watched the movie after much anticipation and really hated it. Everyone else I watch seemed to love it and I was shocked to see no one else being critical of it at all. Insightful and thorough as always! ♥
I’m glad you mentioned how bizarre the treatment of Lucas is. A general rule of thumb I’ve noticed is that if your grand, feminist revenge movie, created by women and starring women etc etc starts veering into…questionable commentary and portrayals of male victims, then keep an eye out because you’re probably gonna be subjected to some victim blaming logic bullshit.
I so strongly disliked this film, especially the ending. I’m so glad I found this video because I felt like I was going insane, seeing other people just calling it ‘boring’ or even just making fun of the main actress’ appearance. I even saw a reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes call her ugly and a “creature of the night”, and that he felt sorry that Tatum had to kiss her, like did we watch the same f-ing movie???
I 100% agree with you especially about the ending, though I didn’t hate it, leaving me with kind of bad taste in my mouth for the same reason you stated, it felt disjointed. The mishandling of Lucas that to me appeared to be victim and it wasn’t properly clarified what his roles was, plus they sort of already told that plot line with the manager who wanted to forget. The injustice for Jess who got no retribution from presumably close friend comes across as callous by the ending. You can’t stick a girl boss narrative in an abuse story, it doesn’t mix. I will say I think both titles are good but I’m someone who only saw the trailer. However the elements I did enjoy were the subtle hints of losing time and misplaced or new items and the build up to the main event. I just wish it had better resolution to the entire story.
Spike Lee needs to NEVER, EVER, portray female characters. Men, yes - “Get On The Bus” is excellent.
Great video!!! Though the SA scene wasn't as bad as in the films you've mentioned I think it didn't need to be that graphic. I find problematic when the most uncomfortable and brutal scene is the SA instead of the revenge ones
I don’t necessarily agree but I respect your opinion. Now I need someone to explore the religious undertones and overtones of the film.
I miss the religious meaning.
What I got from it briefly was the imagery of the island (garden of Eden), snakes giving the women the knowledge of what was real going on (snake spoke to Eve and convinced her to eat of the tree of knowledge) Once they had received the knowledge of good and evil they had to leave the garden forever. In the Bible there was angel barring reentry. Also after they both ate the forbidden fruit by the snake man and woman were cursed. Men to work and women to give birth in pain. This is far from an articulate argument but there’s something there.
22:47 “c’mon guys, believe women” from a woman who literally glossed over her female friend’s safety concerns for monetary reasons is definitely wild even before the election
I think the potential for the ending to be cynical vs. triumphant comes down to the editing, and every bit of the ending is giving “yes girlboss, get that bag and fuck those guys!” Or, like, having some sort of darker twist to imply this revenge of success is actively harming Slater. We… almost… get it with her knowing the doctor, but all we really see is Slater getting a taste of his own literal medicine and it’s just not great. The victory is clearly just from being in that place of power and abuse and doing nothing about the literal bodies it took to get to that spot.
Just to speak on Lucas I had a wildly different interpretation and thought he was solely a victim just as much as the women were and I thought that was the implication in the flashback was them trying to overpower him. And Slaters criticism of him basically to say he's a bystander in his own life who didn't do anything for the men who really had control on that island cause he was boring. Gave me a lot to think on with this video.
"We regret to inform you that the woman you were rooting for the entire movie is in fact Bad." I just find it really funny that both this one and Poor Things went for a very similar type of ending.
I don't think everything is in black and white.
This guy I was dealing with showed me this movie and didn’t understand why I was so angry and upset in the end
The ending reminds me of Midsommar or The Witch: looks like the protagonist got what she wanted, but she's in fact completely consumed by the corruption of her wish.
LOVE your take on this movie
There’s something about not liking the ending that’s rings a similar tune to Daniel Caesar’s “why are black ppl being mean to Yes Jules”. I have a hard time understanding why people that watch films like this have an issue with the protagonist getting even in whatever way they see fit. In school did you tattle on your bully every single time or did you eventually slap the shit outta them? If you never fought back AND WON you won’t understand how gratifying this ending is
The way I CACKLED just now 🤭🤭🤭
I truly understand the comparison. Because the protagonist did what worked FOR HER. That’s IT THATS ALL. Great Video Though.
Thank you for not allowing RUclips’s corporate interests to censor your use of the appropriate words to discuss this very serious topic🫶🏿
Death wish 2 genuinely is the most disturbing movie I’ve ever seen cuz I remember seeing a brutal, drawn out SA scene and thinking “Oh, this is literally r*** p*rn”
My hatred for Blink Twice is something I have never felt for a movie before. It caused such a visceral reaction in me, I was dry heaving and hyperventilating in the bathroom, and a fight actually broke out in the theater. I'm not even kidding. This movie is evil. Vile. Should not exist.
Thank you for articulating why that ending disturbed me and nearly ruined my enjoyment of the film.
Thankyou for making this!!! I actually watched this film with my Mum (I was surprised she wanted to watch) and when we left the cinema she was in awe of Kravitz and felt vindicated by the ending. I said from the jump it screamed girl boss feminism and we went back and forth over this for so long. Kravitz '"feminism" is very Hilary 2016 and points to the limitations of identity politics. If a woman/queer person/poc is at the top (irregardless of what they are on top of or what they do within that position) then everyone is winning.
I think the movie’s intention with the Lucas character, and Slater’s line about “doing nothing for himself or the women”, is just as depressing and cynical as the rest of the movie, in that it’s meant to imply that while Lucas was also a victim like Frida, he was unlike Frida in being unwilling to strategize his own upward mobility, and therefore deserving of his fate for being passive and weak.
I HATED THE ENDING! All those men got away with it and we didn't get to see A SINGLE WILLIE HALVED LONGWAYS AND THEN HALVED AGAIN WITH THAT CHEF'S KNIFE 😡
Your topics are always so thoroughly researched and packed full of sources, it’s hard to watch any of your videos and *not* learn something new!
I didn't like the ending either, but I think it's meant to accurately represent how women in Hollywood adjust to what has happened to them (by becoming complicit/turning a blind eye in order to advance their own interests). I don't see her as a girl boss nor do I think that's what the movie was going for. I think Kravitz withheld context in the end so the audience could decide what Frida's actions represented. Also, Slater was drunk on power and control (control of his image, company, women, etc). Him losing that without him even knowing it was revenge, at least to Frida. I think the fact that there was no justice, only revenge, was the whole point. Perhaps that's all women can hope for in that industry. Dark and bleak for sure.
The movie bypassing Lucas' experiences, is a great representation of how male victims are treated. However, I hated how he was just killed off like that. He didn't even get clarification on what happened to him. Ugh. I'm trying to find the symbolism and falling short with this one.
I like the ending because it is realistic to human nature and the justice system. After r*pe there is no true justice. The act itself can’t be undone, and assault changes your brain chemistry forever. You are different, fridas flaws were obvious. She is self centered, materialistic and selfish to the point of prioritizing her happiness over Jess. However she has some redeemable qualities like courage, and strength, and love. She’s human tho so her duality is evident she is both bad and good. Because no punishment will ever fit the crime for Slater, and also the influence he has he can pay someone to change the story and he has protection since other powerful men know what he’s doing and partake he will be saved to a degree. And him dying isn’t enough cuz In order to suffer you must live, she did what she believed was right. She gets rich like she wanted without working for it and she gets to control the narrative and ensure he will not be able to do Anything else cuz she made him incapacitated. The ending feels human and not like rainbows and butterflies it feels genuinely twisted and vengeful to a degree. She got a happy ending after assault most of us never will.
titus andronicus rpe revenge plot line is one of the most haunting in my mind because he kills his daughter to kill his own sadness
I’m glad it’s not just me and that the ending is getting some discourse. At the time it felt like a weird decision for an ending to the movie. Like, it’s a really personal revenge for a widespread/systemic wrong. I saw where they were going and just sat in the theater like “oh…ok…” I think the ending conceptually could’ve worked, but not for the movie we got.
and the depicted king at the climax like a super villain immune from guns and knives at that point i was like this is such an abstract almost cartoonish view of assault i did really enjoy everything before the climax tjo and i loved the reveal