I’ve got so much I want to say about Polite Society. But I refuse to post anything too spoilery yet.
So one thing I will say is the way Lena’s depression and mental health is written is incredible. So often when men write women with mental health issues they write this sort of “prettily struggling” womsn in a spiral.
(this infamous queens gambit scene comes to mind)
They’re never allowed to actually be ugly or gross or even not have their hair and makeup be perfect.
Like beth here is in a pretty frilly top shes reclining in an uncomfortable fashion. Her makeup looks perfect and he cardigan is prettily draped over her shoulders. She’s meant to be attractive. Her sadness is almost fetishised.
but then Lena looks like this
Whereas Lena’s a WRECK. It’s considered an achievement she showered. AND shes proud of herself for that small acomplishment. Shes angry. She destroys her work. She’s dressed in sweats and pyjamas with either no makeup (if i remember correctly) or makeup that looks like it’s been on for days. There’s a scene where shes wandering aimlessly and just buys a duck to eat. And she does not eat it daintily or prettily (and no its not a chicken ppl seem to be confused).
I love that she spends all the first act in hoodies and pajamas looking like shes not washed in 3 days. It’s just so good to see a woman direct another woman with depression. There’s so much to be said about the male gaze and how it even impacts the portrayal of women going through crisis. The removal of that lens has created what I will argue is the most authentic experience of depression in a woman I’ve maybe ever seen. I literally cannot think of another time I’ve seen that.
“There was a point where everyone in town had said no to Polite Society, and it really knocked my confidence.” She even remembers people telling her: “‘My influences are too male.’ I’m like, ‘Who has been making cinema?!’”
The
film was greenlighted thanks to the success of We Are Lady Parts,
which premiered in 2021. She wrote the show after feeling demoralized by
some of the offers she was getting, like being asked to co-write a
project with a white male writer “and just be the brown person who can
give that point of view and the rubber-stamping of his stuff.”
Similarly, she was demoralized by the one-dimensional portrayals of
Muslim women on screen, such as stories with “a misery porn vibe,” which
bore no resemblance to her life. “I’d
just been asked to do lots of really annoying shows, being asked to
write dramas about Muslim women being oppressed, long-suffering,” she
said. “The annoyance of having been asked to write all this stuff that
wasn’t my experience of being a Muslim woman made me create Lady
Parts.”
As
with Polite Society, when she started pitching We Are Lady Parts,
she met a lot of resistance. “We Are Lady Parts got turned down
basically everywhere, except for one place, and that was Channel 4 and
then Peacock,” she said. “It was a lot of people being like, ‘I don’t
think we can do this. Is this offensive? Are people going to get upset?’… I’m like, ‘This is just a Muslim woman expressing
joy!’”
Boygenius performing ‘Salt In The Wound’ aka when Lucy Dacus goes off, and then proceeds to kiss Juliens feet with Phoebe (April 12th 2023, at Fox Theatre Pamona via chieefqueef)
