TW: Rape, sexual violence, misogyny

I recently watched the 2020 film “Promising Young Woman”, written and directed by Emerald Fennell; starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, and a whole host of amazing supporting actors. This movie is available for purchase at both physical and digital media storefronts. I highly recommend watching the film before reading any further. Wait to read this, check it out, and come back, because this film is worth a watch. I will be discussing the opening scene, and loosely discussing some of the conflicts that arise in the story.

My one word take for “Promising Young Woman” is “uncomfortable”.

opening thoughts

In the opening scene, you see a group of misogynistic coworkers venting their insecurities in a strip club. They moan and beguile the change in culture at their workplace due to a woman being hired on at their workplace. No more meetings at the strip club, no more retreats to the male-only golf course, etc. You’ve heard this conversation before, and while you may have rolled your eyes or ignored it, it is now front and centre of your screen. You are forced to be a passive observer.

Enter Cassandra, the main character of the film, who is seemingly too funk to drunction, and causes the one of the men in the group to leave his buddies as “someone should do something”. While this seems initially an altruistic act, we clearly see he meant “someone should do something to her” as he takes her back to his place.

Cass, both verbally and non-verbally, expresses her objection to the man’s activity, though drunkenly, she does so consistently. She tells the Uber driver she is not okay, she asks for water when they get to his place, and Even if she were to consent in this state, those in an altered state of mind (drunk or otherwise) may not be fully aware of their situation and are unable to provide informed consent.

We are forced to watch this man begin sexually assaulting Cass. It is uncomfortable. You want to look away. However, like so many other victims, you are not given that agency. It makes your skin crawl and your body recoil. You know it is wrong.

subversion…

But hasn’t all this man’s behaviour been wrong since he appeared on screen? When did it become “too much”? How much were you, as a passive actor, willing to excuse? Writer/Director Fennell makes you confront your own excuses for this behaviour, as she makes the trajectory of the scene quite clear if you can connect the dots in the depiction of rape culture behaviours beforehand.

As you are confronting yourself, as the man begins to remove Cass’s underwear, Cass repeatedly asks the man “What are you doing?”. No response from the man, no change in behaviour.

Then, in a shot straight out of a horror film, Cass looks directly into the camera and Fennell reveals her subversion: Cass was not drunk, but merely “acting drunk” to confront those who would prey on women when they think they are “home free”. This as much confrontation of the aggressor as it the audience, and the man’s eyes widen and face fill with the shame and regret of someone who “got caught” doing something they know is wrong.

confronting rape culture

This is the recurring theme of the movie. Men behave in the way they always have (a way that degrades women and that perpetuates rape culture), and in a way that is still rarely checked in our society. When the behaviour does get called out and addressed head on, the excuses of “I’m/he’s a good guy”, “She was asking for it by her (outfit/behaviour/blood alcohol level)” and “I wasn’t the aggressor and I’ve changed” all come up. Aside from confronting this behaviour being the “right thing” to do, Cass also has a personal vendetta, as her close friend Nina was raped at a party during their time in med school, leading to Nina’s later death by suicide.

I think the film does a great job of showing many angles of those that perpetuate rape culture. It is easy to see the instances of men trying to take advantage of Cass and identify those as disgusting and wrong. It is much harder in the real world to show how all the other involved parties have culpability:

• The male friend of the abusers who is not committing the act, but witnesses it happening and does nothing.
• The female colleague who assumes the worst due to past behaviour and does nothing to defend the abused or right the wrong, though having the means to so.
• The authority figure who, through negligence or institutional inability, perpetuates the rape culture of their campus; leaving the behaviour of predatory men unchecked.
• The perpetrator, who does not have to have a conscience about their actions because they suffered no consequences.

I think most people have (unfortunately) been in one or many of these positions if they have not been victims of sexualized violence themselves.

strong female ?protagonist?

Carey Mulligan’s Cassandra is part endearing, but also completely unhinged. Multiple characters in the film tell her that she needs to move on, adjust her life, unknowing of her vendetta against predatory men and her vengeful plans against those involved in the assault of Nina. Her behaviour makes her challenging to root for, as she blackmails, manipulates, and ruins the lives of those she feels contributed to Nina’s suicide. Mulligan’s dark humour and wit redeem her, as you are made just as uncomfortable as Cassandra’s victims while you’re watching and trying to figure out to what lengths she will go to enact “eye for an eye” justice.

The film juxtaposes the confrontations Mulligan’s character has with the acts against Nina all those years ago. While Cass blackmails a University dean, drugs and gaslights a woman into thinking she was raped, and attempts to etch Nina’s name on her abuser with a scalpel, the film still frames Cass as the protagonist. The film forces you to compare the actions committed by Cass to those committed against her friend.  What Cass is doing is clearly vile, and not the “proper” way to seek justice.

so who is the promising young woman?

Reflecting on the title, there really are two “Promising Young Women” in the film. Nina, who’s promising trajectory was tarnished by the acts of few and the inaction of many. She is routinely referenced as the top of her class. Her loss is viewed as a light that would have changed the world, but instead was snuffed out too soon. She serves as the catalyst to the martyrdom of the other “Promising Young Woman”: Cass.

Cass dedicates her life to retribution for her friend, both in her systematic and calculated blackmails with those involved with Nina’s death, and in broader society with her routine confrontations with would-be abusers. She is self-destructive, secretive about her vendetta with those closest to her, and has rejected any route to self-actualization in order to fully commit her life to avenging Nina. Nina’s potential as a “Promising Young Woman” lies in what was unrealized, while Cass’s potential as a “Promising Young Woman” is outright rejected.

in summary…

I’ve said all this without even getting into the formal elements, the acting, or the ending, so I’ll leave it here for now. Emerald Fennell’s film creates a confrontational atmosphere in a passive medium, and that alone would be worth celebrating.

What is tragic about this film is that those who most need to watch this, will not. Those who give misogyny and rape culture a free pass are typically not those that would think critically about why a film makes them feel a certain way, and further more will not be drawn to a female led film with “positive adjective” and “woman”  in the title. However, being forced to confront what behaviours you’ve been excusing, especially when you think you’re “safe”, is a challenging but expedient pathway to a better society for everyone.

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