A female architect, talented and highly respected in the industry. But if for some reason, instead of continuing to work, instead of working as a full-time mother for 20 years, the result is: "disaster" society.
This is not an alarmist, but from a movie - Where'd You Go, Bernadette. The film is based on the novel of the same name that has been on the New York Times and NPR bestseller lists for 88 consecutive weeks. Don't worry, New Year's Eve won't let you worry, because this is a family comedy movie.
Richard Linklater's new movie "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" hit the streets after its release. The famous American independent director who once filmed the "Love Is" trilogy and "Boyhood" belongs to the director of movie fans with his own reputation. Moreover, this time, "The Devil" Cate Blanchett was invited to star in a movie based on the best-selling novel. But these can't hold the film from word of mouth to box office in North America's comprehensive Waterloo.
But after watching it, you will find that this is a very interesting movie, full of the attributes that make best-selling novels popular, and it has been given a good video adaptation. The point is, this movie is a new perspective on women's films and mothers' films. It presents the director's new cognition and new thinking on the social and family roles of women above the middle class in the West in a comedy way. The weight is light, although the taste is shallow, but the stamina is strong and the aftertaste is long.
For such a niche movie, fans or director fans will generally choose to watch and rate them. Many of these literary and artistic youths do not yet have the next generation, so it may be difficult for a mother's contemporary urban epic to resonate with them. This may also be the reason for the low reputation and ratings.
1. The misfit stay-at-home mom
The first half hour of the movie is really boring. Cate Blanchett's mom is always in a state of anxiety. The family of three lived in a dilapidated, leaky, overgrown castle.
She and the neighbors' wives will never get along. Always have a voicemail with a virtual office assistant in India named Manjula, and almost all of the emails are complaints about the life around them.
To outsiders, this mother should have been content and happy. Her husband is a big entrepreneur in a technology company, and his entrepreneurial project was acquired by Microsoft; his ted speech ranks fourth in the number of viewers, and he is very handsome (husband plays the son in "Big Fish", enough handsome). As for the girl, she is an academic bully, and her mother is the best friend to get along with. She is also sensible and has a standard image of "the child next door".
But why is this mother still "doing" like this? Her lines have already told you: life is sometimes hard because life is always too mediocre.
2. A pre-publicized trip to Antarctica
The concentrated outbreak of my mother's anxiety was started by an unfinished trip to Antarctica. My daughter is on a graduation trip, and she hopes to have a trip to Antarctica with her parents. In order not to refute her daughter's interest, the mother agreed. But the anxiety and social phobia in my heart began to burst.
She began to complain more frequently to her virtual assistant: the cruise ship for the Antarctic trip can take 150 people. Her first thought was the "fear" of having to be in a space with 147 strangers. She started going to the pharmacy to stock up on powerful anti-seasickness pills.
Oh. Forgot to mention, the story takes place in Seattle, USA, 5 weeks before Christmas. You know, Seattle is notoriously rainy in late fall. The heavy rains poured in one after another, as if to completely water the mother who was about to be forced into a desperate situation.
3. It turns out that this mother is not easy!
At this point in the movie, the audience still doesn't know much about the mother's past and present life. Maybe she thought she was a typical full-time wife of a wealthy family, but she was just restless.
But then there are two dialogues in the film. One was a conversation between the mother and an old colleague 20 years ago after the reunion, and the other was a conversation where the husband called a psychiatrist to "save" his wife.
The two scenes were edited in parallel and performed at the same time, which made us realize, wow, this mother is so good!
Twenty years ago, this mom was a talented architect. As soon as he debuted, he was recognized by the American judges as an artist who can stand side by side with contemporary American design giants such as Frank Wright. The whole industry is raving about her. Let's put it this way, if she hadn't quit the arena 20 years ago, her status would have been Zaha Hadid today.
In the movie, a documentary was made up for my mother, showing my mother's great achievements in the construction industry in her early years. Here I have to mention the "big devil" Cate Blanchett. Not to mention her heaven-defying acting skills, just looking at her former appearance can make people feel that she can't hide her edge. According to popular saying, if the word "salt or sweet" is used to describe a woman, then Kate's level is simply "deep sea and sugar cane garden".
The following is a photo of Cate Blanchett when her mother was young.
Just for some personal reasons. She quit architecture twenty years ago. A generation of famous architects has been living in the world since then, in the legion of wives and children in the wealthy community of the United States.
When the mother and her colleague finished complaining, her colleague finally said one sentence: Do you know what's wrong with you, you just haven't worked for too long. You should go to work quickly, otherwise, you will endanger society. Because you are so good.
4. Finally, my mother ran away.
The mother, played by Kate, has an increasing anxiety in her heart. Her conflict with her neighbors escalated. Her Indian virtual office assistant turned out to be a Russian scam gang. The last straw that prompted her to run away was that her husband found a psychiatrist to bring her to a mental sanatorium. And he wants to take his daughter to Antarctica for a trip.
In terms of plot, this is the climax of the whole conflict. Behind the plot is the director's precise satire of the contemporary American wealthy class.
First of all, if you look at it from the perspective of my mother, the whole article is actually looking at the technology business world from the perspective of an artist, and what you see is actually full of disdain. You know, because of the birth of companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks, etc., Seattle is the most important technology and business center in the United States besides Silicon Valley.
But in the eyes of the artist from Los Angeles, this is all So What? No matter how innovative and prosperous it is, the core of its real life is still the surface decency and inner ugliness unique to the upper class. This can be fully seen from the director's portrayal of the neighbor's wives in the film. Their lives are essentially the same as the life of the rich neighborhood in the American TV series "Deadly Woman".
Secondly, the director is still satirizing the indifference and absurdity of the upper class, at least the middle class and above, in dealing with the perception of life. When they find difficulties in their lives, their first thoughts are their lawyers, their dentists, their insurance brokers and their psychotherapists.
They think everything can be solved by these people, the money that is paid to these people behind the scenes. This is not indifference, it has become the habitual thinking of their lives.
Therefore, when the mother had a mental problem, her husband's first thought was not to rely on himself or logging and hugging together to keep warm, but to find a psychiatrist and told her, "You have a mental problem and need to go to a mental hospital for recuperation. "'s judgment.
You know, from ancient times to the present, no matter what age, country, or class you are in, as long as the people around you say you are insane, you can only say nothing.
So, after thinking about it, my mother could only run away.
5. Antarctica's Mother Search
Speaking of which, people who haven't seen the movie will feel that the movie is depressing and even a little scary. In fact, I want to emphasize that this is a light-hearted comedy. Although there are contradictions and conflicts, everything is based on a not heavy tone to make the story derivative. Especially when the plot finally reaches Antarctica.
Now that it's spoiled, let's spoil it to the end. Mom went to Antarctica. Since I want to lock up my mother, I will come to Antarctica to play first. Although seasick all the way, it is still a cool thing to actually step on the Antarctic continent and row a canoe in Antarctica to see icebergs, especially for a "retired artist".
Here, "Where's Mommy" is still being staged at home. Dad can't count on it anymore. At this time, the IQ of the daughter who was excellent like the "child next door" quickly went online. She took her father to the Antarctic and said that her mother must be there. So, on the Antarctic ocean as pure as an alien planet, a family of three started a journey of family redemption.
Mom's indifferent journey in Antarctica continues. She accidentally learns that the station at the South Pole needs to be rebuilt. Perhaps it was her colleague's words "wake up the dreamer in one sentence", she suddenly wanted to go to the South Pole, visit the site, and then design a research station with a fork. After various efforts, she finally got the approval of the person in charge and was ready to go to the Antarctic research station for 5 weeks.
At this time, the smart daughter brought her father to finally find her mother, and the ending was naturally a happy ending.
It is conceivable that soon, a wonderful artist mother will be born, and her anxiety and social phobia will also heal itself with the inspiration of her work. This may be the best outlet and the right way out for outstanding women.
6. Extraordinary Women or Great Moms
The female characters in "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" are very special: extraordinary artists, escape and worldly life, qualified mothers, paranoid sociophobic patients. But it seems that such women have to make choices in order to live an ordinary life.
But with choice comes sacrifice. But Bernadette tells you: No matter whether she is talented or not, she is first and foremost a qualified and born good mother. Even if she had four miscarriages, even if her only daughter had a congenital heart disease when she was a child, it did not prevent her from being a good mother and her daughter's "best friend". Therefore, being a mother is never a choice, but an instinct.
Second, transcendental artists should naturally not be buried in the community and the mundane. Because this is not only a waste of talent, but also a "tiredness" of society. Artists often have great enthusiasm, and female artists have more lasting enthusiasm, and have more long-term affection and tenacity for art and design, so they should be completely released in their work and works.
No matter whether she is in the South Pole, Saturn, Mars, or light years away, the important thing is to use yourself as a match to draw a spark, so that you can achieve your "destiny", rather than to die with passion and a mediocre life.
Feminist awakening and feminism are important creative genre motifs in Hollywood today. "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" provides a new perspective of this genre, which is curious, interesting, self-contained, and tender. Looking at the performance of women's issues in China and the West, when the Eastern society is still hotly discussing "Jin Zhiying in 1982", the West has used movies such as "Marriage Story" to discuss women's maximum equality of rights in marriage between the two sexes.
Similarly, when we are still cheering that we can watch "囧Mom" for free on our mobile phones on the first day of the new year, thinking that we are going to hug our own mother, the mother in Seattle, USA has already begun to awaken in feminism. Travel smoothly on the journey, all the way to Antarctica.
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