I Care A Lot (2021)
A #girlboss overcomes sexism and violence to abuse and disenfranchise elders šŖš¼
I wasnāt really intending to write my first ever Substack about the new Netflix movie I Care A Lot ā I have a post in the drafts about my decade-long film obsession, Yellow Brick Road ā but itās on my mind and I figured this was as good a time as any to write a post. This post contains āØspoilersāØ.
The I Care A Lot trailer shows the lady from Gone Girl engaging in evil work disenfranchising and abusing elders, but oops ā she picks the wrong old lady to abuse and is about to get her comeuppance via Peter Dinklage with a man-bun. Unfortunately, I Care A Lot ends up being a film in support of capitalism and profit by any means necessary, where Gone Girl actually doesnāt get her comeuppance and instead basically wins. The film also brings in this sexism bend that I found totally confusing and actually really off-putting, and made me question how nuanced writer/director J Blakesonās understanding of sexism really is (so weird that a movie to do with sexism written and directed by a guy didnāt quite land for me!).
We open with Gone Girl/Marla in court against the son of a woman she basically kidnapped and imprisoned ā heās been barred from seeing her in the nursing home sheās been placed in because it is āin the motherās best interestā that he not be allowed to see her, and the judge upholds Marlaās decision to that effect. After court, he spits at her and says he hopes she gets raped and murdered, immediately setting her up as our sympathetic protagonist since thatās an awful thing to say to someone!! But, why did we include this scene? Are we going to learn about how Marla fights sexism, or how it has impacted her journey? Like, not really! Sexist moments come up every here and there in the movie ā Peter Dinklageās lawyer, The Cop From Devil, incorrectly assumes that the unethical doctor Marla colludes with is a man, so embarrassing ā but donāt pay off at all. Again, they set Marla up as this sympathetic protagonist, fighting the patriarchy to build a life with her girlfriend/wife, but all she is is a money-hungry abuser, hell-bent on growing her wealth by manipulating and abusing the people the state places in her care.
I was psyched when the guy from the first scene finally shot Marla ā it felt like something close to justice. I Care A Lot seems to want me to look past the abject, unapologetic evil Marla is carrying out, in favor of cheering her #girlboss #shero #SheEO success (while she expands her elder abuse empire). It feels like a really confused attempt at retelling Daniās arc in Midsommar, one where she overcomes the alienation and trauma of her relationships by murdering her crappy boyfriend and joining a community (cult) that loves her, except Marlaās arc in I Care A Lot is about capitalism where Daniās arc is about family and community. Midsommar is obviously a movie worth digging into more than this surface-level description, but it has that āgood for her!ā bend that it feels like I Care A Lot is trying and failing to achieve.
At the end of the day, sexism makes the abuse in I Care A Lot possible, but not in the way we might expect. The prevailing notion that women (and femme folks in general) are natural caretakers, gentle, kind, and family-oriented enables Marla to carry out her abuse with little to no consequence or detection. The men in the movie are physically violent, yes ā but the abuse Marla inflicts on the elders in her care, however far she is removed from them, is just as violent. Maybe thatās what I Care A Lot was going for? But if so, I donāt think the film did a good enough job communicating that.
Thatās all I got for now - thanks for reading my lil attempt at talking about movies! Have you seen I Care A Lot? What did you think? Should we argue? Are there other movies we should discuss?
See you next time, boss babes š¤