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December 27, 2023,
You can’t go by the title.
At least not by that alone.
Sometimes it is an indicator.
But, what we have found is that, once you get past the beginning, and you like it, then you ask yourself, where is this movie going, then you have the potential for a great movie.
In our efforts to write about featured stars, we view a lot of movies and TV series. Most are predictable and pedestrian. But every now and then, one grabs your attention and you ask yourself, this intriguing question.
Where is this movie going?
Let’s look at two examples and see if you agree.
Mulholland Drive is a 2001 surrealist neo-noir mystery film written and directed by David Lynch and starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino, and Robert Forster.
It tells the story of an aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Watts), newly arrived in Los Angeles, who meets and befriends an amnesiac woman (Harring) recovering from a car accident. The story follows several other vignettes and characters, including a Hollywood film director (Theroux).
Potentially, initially, this film took us in so many directions, in the beginning we asked ourselves, where is this movie going? But, wherever it is going?
We want to go along for the ride.
When it comes to the direction of the legendary genius director David Lynch, for us, it is not necessarily what we understand, it is what we feel.
There is an important difference.
First, we were mesmerized and had to watch the entire movie. Once finished, we didn’t understand it but we knew we felt something deeply disturbing and even personal.
Why?
Something bothered us about Betty’s story and it took us awhile to figure it out. We didn’t go to websites to get an explanation from David Lynch. He seemed to play everything close to the vest anyway. We didn’t desire to read other people’s explanations either. Why?
Because it felt personal.
Betty wanted an acting career very badly and along the way, she fell in love with Rita. Ultimately it came down to a decision, when it was time for the biggest interview and opportunity of her life, she made a decision to choose Rita over her career.
Then later, in another alternative sequence, we find out that Rita would absolutely never make that decision for Betty.
Because Betty lost her dreams, her life collapsed. The ending was incredibly sad but something to learn from.
When we are trying to surmise and learn things, we offer share our personal experiences with you from our associates. In this article, we will call him Chet.
In Chet’s personal life, when he was young, he tried to do the right thing and be unselfish, often placing the interests of friends, family and organizations above his own. What he eventually found out the hard way, when his own life began to collapse, none of them helped him. Lesson learned?
It is okay to put your own needs first above others.
What is your first responsibility in this short life?
To make yourself happy.
In an ethical way.
The only exception, in our minds, are your children, marriage and family. You have to do what is in their best interests and not be selfish (adultery, chasing career and leaving your children alone etc.).
Having said that, find a balance because most people will not reciprocate. When you need them, they will not be around for you.
That is why the above film, for us, resonated so strongly, before we even understood it.
You have a right to be happy and put yourself first.
Betty should have been wise enough to do that.
Let’s look at movie number two.
Fair Play is a 2023 American erotic thriller film written and directed by Chloe Domont, in her feature directorial debut. It stars Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan, and Rich Sommer. The film follows a young couple whose relationship starts to unravel following an unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund firm.
Fair Play premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023, and was released in select theaters on September 29, 2023, before its streaming release by Netflix on October 6, 2023. The film received positive reviews from critics.
The question we had when watching this film is why did it resonate so strongly with us?
Let’s get some basics first.
The film starts out with the loving couple Emily and Luke as equals in terms of job and finance at a major Hedge Fund company. They plan on getting married.
Things change when Emily tells Luke that she overheard a rumor that he is in line for a major promotion.
He does not get the promotion.
Emily does.
That is when things begin to go downhill. The movie will portray Luke as the bad guy, and in many ways he is, but that is completely from a female perspective. Here?
Emily is absolutely no saint either.
The writer and director Chloe Domont explains the movie to you at Elle Magazine. Here is the link: https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a45461519/fair-play-ending-explained-meaning-chloe-domont-interview/
Is her analysis accurate? Yes, it’s her movie.
But it is from a female perspective.
This is one of the reasons why we purposely did not read David Lynch’s explanation of the film Mulholland Drive. Why?
Because it is not our perspective. We are now going to give a perspective from a man’s point of view of Fair Play.
We will turn to Chet.
What was Luke’s real failing here? Once Emily got promoted over him, he had a major decision to make. A massive but simple question to ask.
Can he, as a man, marry a woman who is far more successful than him?
Can he do it?
It is a simple question isn’t it?
Luke never seems to ask himself that important question. He says in the end, that he is nothing. That actually isn’t true. As far as we can tell, he is a college educated man, holding down a well- paying job that many women would be happy with.
He is something.
But he is not Emily.
Get it?
He is not a drug addict. He is not gambling away his money. He is not randomly sleeping with one woman after another. He is not stealing from the company.
He is something.
What would our associate Chet do in this situation?
As soon as Emily got that promotion, and knowing her personality, for example, now she demands having sex when she is ready. Whether Luke is ready, in her mind, is completely irrelevant. It’s all about her needs and power and control. After all, a real man is supposed to always be ready.
He spends three thousand dollars on a course to better himself and she essentially lets him know that he wasted his money. The fact that she just spent five thousand dollars at a strip club, sitting and drinking with her bosses is “okay”.
Despite the director’s feminist view, is Emily a villain?
No, she is not. But she is the personality profile that we sense most men would find hard to marry while they are in an inferior position to her.
So, what would Chet do?
As soon as Emily got that promotion, Chet would have lots of great sex with her (to celebrate her promotion of course) and then start packing his bags. Why?
He cannot live with a woman, and especially one with Emily’s growing dominant personality, complete with not so veiled insults, who is in a superior position to him. Emily should absolutely take that promotion. She deserves it.
But they need to part ways early and avoid all of the drama because Luke made a decision to not ask himself the most important question right from the beginning.
The above two intriguing movies are why we love well-written films, where in the beginning, we are captivated, and not sure why, but we will stick around. Why?
To see where this gem is going.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulholland_Drive_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Play_(2023_film)
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
