 |
| Sumber: Doc |
What makes special?
If you are looking for a body horror movie that offers a new perspective, “The Substance” is agreat choice to watch. Directed by Coralie Fargeat, the film was released in Indonesia on October 16, 2024. The genre of this movie is science fiction horror and gory, which immerses viewers into a tense atmosphere and unsettling visuals. The unique and modern approach by director Fargeat, made this film won Best Screenplay at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Synopsis of the movie
Starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley as centers, the story actually appears as a social critique of beauty standards. A very popular actress and fitness icon, Elisabeth Sparkle (starred by Demi Moore) is suddenly laid off from her TV show since the producer, Harvey, is looking for a new star who is younger and has to be beautiful to replace Elisabeth. This left Elisabeth desperately trying to maintain her popularity. So stressed, she gets into an accident that forces her to be hospitalized. This is where she meets a black market drug called “substance”, a drug that clones Elisabeth with a younger, beautiful and perfect version named Sue (starred by Margaret Qualley). With the substance, Elisabeth manages to maintain her success in showbiz, despite being a different version of herself.
However, there is a strict rule in using the substance: they cannot coexist, so Elisabeth and Sue must alternate every seven days. In the midst of Sue's success, she and Elisabeth became greedy. Elisabeth continued to repurchase the illegal drugs while Sue broke the rule. Feeling that nothing happened to her, Sue lived without alternating with Elisabeth. Sue's violation made Elisabeth suffer the consequences, starting with a finger that suddenly aged. Over time, something bad happened to both of them. The climax rises when Sue is about to perform at the New Year's Eve party celebrations which requires her to live for more than seven days. But Elisabeth's body is already gone. Finally, Sue injects her with the substance and turns her into something terrible.
Beauty standard leads to objectification
As explained previously, this movie was made as a critique of society’s perpetual beauty standards. This story illustrates how women are seen as objects. But first, what is meant by object? Objectification refers to how women's bodies are sexualized rather than being seen as individuals. This theory was developed by Barbara Fredrickson and Tomi Ann Roberts. Theystate that the sexual objectification of women leads to a habit of body monitoring. In turn, it can increase the opportunity to feel shame and anxiety, reducing the opportunity to reach peak motivational states (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). Such a statement is shown by Elisabeth's character who is highlighted in clothes that expose parts of her body. A nude scene is also shown when Elisabeth starts to worry about her age. Key component of objectification theory that raise on the movie.
Sexual objectification
Based on the objectification theory, the objectifying gaze is played out in three areas and one of them depicted in this movie is the sexually objectifying gaze that occurs in visual media that portray interpersonal and social encounters. In “The Substance”, this is evident in the interaction-centered scenes, where the female characters are subjected to frequent scrutiny. We can see many close up angle cameras linger to specific sensitive parts of Elisabeth and Sue bodies. This visual treatment exemplifies the role of cinematography in viewing women through a lens that implicitly sexualizes them. Besides, the producer, Harvey, is portrayed as both a man and a society that sees women as objects to be exploited for their looks and bodies.
Self-Objectification
Sexual objectification has an effect called “self-objectification”. This is a behavior where women view themselves through their physical appearance and based on society's standards of beauty. This is a peculiar perspective on the self as it affects women's self-esteem and mental health. This is exactly what happened to Elisabeth's character. Overhearing what Harvey's said, makes her overly concerned about her physicality. The scene that illustrates self-objectification is when Elisabeth spends a long time in front of the mirror, scrutinizing her body parts. In the movie “The Substance”, there are many scenes that show this phenomenon, including when Sue is born from Elisabeth's body. Through these visualizations, “The Substance” shows the mental and emotional disruption of a woman due to excessive focus on her physical appearance.
Psychological Consequences
Sexual objectification and self-objectification resulting in severe psychological consequences, such as shame, anxiety, peak motivational states, and awareness of internal bodily states (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). Three of them are clearly seen in the movie.
Shame
Elisabeth's shame towards herself was shown when she heard Harvey's criticism. From then on, she spent time looking in the mirror. This scene shows the internalized shame when Elisabeth feels that her body does notmatch the imposed beauty standards.
Anxiety
Anxiety is clearly visible in this movie through Elisabeth's character. Scenes where she throws things at her own photos, stares longingly at herself in the mirror, and behaves abnormally, emphasize that she is pressured to look perfect but is not confident in her appearance.
Awareness of internal bodily states
This psychological disorder refers to when objectification alienates women from their own bodies and physical sensations. An example in “The Substance” can be seen in the scene when Elisabeth feels her body in pain and aging after using the black market drug, “substance”. She does not immediately recognize or respond to these sensations, but continues to inject the drug into herself. Another scene is when Elisabeth eats carelessly. Showing indifference to her body's health.
Symbols
Every movie has symbols that have certain values and meanings. Let's take a look at some of the symbols and their meanings that appear in this movie.
Hollywood walk of fame
The walk of fame in Hollywood appears as the opening scene, with the camera lingering on this object for a while. This thing kemudian muncul dalam ending film sekaligus penutup film ini. Based on the symbol principle according to Boggs and Petrie (2008), this object is valued placed and important by the character. Elisabeth's name is engraved on it, but as time passes, the name is damaged and fades. Also, the star has cracked over time. This shot symbolizes her career and image, which are fading with age.
The shrimp-eating scene
There is a scene where the camera close-ups Harvey while eats shrimp in a messy and grotesque manner, showing possession and evoking a sense of discomfort while watching it. This scene can symbolize how Harvey, as a man, views women as objects to be used rather than treating them as human beings. This is supported by his action of wanting to replace Elisabeth with a much more beautiful and attractive artist, such as Sue. This shows that women are only objectified by men.
The vibrant color used by the movie
Yellow is the color of the jackets that Elisabeth and Sue often wear. The hallway of the TV show where Elisabeth and Sue work is colored orange. In addition, Elisabeth's bathroom has white walls and furniture. Is there any meaning to the use of such colors? According to Boggs and Petrie (2008), color attracts and holds our attention.
Yellow is considered a vibrant color, thus we often see that many caution in the street using yellow colors. In this movie, the yellow jackets could symbolize Elisabeth and Sue's efforts to get the attention of others and symbolize that they can stand out because they are objectified by men and the media.
The orange-colored hallway of the TV show creates a sense of anxiety that is very much in line with the atmosphere of the movie. Orange in horror movies represents madness, which in the story, oranges can represent that their workplace is full of demands that make Elisabeth and Sue crazy because of their obsession with themselves and popularity.
White typically has positive connotations, such as truth, purity, and innocence. White bathroom milik Elisabeth melambangkan kemurnian atas terbentuknya Sue dari tubuh Elisabeth. Moreover, the color white can symbolize the emptiness that Elisabeth feels because she lives alone. Related to the color white, Elisabeth's bathroom is similar to “white room torture,” a psychological torture commonly used in the Middle East (Maiti and Sarvand, 2022). The torture aims to make the prisoners break down mentally and lose their identity.
This is in line with what happened to Elisabeth who lost her identity. HowElisabeth's character portrayal is relevant in the real world Quoted from Rue Morgue, Coralie as the director said “The movie is whole about women's bodies like how our bodies can be seen from the outside all the expectation that society can project.” This inspiration led Coralie to create the character of Elisabeth, who thinks too much about her body to conform to society's guidance. In the real world, there are probably many of us who behave the same way as Elisabeth in paying attention to her body changes. In the end, we torture ourselves by taking all kinds of illegal and legal drugs. The movie also brings up the issue of “male gaze”, which Coralie portrays through Harvey's character who treats Elisabeth in a sexually judgmental manner, and through cinematography that often points the camera at Elisabeth's body parts. Featuring bold scenes, sparse dialogue, and a triggering soundtrack, “The Substance” is a film in 2024 that successfully conveys its critique of society's standards towards women's physicality.
Conclusion
In summary, “The Substance” is a film that criticizes the issue of social pressure on women's bodies related to beauty expectations and objectification. Using the theory of objectification by Barbara Fredrickson and Tomi Ann Roberts, the film shows the types of objectification and its impact on the psychology of Elisabeth's character in meeting society's standards and judgments. Coralie Fargeat successfully reflects what women feel in the real world through the characters of Elisabeth and Sue. The close-up camera angles, vibrant colors used, and gory scenes reinforce the themes and issues conveyed. Overall, this film is suitable to make the audience realize how dangerous objectification is to the mentality and behavior of a woman. So, are you ready to watch it?
Sabila Devi Hanifa
(Mahasiswa Sastra Inggris UNJ)
