Poor Things: “Born Sexy Yesterday”, Shame and Menstruation
Poor Things dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, Film 4
Yorgos Lanthimos’ newest film Poor Things (2023) was quick to garner both praise and criticism for its depiction of female sexual desire and quest for independence.
The film follows Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) a Frankenstein’s-monster-esque creation made up of the body of a woman who committed suicide and the brain of the unborn fetus she had been carrying. In a short space of time, Bella goes from newborn behaviour such as crying and urinating on the floor, to speaking in full sentences and masturbating. The solo act isn’t enough for Bella, however, as she craves sexual experiences with the men around her. Enter the selfish Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), an English “cad” that is enchanted with Bella’s virginal body and clueless attitude and whisks her off on a European adventure through Lisbon, Greece and Paris. The audience is supposed to see Bella as an “experiment” (she is also often referred to as such by her creator (Willem Defoe)), of female sexual desire without the influence of societal shame. The result is a confident promiscuity devoid of jealousy and emotional intimacy that even leads Bella to pursue sex work in a Parisian brothel, much to Wedderburn’s dismay.
The film has sparked many debates on whether it is feminist, whether Bella is empowering and whether it is a subversion of the “Born Sexy Yesterday” trope or simply yet another iteration of it. The term was coined on YouTube by Pop Culture Detective to describe female love interests in sci-fi films such as The Fifth Element (1997) and The Time Machine (1960), who have fully developed bodies but the minds of children. Pop Culture Detective notes that this trope is essentially a male fantasy as ordinary men’s basic knowledge of the world becomes extraordinary to the clueless women, who are only too happy to learn from them. It fetishizes sexual innocence and inexperience and its creepy connotations are often played for laughs. Following this definition, Poor Things is indeed a subversion of the trope, as Bella’s naivety does not render the desired results for the men around her. She happily uses them to gain knowledge - be it sexual or intellectual - but discards them thereafter as their superior life experience does not make them extraordinary in her eyes. This twist on the trope provides effective comedic sequences as we observe Weddeburn’s bafflement at Bella’s lack of adherence to patriarchal norms.
Despite this welcome subversion, however, I believe the film falls short of being feminist or particularly revolutionary. Bella is still a child that is sexualized by even the positive male characters. Max McCandels (Ramy Youssef), for example, essentially helps raise Bella and falls in love with her in the process. The film depicts Max’s caring for her as genuine and indicates Bella has the upperhand in the relationship, but this harks too closely to the very stereotypes the film is hoping to dismantle. Furthermore, watching a thin, white, conventionally attractive woman embark on a sexual odyssey does not feel particularly original. While it’s exciting to see a mainstream film focus on female sexual desire, it is still a predominantly male made movie about an almost always enthusiastic, often naked, female protagonist who never says no. The simplistic glamorization of sex work and perception of Bella’s body merely as a means of sexual gratification makes me wonder how different the film may have been had it had a female team behind it.
In particular, I was left wondering about other elements of Bella’s body. Does she get periods? Can she get pregnant? Given that the film explores the theme of shame, menstruation would have been a fantastic topic to explore, as it is something that is often viewed as shameful, disgusting and a hindrance. It would have been fascinating to watch a character not be ashamed of her involuntary bleeding, embracing her hormonal changes and being vocal about any pain she may have. While I understand the film’s focus is on sexual pleasure, hormones and periods are directly or indirectly linked to it for many people, including most cis women such as Bella.
Periods are arguably a more taboo subject in cinema than female pleasure, with them rarely making any significant appearance, other than perhaps a mention of them when a character is worried about being pregnant. Storylines regarding menstruation are actually more often found in TV series, with shows such as I May Destroy You (2020), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019) and Mad Men (2007-2015) all mentioning or portraying periods in meaningful ways. This is likely the case since series tend to follow characters for longer spells of time than films, and therefore delve deeper into character development and day-to-day experiences. While it is refreshing to see these depictions, periods are rarely a central part of the plot in any of the shows mentioned and there are still many stories and perspectives to be told.
If nothing else, Poor Things has opened the door for interesting discourse surrounding the depiction of female bodies and desire in cinema, which will hopefully inspire more filmmakers to tackle the subject. It is undoubtedly a visually stunning film with fantastic performances that is effective in subverting certain tropes, but ultimately its exploration of a female body devoid of shame feels surface-level.