![]() Both works are interesting explorations of sexual assault and its aftermath, and both are significantly more feminist and less exploitative than grindhouse rape-revenge films of the past. There is an obvious difference between the perspectives of the respective heroines-Cassie was on the periphery of the assault she wants to avenge, as a friend of the victim rather than the actual victim, whereas Arabella is a direct victim of assault. ![]() My problems with Promising Young Woman do not only exist comparatively with I May Destroy You, although I genuinely think I may have enjoyed the former more had I not watched the latter first, and I am not suggesting that Coel should have been nominated instead of Fennell, or that Fennell’s work isn’t at least deserving of cultural recognition and deep discussion. ![]() Differing Depictions of Sexual Assault in “Promising Young Woman” and “I May Destroy You” Its ending is perhaps its most controversial attribute, one Fennell stands behind firmly. While Promising Young Women is a film, it plays more like a series, with commercialized action-movie pacing and “gotcha” moments interjected in spasmodic bursts. Its final episode is a hallucinatory, dreamlike dive into Arabella’s subconscious, cogitating on a series of hypothetical situations in which Arabella confronts her assaulter, often playing with gender roles and the idea of radical compassion. While I May Destroy You is a series, it plays more like a long, sprawling film, without providing tidy answers within neat episodic structures, instead using its elongated runtime as a theoretical space to introduce a multitude of questions about identity, sexuality, and culture, allowing Arabella (and Coel) to explore them all in turn. Both are about sexual assault, and both are filmed through a more intimate and feminist perspective than some comparable films of the past. “I May Destroy You” and Golden Globe NominationsĪ comparison that has repeatedly been drawn, especially post-nominations announcement, is between I May Destroy You and Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, which received four Golden Globe nominations. When juxtaposing I May Destroy You with some of the other more frivolous nominees, the snub becomes more evident-even a writer for Emily in Paris confessed her disbelief following Emily in Paris ’ two nominations, writing, “How anyone can watch I May Destroy You and not call it a brilliant work of art or Michaela Coel a genius is beyond my capacity to understand how these decisions are made.” “Promising Young Woman” vs. Coel’s creative autonomy as the series’ writer, director, and star reverberates throughout each scene in the manner of a true auteur, addressing imperative problems we see infrequently explored through television/film: “stealthing” (non-consensual condom removal), social media toxicity, the crisis of forgiveness versus revenge, and the preternatural way in which many women must begin their own path to healing in a society that repeatedly proves their safety and emotional security take lowest priority.Īrabella, the show’s heroine played by Coel, heals honestly, messily, sometimes backwards, stumbling and regaining footing as she explores the remedial potential of social media activism, friendship, localized fame, support groups, drugs, family, and everything in between. Michaela Coel’s enthralling, quasi-autobiographical 12-episode HBO series I May Destroy You is a dizzying exploration of sexual assault and healing, one that relentlessly pushes the boundaries of what had previously been deemed appropriate for television. While this female-forward nominee list does come as a welcome surprise in the midst of other untenable nominations, I noticed a similar sentiment echoed throughout the film/TV community: where is Michaela Coel? Michaela Coel’s “I May Destroy You” Three women were up for 2021’s Best Director slot: Regina King for One Night in Miami, Chloé Zhao for Nomadland, and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman. Every year there is a collective lack of surprise at the homogeneity of the nominees-majority white, majority male-which is why I hate to be negative in light of the surprising inclusivity of this year’s nominations. 2021 was no different, the nominations announcement spurring dissent almost immediately upon publication. The Golden Globes oversee a handful of bewildering nominations almost as an annual tradition. ** Includes spoilers for Promising Young Woman and I May Destroy You.
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