Let's talk a little about the representation of social sciences, race & mental illness in Midsommar.
In short, it's an effective & impressive horror film, but replicates familiar ethical problems in storytelling
Spoilers ahead, but I'll keep them to a minimum. #BadSciFilmpic.twitter.com/1DXW1k71Fd
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These social scientists are competitive, without any cultural respect for their potential participants. Christian has read no literature. No one checks the ableism of using a 'disfigured' boy as an 'oracle,' or repeating descriptions of him as a product of incest.
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TW suicide, DFV. Catalyst for the story is a murder-suicide by a mentally ill woman. Social science shows murder-suicides are gendered: women who die this way are the minority; overwhelmingly due to prolonged DFV. Still we repeatedly see violent images of these deaths
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TW suicide: Dani is a White woman who also has a mental illness. The film has some interesting commentary about women having to sublimate grief for the sake of selfish partners. Nevertheless, Dani witnesses ritual suicides & remains at the commune. Awful plotting.
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The filmmaker, who is highly skilled, clever & a striking storyteller, has said the story operates as a break up film. Some viewers see it as fairytale (the origins of these are highly violent). None of this excuses the logic of whiteness & ableism used in the plot.
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Aster's portrayal of White women's grief in his films is highly effective. Midsommar is also very precise in its depiction of the social experience of hallucinogenic drug use (norms about sharing the timing & policing their space 'Everybody lie down!' 'I don't like new people!').pic.twitter.com/k4BqqtpO7X
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Christian's cowardice (can't break up with Dani, but is planning to go overseas). Dani's obervations of her relationship (Christian doesn't remember her birthday, but 'it's my fault, I forgot to remind him'
). All smartly done.
Race & ableism are also choices. #BadSciFilmpic.twitter.com/sOhaKaGhqjShow this thread -
White male filmmakers can imagine all sorts of worlds. They read widely to flesh out ideas. They inject realistic details because it helps audiences suspend disbelief. But they fail to do diligence on race & disability. Social science is also shabbily treated. Why?
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In short, White men imagine that Black anthropologists would risk their lives, because White men don't have to think about race as they move through the world. They think women's experience of suicide is genderless, because men don't see how their gender shapes them.
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White abled men think that creating a White disabled character who never speaks is a minor detail, even when condescending (he has 'pure' insight due to 'different cognition') and whose origins are socially engineered ('inbred' specifically to play this function).
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The film is conscious enough of disability to include Auslan clapping as the primary way to show public appreciation, but disinterested in the lives of disabled people. They are just an oddity who exist to pass divination - that's then 'interpreted' by abled people
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In the end, social sciences provide plot fodder (Vikings were violent!), but the film sees no responsibility in depicting anything near actual social science, ethics of fieldwork, safety of
#POC researchers. Other sciences are poorly represented, but far worse for us.#BadSciFilmpic.twitter.com/ArehClMLkUShow this thread
End of conversation
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