Evil Dead

Maybe I'm a little late to the party, but in the spirit of Halloween, I overloaded myself on Evil Dead and Cabin in the Woods this weekend. I must say I'm going to miss being a college student with the chance to go to a cabin with four of my closest, stereotypical friends and get murdered one by one. My odds of that happening are about to diminish...but oh, well. I couldn't help but watch Evil Dead with a different perspective in mind. Here it is... 

But What If the Evil Dead Remake is Feminist

I’m kind of sick of all these horror film critics. Slut this, whore that; we’ve heard it before. Like society though, horror has come a long way.

First of all, women feel pain differently than men do. Women are biologically capable of handling more internal pain due to the whole birthing process and what not. It’s difficult to measure pain and how it can be felt or compared, but seriously, birth trumps football. The men in Evil Dead barely get scratched compared to what the women go through. They get a few nail injections, stabbing in the already visually impaired eye, a few fingers broken off…but what the women go through is Hell. These women mutilate themselves; that’s how tough they are. Carving one’s own face like a jack-o-lantern and cutting one’s own arm off for survival? This reboot, remake, re-whatever film critics call it, spins the genre around.

Secondly on the pain factor, these men are butt-hurt because they lost touch over the years. The protagonist of the film is grappling with watching her mentally insane mother die in an asylum – a very place dedicated to the saving of people. Oh right, and withdrawals from heroin.

All the gore aside, these characters are completely vulnerable to the cry of a girl. All one has to do while the evil consumes him or her is to cry out in a sympathizing whine, making whomever feel guilty for actions. Every time this manipulative appeal for sympathy and thereby sparing of evil life works on the person being manipulated. Why is that? Is it because humankind just can’t help but feel sorry for little girls? Is it that feign of innocence that pulls at our heartstrings?

It seems like this film is rooting for the women upon close reading. The final act where the protagonist revs up the chainsaw is like a feminist’s way of saying “hey look what we’ve got between our legs”. It’s not a woman imitating a male in order to defeat the evil; it’s a new form of female empowerment. The derogatory language used all throughout isn’t putting down females so much as riling them up for a fight. Perhaps this can all be taken as subjugation to male dominance, but why would we ever want to look at it like that?

FallBoots

I took a Sunday excursion to the South End and I have to say it is my favourite part of Boston. Boston is gorgeous in the fall but it becomes way prettier in this neighborhood. I can't believe I don't hear more about it.

Petit Robert Bistro seemed like the perfect place to catch brunch and pretend to be sipping  lattes in Paris.

Kate Spade hat, Rugby Jacket, ASOS dress, Zara boots

Snakeskin

 After a few mojitos at Zacolo, I thought it would be a good idea to get my friend to take pictures of me at the Copley church. Not quite the safest photo-shoot location, but really pretty at night.

BowFlats

 It's obviously been too warm and I've been too lazy to post anything. There are only so many times you can wear shorts and a tank top because anything more will make you feel like you're melting into the tar. August is surprisingly nice in Boston, though. It's warm but you can still wear a sweater, which is my favourite kind of weather.

Tinley Road necklace, BCBG ring, HM plaid shirt, Aritzia shorts, ASOS top

Take 110

 I take back what I said about the absurdity of buying shoes with represented predilections. I found these shoes on Net-A-Porter and they are not only comfortable, but also really cool. These shoes were a must have for me and probably every other girl at film school.

Charlotte Olympia shoes

Francoise

B Brian Atwood shoes

I saw Now You See Me, the magic movie a while ago. Surprisingly the theatre was packed – and I say surprisingly because the trailer reveals almost nothing about the plot of the film besides the act of magicians handing out free money to the audience. Perhaps this audience was expecting this feat to come to life. 

In the movie-going experience, it is expected for the audience to continually guess the ending: the final ta-da. Don’t look for it, though. The ending is not worth the effort. For all the guessing - all the gambling that the ending will justify the means – there’s a lot missing. The flaws, like a magic trick, show more and more the longer you watch the film. What seems to be the tagline (don’t look closely) makes a lot of sense in a metaphysical way. Don’t look closely in the film or else you’ll want your money back.

Overall, the film is entertaining; a good coming of attractions for the summer. However, the ending depletes the qualities of the rest of the film. There is that ultimate question of whether the magic is real, or simply illusionary. I even wondered if it was going to play the science and clones card like The Prestige had played. All in all, no cards were played. Now You See Me shuffles and deals, but in the end, it was not my card.

As always there is the question of whether the singular female character has any importance in the film’s content or if she is simply there to balance out the masculinity. One thing is for sure; Isla Fisher had great style in the film.

It is one thing to compliment a woman on how she can rock gloves during every season, and it is another to compliment the way her hips swing when she walks in heels. What Isla Fisher’s character does is run in heels. This has been done, but what is implied in the film – yet not spoken – is that she gets away with her schemes. How do criminal, female characters seriously not get caught?

Flirty

 I tend to go to the same places all the time, so my friend and I went somewhere neither of us had been to. We went to Brownstone, and even though it's so close to where we both live, we had never even seen it. I'm glad we checked it out though. They have amazing truffle fries and refreshing summer cocktails.

Anthropologie top, Free People bracelet, BDG jeans, Pelle Moda shoes