Poor Things: A Love Letter to Bella Baxter
Poor Things is an experimental odyssey that fully understands the complexities of the non-monolithic experience of womanhood set in a world that is structured to confine women to gendered expectations.
Yorgos Lanthimos and Tony Mcnamara thrust you into a world of neo victorian structures and hallucinogenic skies that present themselves as a fantasy but possess the same gender expectations of our world. It's unclear whether this world is one big nightmare or a dream as we enter the residence of Dr. Baxter who is housing an unusual species. There are no immediate answers to the questions that linger of who this adult woman throwing her dishes and how she comes to be. Instead, we are enamored with her childlike body movement and the naive wonder in the big blue eyes of Emma Stone.
As time moves along, Bella’s origins are revealed: a pregnant woman attempting to kill herself only to be resurrected by scientist, Dr. Baxter. What comes next is a woman waking each day to figure out who she is, but has no interest in following societal norms in her exploration. Lanthimos and McNamara conjure an odyssey world for the female mind to freely explore the horrors and beauty of humanity, free of all barriers.
Bella’s journey is not so much about the physicality of her body but how her thoughts and feelings lead to the decisions she makes along her journey. Poor Things is watching a literal woman come to life strictly by her autonomy devoid of any male influence. The many environments and people Bella meets along the way continue to shape her behaviors, but she never backs down from her sense of self as it continues to grow through the film and attracts resistance. Bella is a liberating symbol for the women who are forced to constantly change themselves to meet rules and restrictions. This film poses the question of what happens to a woman when she is free to make her own choices, and Bella is the perfect subject to follow.
As Bella continues her freedom she is met by oppressors who give no real explanation for why she can’t do the things she wants to do. The rules imposed by her whether it's from Duncan or Dr. Baxter have no real standing except that they have been passed down through society to reach a place of comfort. Bella is right in every reason to question these societal norms and the people around her flounder as they are stuck on the proper reasoning. Why should she be subject to eating something she thinks doesn’t taste good or why can’t she dance in a rhythm she sees fit? Poor Things is also a scientific exploration of humanity’s biggest questions when it looks at what it means to be human. Is it to be able to simply breathe or is it to be able to experience joy, pain, horror, and excitement as our bodies guide us through the highs and lows of the human world? Bella is a scientist in her own nature seeking out the truth by consuming everything.
Bella’s love life aids her journey as she adopts a nontraditional approach. While she promises herself to Max McCandles, Bella takes advantage of going away with Duncan before settling down. Bella’s connection with the three men in her life and those she meets along the way follow the idea of finding the people who love you for your truest self and not the version they want you to be. Subconsciously in this new body, Bella’s brain seeks out those nourishing relationships that won’t hold her down as she knows she has so much to live for.
It’s so fascinating to watch an adult woman go through many stages of forming a sense of self, a moment of our lives we experience before we can even hold a memory. To experience the world as a grown-up with the mind of a child before the anxieties of the world settle in seems like the ultimate dream. Bella eventually is exposed to the horrors of the world popping the beautiful bubble of pleasure, but she never lets it fully overcome her ambition. Like all life experiences it continues to create wrinkles in the fresh brain for what her purpose in life is. The men in her life feel that they are the key to unlocking her potential, McCandles looking for a wife, Godwin protecting her from the world, and Duncan appreciating her horniness but expecting her to fit conventional needs. They all feel like they can minimize the flaws of Bella turning her into a lady of their time, but it's Bella’s flaws that make her Bella.
To me, Bella’s life closely resembles the moment a young woman leaves her teens into her twenties. We were once paraded as having the world at our fingertips, but once we hit that moment where our sparkle is broken we flounder. Once life has fully drained us we have to somehow rebirth ourselves to figure out what our sense of self is. Women are often forced to grow up faster as society deems their interests stupid and strips them of their joy early on. We see this all the time with young actresses who might be seen as a “wild child” and those around them speak that they will soon grow out of that phase into a woman of society. Why should women be expected to remove their personality for the sake of making others “comfortable”? Bella never compromises or sacrifices herself, only grows.
Bella hopes that as women we will always be able to adapt and evolve as we continue to experience the world. She is a reminder that it is okay to question and be “difficult". Bella never plays into acceptable tropes that are often assigned to women on the screen. She is not trying to win us over by being polite or accommodating, we love Bella for being who she is, and it is an inspiration to women who feel that we must conform to century-old societal expectations. Why should a woman be penalized for speaking her truth? Bella continues to challenge this notion as her actions are harmless and in the spirit of her self-discovery.
As someone who always feels like a student of life, it is cathartic to watch a woman freely explore her world stepping into the first experiences of cruelty while indulging in the sweetness of overeating. Once we get to this moment of being on our own, free of adult supervision and societal norms, we are placed in a state of rediscovery for what we consider our norms. There is no one to tell us we can’t eat a packet of frosting as a snack or watch movies all night until the morning. Like Bella’s early stages, we are also pushed out on our own to relearn life as an adult even though we might still be holding on to our younger selves. It is very similar as we attune our sense of self-based on our environments and our bodily instincts. I remember when the sparkling image of life was ripped from exposure to humanity’s dark secrets and like Bella there was an immediate shock but then a spark of purpose to instill selflessness. We watch Bella operate on autonomy until this pivotal moment that reshapes her own direction to use the gift she has been given to help those around her.
Bella’s experience is not so much a rebirth, but a look at what happens when you can shed your trauma and history to simply experience joy. She is a true inspiration in how she navigates her new lifespan with curiosity and self-awareness of the body. Even when she learns who her past self was, there is a purpose in her to grow and not let that cruel behavior define her. She quickly sheds the misery of being this wonderful woman of Bella who experiences the pain and beauty of the world she has to explore. Bella is really taking advantage of what the world has to offer, leaving no stone unturned as it informs her eventual evolution. As she evolves and becomes the more “polished woman” society seeks to turn women into, she still possesses the qualities that make Bella authentic. She’s recognized how to be a smart woman who is still going to speak her mind and be a little devious as the film’s ending suggests.
There are a handful of film roles that only one person could play and for Emma Stone that is Bella Baxter. Emma’s performance is constantly moving almost feeling like we are watching a woman come to life in real time. The film never feels like a film, as the audience it feels like we are observing a peak into Bella’s life. Stone dives into the absurdity of Bella’s early scenes and continues to refine every aspect up to when Bella is finally in control of herself. One scene that stands out is when Bella hears music and her body immediately leads her to the dance floor embracing every single sensation and instinct of movement regardless if it's the dancing norm or not. At this moment she truly lets go as Duncan tries to restrain her but she is too brilliant to let him dilute her fun. Going into the many sex scenes within the film and how Emma uses her body to explore her likes and dislikes through the idea of female pleasure. In the whole brothel sequence of the film once she questions why she can’t choose who she wants to sleep with she gets the upper hand by using her body as a means to get ahead. Never does Emma’s movements dictate submission, but a full embracement of ownership.
Inside of us, we all have a Bella.