Black Christmas 2019 - Fight The Patriarchy and the Bad Reviews!
This Christmas we return to the sorority house with Sofia Takal’s reimagining of Black Christmas. While horror audiences are familiar with the 1974 version by Bob Clark, and the 2006 version by Glen Morgan, this version is giving some new life to this slasher film – a life full of Christmas Lights and fighting the Patriarchy.
Black Christmas (2019) centers around a group of sorority girls trying to enjoy their Christmas break with parties and picking out the perfect tree. Quickly, the girls start getting picked off one by one by masked figures with dramatic cloaks.
Black Christmas is undoubtedly a feminist film. There is no wonder that it has polarized many of its viewers. It unflinchingly points the lens on the gaslighting, sexism, and abuse women endure on the daily, and a rarity on film, shows how women can contribute to the harm as well. It makes sense that the background of this film is on a college campus. It’s well known how rape culture and traditional beliefs have created a toxic environment for students in these spaces. When we learn that Riley (Imogen Poots) was sexually assaulted and intimidated into silence by the very group of men who may be leaving threatening messages, it becomes clear where the film is leading its audience.
There has been a lot of drama surrounding the films rating from R to PG-13 before the release (check out our take HERE). Whatever the reasoning behind the change, the film does not come without its issues. With its brand-new label, the kills, while creative, might not be enough to satisfy horror fans craving some blood. The plot flows in odds way leading to an ending that could have done with some more build up. The biggest takeaway from the film is its portrayal of the various forms of female power. No woman is the same and not everyone handles situations in similar manners. The viewers might be a Riley (Imogen Poots) who cautiously lives amongst the people who caused her harm, unsure of their own strength, or a Kris (Aleyese Shannon) who has a fire burning through her to seek justice at all costs. Neither of these forms are right or wrong.
Sofia Takal and April Wolfe have managed to create a film that refuses to be the golden example of what feminism is. It does not exist to hold the viewers hand and sing a song of unity. The film does not reassure the exhausting conversation about “not all men,” in fact it stops it right in its tracks. It feels representative of the moments my female identifying friends feel when we see reports of women being harmed by ex-boyfriends, assaulters getting slaps on the wrist, of getting gaslighted and told to shut up. It can be exhausting and disheartening. It feels refreshing to see the anger on screen and an ending that can leave you feeling empowered.
Not everyone will be connected with Black Christmas (2019). Many have found the contents harsh. That is okay. This film is representation for a whole generation of horror loving girls, new and old who will finally get to see themselves on screen. They rejoice at being a Final Girl, not because they survived, but because they fought back.
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