Me and You and Everyone We Know

 

I wouldn't say that I disliked this movie, but I probably wouldn't say that I liked it either. Which I think implies that the movie didn't have an impact on me, but I think that it did. I think that this movie has characters that fall into one of two categories for viewers: either they are so relatable that they're cringe, or they're so unrelatable that they're cringe. Either way, I think the majority of the audience is going to react negatively to them, and it can be hard to detach your opinion of the characters from your overall opinion of the film. I remember thinking to myself "I would never say or act like that in this situation" as events unfolded on screen, but later after the viewing session for the day I would still be thinking about that situation. In the moment I seemed so sure of myself but after it sat for a while, that was no longer the case. If I had the same experiences as them, lived in that type of neighborhood growing up, experienced loss in the ways they did, would I act like them? I found myself being grateful for the privileges I have had throughout my life so far, because I haven't had to find out.

But one day I probably will. One day I might meet a girl that makes me super awkward, one day I will lose my parents and maybe go through a divorce, or I might get creeped on online dating websites. None of those things have happened to me yet, but everything that happened to the characters in the movie is within the realm of possibility for myself, so I still have to question myself. I looked at the characters as so unbelievably unrelatable during the film that it made me dislike them and by proxy, the film, but will they be relatable one day? 

I think that the world that is built within the film is extremely relatable. It's just Earth, as we know it. Not all of us have experienced this place on Earth but I don't think anyone would question that it exists. Whether it be the actual locations that the film was shot in, or another town that acts just like it, that world is real. It's extremely real, and I think in today's society, that also makes viewers uncomfortable. Even if the characters aren't relatable, the world is utmost, and there's no escapism there. You can't watch this film without connecting it to the world we live in every day, every scene seems so familiar. If the entire human history was recorded on video, you could build this exact movie by stitching clips from the past together. It's real, it's too real, and audiences today don't like to be reminded of the world we live in. Entertainment isn't supposed to be just a mirror, we expect that reflection to be twisted a bit and dressed up in nice ways for our consumption. But just a mirror towards us. Attempting a straight reflection of you, as film. And either you like what you see or you don't. Very bold from Miranda July.