Spoiler Alert:
Last night I watched “10 Cloverfield Lane”, simply because it recently became “free” to stream on Amazon Prime and I didn’t see much else.
From seeing the trailers I had some idea of the premise, and from reading a review or two I knew that there was a connection to “Cloverfield”, and there is.
Like Cloverfield, it wasn’t a very pleasant experience to go through, but like Cloverfield it was thought-provoking, which is rare praise for a movie these days. It was well-written and well-acted, with well-enough handled suspense and twists to keep your attention.
Unlike Cloverfield it did not attempt the sort of “found footage” storytelling approach made famous by The Blair Witch Project, which needs, I think, to be combined with a cast of fresh faces in order to sustain the suspension of disbelief. Instead we have a pretty typical God’s-eye view of what happens, and John Goodman. I can understand that decision because that character’s performance is absolutely central to the entire movie, but it did, I think, weaken the suspension of disbelief in the final segment when it was put under considerable strain.
Still, it was very well done… and like some other very-well done screen storytelling that I could name, that makes the underlying message all the more insidious.
There are really only three characters in the movie, and while they have some novel elements and they are introduced in novel fashions, basically there is the noble, brilliant, strong and courageous female protagonist whom we gather is fleeing a relationship that might be abusive. Then there is the well-meaning but very explicitly not-very-bright male, and finally the intelligent but very evil male.
There it is, the complete, if minimal, set of near-mandatory early 21st Century feminist film tropes.
There can be no decent, reasonably intelligent males. Try counting the recent screen stories that illustrate that now-fundamental principle: you can’t. Once you start seeing it, it’s everywhere. It’s much easier to count the exceptions, and many of those are being revised in new versions. In this case there are only two males, but the rules are the same no matter how many, they have to be either evil or fumbling, inept and helpless without guidance from women, and all males are disposable.
Of course we always have to establish that the bad guys are the bad guys, and of course in this case we establish that by showing that the intelligent evil male has abused and probably killed females. As screenwriting, at this point that almost feels like cheating it’s so easy.
The relationship between the noble female protagonist and the not-very-bright male is a little uncertain at first, but eventually he steps forward, whether from well-meaning noble impulse or just stupidity is not clear, and sacrifices himself for the noble female. Interestingly, she takes that completely in stride. The rest of the first set conflict is, of course, the noble female protagonist proving that she is brighter, stronger, and more resourceful (and possibly even more ruthless) than the intelligent but very evil male, and she ends up alone and triumphant. Of course.
Surprisingly, in this case that’s not quite the end of the story, there’s more for her to overcome, but she does.
So, bottom line, it’s just like almost everything else in the movies and TV now. Virtually all of the valiant, noble protagonists have to be women, all the males have to be either stupid or evil (or at the very least untrustworthy), the valiant, noble female protagonist always succeeds by defeating the evil men, and all men are intrinsically disposable.
Let me emphasize again that I’m not implying at all that this movie is trash, or not worth seeing. I just suspect that in decades and possibly generations to come, it will be regarded as well-executed storytelling with some original elements that, unfortunately, yielded to the social pressures to become largely propaganda against the only segment of society now completely unprotected against defamation, the only segment that it is fashionable to demean and portray in a bad light at every opportunity. When and if the day finally comes when men can no longer be openly defamed and reviled to general public acclamation, I don’t think the other qualities of this one will exempt it from condemnation on those grounds along with a lot of lesser films.
– Robert the Wombat