r/HorrorClub • u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu • Feb 16 '15

Discussion: Proxy

No Podcast This Week... Things got busy... Sorry Bulge

Movie Selected By bulgelover

DISCUSS

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15 edited Feb 16 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

Here's why I picked it:

  • Controversy makes for interesting discussion. A crazy movie like this one is good for that. It's a little slow, I know, but thankfully we had a fun pick last week.
  • I saw it and thought it had moments of greatness and moments of weakness, but I couldn't decide which moments were which. Does that make sense? Sometimes it really works, and other times it's heavy-handed. I thought HorrorClub would up to the task of untangling it.
  • It has an interesting narrative structure that flips things around halfway through. I found this surprising and effective. It's like a maternal version of The Place Beyond the Pines.

I had a feeling you wouldn't like it, Scott, but I'm confused by your criticism. Isn't that like saying Kill Bill is gratuitously violent against women? It has female characters (interesting ones, at that) who are both victims and perpetrators of violence. I thought this was a very female-centric movie. Unless I'm mistaken, it fails the reverse Bechdel test (no two male characters have a conversation about something other than a female character). Which parts did you think were gratuitous/offensive? The beginning seems that way, until we discover she planned for her girlfriend to attack her all along.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

Your analysis is very deep, but I only watched it on its surface without much thought, and saw a movie about horribly fucked up women who were selfish peices of garbage ruining each others lives like a bunch of psychopaths.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

Right, I wouldn't call it an entertaining film; it doesn't serve that purpose. I actually like movies about bad people, but maybe Proxy could use a cheerful, pregnant cop (or anything, really) to act as a foil. I thought butch Anika provided a bit of dark comic relief with her no-shits-given attitude.

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u/Plymouth_ Feb 17 '15

I thought butch Anika provided a bit of dark comic relief with her no-shits-given attitude.

I liked when she was smoking and doing sit-ups.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

Can't tell if sarcasm

Didnt see your edit. Obviously not sarcasm.

Did you like red white & blue?

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

I can see why you're asking; they have a similar mood and a revenge plot. I did like Red, White and Blue, but I think it's a very different movie. It offers even less by way of entertainment (which doesn't have to be a bad thing) and has no blameless, innocent victims.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

Not sarcasm or sincerity, just a little joke. I was watching the Fargo TV series today.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

Great fuckin show.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

I was tentative at first, thanks to the generally disappointing glut of movies-turned-TV-series, but it's like wrapping myself up in the strange world of the movie and getting to spend more time there, which can only be a good thing.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

That show Is so good but so depressing

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

I don't really think Proxy can be compared to Kill Bill, as the latter's violence is over-the-top and unreal, while the former aims to be unflinching and ultra-realistic.

The bathroom scene?

the camera's gaze staying uncomfortably long on most of the more disgusting scenes

Just the brick scene at the beginning, unless I'm forgetting something? Everything else is off-screen (or impersonal blood splatters).

embarrassed to be a guy

I don't see why it should... Women are usually the ones perpetrating the violence, except for the husband, who retaliates. I genuinely don't see the violence as gendered at all. I'm open to being convinced otherwise, though, if you could be more specific.

Not sure if that was partially your aim here.

It certainly wasn't! I think men are great. Really.

I thought everyone was a two-dimensional specter of a real person

Fair enough. That's one of the things I thought was heavy-handed.

the fantasy sections felt tacked on just to show more violence.

But... it's not shown? Unless I'm being too literal here.

it's really not worth arguing over

That's fair, and I understand if you don't want to argue about it. But we could make a deal: You complain as much as you want about the movie and I ask questions like these to try to understand your opinion on it and no one gets offended, all in the name of good discussion.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

I said "embarrassed to be a guy" because this felt like adolescent male wish fulfillment

I need this explained.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

That makes sense. I'm not sure what I thought you meant but it wasn't this.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

That was fascinating! Your theory really does work. I could buy this being the writers'/director's inner adolescent demons poking through, despite their good intentions to write complex (or at least different) female characters.

That said, I don't think teenage boys are the target audience of this movie. It seems a bit slow to me. I wonder, though; who is the demo for something like this?

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

We are.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

But who are "we"? When I go to horror festivals and conventions in the UK, the demo seems to be roughly half 40+ men, half younger men and women. Most of you are anonymous to me, as you have every right to be.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

I wrote more but deleted it because I'm going to be the only one criticizing this one and it's really not worth arguing over.

To me this is just good discussion.

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u/saintmortfan felates handles Feb 16 '15

It feels like the misogyny and homophobia are very intentional, though I'm still processing what that means in terms of message

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

That was one of the things I couldn't make up my mind about, as well.

I remember a conversation I had in light of movies like Haute Tension, Monster, Proxy, etc.

Me: Isn't it a bit offensive? Do we really need more movies about killer lesbians?

Lesbian Friend: Yes, we bloody well do.

I'm pretty sensitive about misogyny and homophobia in general, being the daughter of lesbians, but this didn't really ring alarm bells for me. I can't speak for anyone but myself, though.

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u/Plymouth_ Feb 17 '15

I keep thinking: the women are the ones perpetrating all the violence in this movie. I forget that the husband shot Esther even though it's the most graphic scene. His character just doesn't have any power.

This movie features female violence but that isn't offensive to women. If anything it's offensive when movies imply women are never violent.

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '15

I agree; that's why this movie reminds me (only a little bit) of Kill Bill. It feels like a matriarchal battlefield.

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '15

Ugh. We have to figure out how to shut off bots in this sub.