The Problem with Poor Things

I feel just as Emma Stone does now when someone reduces Poor Things to merely a movie about sex and nudity. She’s often angered by these accusations, even angered by Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on the film during the Oscars. It’s honestly made me wonder… are people not observant enough for Poor Things? Or is it that hard for them to see life from a perspective that is not their own? A blissful ignorance that makes them loathe what they don’t understand.

Ultimately, Poor Things is about liberation and finding oneself. Liberation from the shackles of society not just as a woman but a DISABLED woman. I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible for those who have not seen it. I’ve seen other reviews here that detail the entire movie from beginning to end with no respect for those who haven’t seen it yet.

Bella Baxter is a creation, an amalgamation of two humans, mother and her fetus. The fetus brain is implanted into the mother’s body. Her creator, Godwin Baxter, found her after a great tragedy and discovering her fetus was still alive, created his beautiful “monster”. Bella starts out baby brained, but quickly matures just as fast as her hair grows. She learns words and actions at an impressive rate. There is so much she wants to see and learn by Godwin keeps her isolated. She learns about her body and they touching herself can lead to instant pleasure. This discovery leads to chaos as Bella’s budding sexuality and curiousity find her in the arms of a sinister sort of fellow named Duncan. Duncan wants nothing more than to own Bella, have her simple mind fawn over him and think he’s all she needs to adventure. Bella’s baby brain is still rapidly maturing, so she outgrows Duncan and his immaturity rather quickly. In the chaos of Duncan, she ends up in France where she truly begins to unravel her own sexuality and the power she has with her body. However she also learns that not everyone is looking out for HER pleasure and happiness, only their own. Especially when it comes to her male clients. Her madame even tells her, some men simply don’t care if you enjoy sex, because they’re in it for themselves ultimately. The pain they cause others is merely another form of pleasure to them.

There is more that happens after her adventures in France, however they need to be witnessed for yourself. It is Bella’s true rise to power but also owning completely who she has become, her own entity.

As a disabled, autistic person, I found myself relating with Bella. Even when that relation was uncomfortable. The first time I saw the film, I cried because I felt so seen, exposed even. I’ve now watched it dozens of times, picking apart scene after scene. Finding more layers of neurodivergence in the character of Bella. Being autistic my brain doesn’t always match my body. There are times where I regress to being childlike. I am obsessed with children’s shows like Bluey, have to sleep with a baby blanket and very often has a very childlike perspective on things. Even as a grown adult, I am seen regularly as immature and childish. I also use mobility aids and when I kiss my wife or hold her hands, the amount of people who stare or whisper is shocking. Especially when I’m stimming or seem very obviously autistic in my movements, they seem absolutely shocked someone like me could be in an intimate relationship. Same at doctor’s offices! They are often shocked when they ask if I’m sexually active and say yes, as if disabled or autistic adults aren’t allowed or able to be sexual. Yet, I’m still sexualized in a regular basis. I get comments on my chest and legs on a regular basis by the same sort of people who seem shocked I have a spouse. Since I was a child, people have taken advantage of my seemingly innocent mind. In high school I had a boy buy me action figures I was fixated on to lure to me to his home in hopes of seducing me. He took advantage of my love of something in order to get what HE wanted. I was such a curious child and that curious often led me to other dark places just like that. I was seen as immature but never too immature to be taken advantage of. People thought I was too simple to fight back or find my power. Even when my ex (who is honestly so very Duncan like it scared me seeing the film) took me all around the country in hopes of isolating me, I found my way back to where I belonged and fought for my freedom. When I was younger, I was the type of person that would give away had to help others, and people took advantage of it. Just like Bella I would have given all the money I could get my hands on to the poor, but someone else would ruin it. Others would see me as weak and too empathetic and try and make me their doormat. The more I learned about myself and the world, I pulled the doormat back inside.

I feel as though those who are reducing this film to something that is just sex don’t understand it. Especially those quick to call it pedophilia. It’s these same sort of people who see a disabled person and think they cannot be sexual. The same sort of person who sees a couple with Down Syndrome and makes it a problem because they are too ableist to comprehend that someone they have infantalized is still a human adult in the end. While Bella starts with the maturity of a toddler, as I stated before, her brain grows just as fast as her hair does. disabled people are often seen as not smart enough, or worthy enough to carry the knowledge of the world. Bella showed me that I am at the helm of my own sexuality. I am the one who controls my body in the end, and no one else can truly have that power over me. Bella Baxter taught me that even if the world views me as simple, I have so much more to showcase than the limitations society sets in me.

Poor Things is not a perverted sex movie, it’s a movie for neurodivergent folks. I said what I said. If all you can reduce it to is Emma Stone’s nudity and a few flacid penises… maybe this movie just isn’t for you.