Why The Substance is Stupid

Warning: This review contains spoilers. Don't read this unless you watched it.

The substance isn't for a person with a weak stomach. It's quite disgusting. I found this movie quite frustrating to watch because of how stupid both the main characters were. It's like they didn't really think of the consequences of their actions while they were doing them. Everything was a childish emotional reaction. From Elizabeth trashing her apartment with rotting chicken carcasses to Sue taking up three months of time awake when she should have switched on the seventh day you can find all types of stupidity here. The trouble doesn't end with the two main characters who are actually the same person, but both are too stupid to understand they are both one. There's also the sexist manager who fires the older Elizabeth for the younger Sue. I found him to be particularly annoying especially when he told Sue to smile when she had missing teeth. I've seen stupidity in lots of horror movies, but the fact they don't respect the balance like they're told several times and don't understand they are one makes me wonder if there are people that are this stupid in real life.

Of course there are sexist men telling women to smile and of course Hollywood seems to love dumping their older actresses under the bus for younger, more sexually attractive women for roles. The push for actresses to stay young looking is real and it's absolute fucking sexist. The beauty standards between men and women are unfair and I think that is why Elizabeth sparkle couldn't accept herself. We all have to accept that we're going to get old and wrinkly. Her vanity made her stupid. She didn't finish sue off or stop the experience when sue took more than seven days and made her age the first time. I would have stopped the experience after that. I feel that Elizabeth was the bigger moron here since she did have the power to stop it at any time.

Anyways, I feel that this movie did provide a good lesson as to how sexist and misogynistic Hollywood is. They objectify Sue and reduce her to only having value because of her young sexually attractive body. It's hard to feel bad for her though when she's an idiot who doesn't even consider how she's making Elizabeth feel with her words and actions. I think the way Sue treated Elizabeth was a resullt of Elizabeth Sparkle's own self hatred. If Elizabeth had a healthy love for herself the way a mentally healthy person does tend to have she would have gone on the date with the man who was pining for her instead of depending on Sue to be an attention whore. She wouldn't have any need for the substance and she would have kept her life instead of turning into the gross monster at the end.

As a feminist I'd have to say as frustrating as this movie was to watch, it was a good experience and I hope more people watch it. It highlights how Hollywood is sexist and how the patriarchy definitely dominates our media. Coming to that conclusion, perhaps Anita Sarkeesian had a point in criticizing the media we enjoy. Perhaps there are things we need to point out that are problematic. In any case I think I will visit her youtube account and rewatch her videos having this new point of view. Sure she never actually liked playing video games, but maybe she has a good point. I'll get back to you all with a review of her work and just how legitimate her opinions really are. I play several video games some of them being horror related such as Resident Evil and Fallout. I played them since I was seven years old and I've only gotten a few comments from men that women don't play video games. I didn't listen to those men, because obviously they didn't know what they were talking about.

Anyways, tell me your thoughts on this movie and any questions you may have down in the comments. I'm looking forward to reviewing my favorite video games on here and can't wait to broadcast live on youtube to show everyone how the patriarchy has shaped gaming and movies. Thank you for reading this.