Is Poor Creatures sexist? Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos respond to criticism

“If I may say so, as the lead actress and producer of the film, I don’t see Bella Baxter as a child.”

Emma Stone spoke out about accusations of sexism towards the project Poor Creatures of Yorgos Lanthimos. Nominated for an Oscar, the 35-year-old actress plays the lead role in the experience Lanthimos, Bella Baxter. The young Londoner resurrected thanks to the scientific prowess of Dr. Baxter (William Dafoe) is at the heart of a controversy which undermines the message of the film. The premise of the experiment projects Bella into an adult body, but with a child’s brain. The problem is here. Very quickly, she exposes herself to the pleasure of the flesh, the exploration of bodies, her own and those of her partners. Critics denounce this unhealthy aspect of the film, where a child, even a baby, enjoys premature and inappropriate sexual freedom.

Beyond the theme, the reactions also pointed to the male gauze by the director, Emma Stone multiplying the sex and nude scenes in Poor creatures.

“If I may say so, as the lead actress and producer of the film, I don’t see Bella Baxter as a child“, answers Emma Stone At Times.

“But even that is too literalconsiders for his part Yorgos Lanthimos, If you take the film only thinking about the child brain stage, then you are missing the narrative of the film. If you start analyzing the film by thinking about what could have happened, then of course the film doesn’t work.“

Emma Stone takes the opportunity to point out the way people consume films currently: “My mother says that at the beginning of a relationship, we say: ‘We’re so in love that we finish each other’s sentences’, And then, over time, it becomes: ‘You always interrupt me.’ This can also happen in a relationship with cinema, especially a film like this, which poses more questions than answers..”

“I know people who saw the movie and think it’s the sweetest romantic comedy, and others who watched the movie in horror. And it’s great”continues the actress.

In a review for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey praised the performance”bold” ofEmma Stonebut nevertheless denounced the voyeurism of the feature film:

“Parts of the film are unpleasantly voyeuristic. For example, Lanthimos takes fetishistic pleasure in showing Bella serving her various older, shaggy and smelly clients afterward when she begins working in a brothel in Paris.”

During a visit to the capital, Emma Stone returned to the feminist dimension of the film, which she proudly claims. The press conference addresses all the filming points regarding the nude scenes, which the actress faced with a lot of freedom and trust in the teams. Poor Creatures is nominated in 11 categories for the Oscars ceremony which will take place on Sunday March 10, 2024from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (i.e. from 1 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. French time), at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, a 3,400-seat venue hosting the event since 2002.

Emma Stone – Poor Creatures: “Bella is the character who made me the happiest”