By Rob Oldham
Sexist and Misogynistic.
These are the two words that have incessantly followed director David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel “Gone Girl.”
A surface-level analysis of the plot supports these claims. The audience is first introduced to the lovable oaf Nick, portrayed by the classic everyman Ben Affleck. Nick owns a bar, plays video games, and drinks with his sister. He comes from a middle-class family and moved from New York City back home to Missouri to take care of his dying mother. He is wholly likeable and seems like the kind of guy you would want to grab a beer with.
His only major issue is that he is married to the cold and ruthless Amy.
Amy is the privileged daughter of two wealthy authors. She has grown up with every comfort, and has come to expect happiness to be handed to her, not to work for it. Men fall head-over-heels for her, but she keeps them at a distance with false claims of rape, and through mind games that occasionally drive them to attempt suicide. When she and Nick move to Missouri, she is too haughty and arrogant to befriend any of the townspeople or even to wander outside of their home. Even worse, she shoots down Nick whenever he wants to discuss having children.
So really it is no surprise when, after she disappears, Nick is accused of murdering her.
Many of the locals don’t seem to mind that Amy is gone. More than anything, they feel happy that Nick is free from the control of an insufferable wench. But the viewer knows better. Nick is too simple-minded and genuine to murder anyone. Before too long it becomes clear that the evil Amy has faked her own murder in order to destroy Nick’s life and send him to the electric chair.
Sound a little sexist?
Many Americans think so and have not been shy about sharing it. “Gone Girl” has come under fire in many reviews, including one in the University of Georgia’s campus newspaper The Red and Black. Courtney Willet writes that the film was “a waste of two hours.” Her review claimed that because of Amy’s depiction as a housewife-turned-murderer “‘Gone Girl’ moved the entire feminist movement decades behind.”
That might be giving Fincher too much credit though. The feminist movement is still alive and well. A close analysis of the characters and the plot reveals that “Gone Girl” is far from sexist. In fact, it is the viewer’s own biases about men and women and how they should be portrayed in the media that have caused “Gone Girl” to be misinterpreted. It is really putting an exaggerated spin on the hardships of a broken marriage, not portraying women as evil.
Few will deny that the film serves to empower women at certain points, even if they believe those moments are waves lost in a sea of misogyny. The “Cool Girl” speech was immortalized in Flynn’s novel, so of course it has to be included in the film as well. Shortly after the viewer discovers that Amy has faked her murder, her narration describes the oppression of a modern marriage and of being the cool girl. She tells us what life is like for women who want nothing more than to please their significant other. In order to do so they must change themselves and become “ the cool girl.” The cool girl pretends to enjoy football, video games, burping, etc. to gain a man’s approval. Cool girls must tag along with their husbands and always be okay with whatever decisions they make. Cool girls must sacrifice their own happiness for their husbands to have theirs. This is a rather pessimistic view of relations between the sexes, but “Gone Girl” provides ample evidence of the cool girl problem through Nick and Amy’s toxic marriage.
Amy certainly felt this pressure to please Nick. She didn’t want children, but Nick did. Tell this to anyone in her community and she looks like the villain, a wench who denies her husband a chance to play baseball with his son or take his daughter to a school dance. When Nick’s mother becomes sick and he wants to move back home, the cool girl has few options other than to acquiesce and pretend as if her own happiness and goals do not matter. When Amy cannot keep up with the demands of being the cool girl, Nick begins sleeping with one of his young students and plans on asking her for a divorce. This is too much for Amy. She is done being cool.
The consequences of the failed marriage are exaggerated of course. Amy’s revenge on Nick is pretty unrealistic. In her effort to see him dead or in prison, she creates quite a frenzy. The film climaxes when she murders one of her former lovers in what proved to be 2014’s most disturbing film scene. But, despite “Gone Girl’s” realistic dialogue and sharp directing, it is still a work of fiction. Fincher, or Flynn for that matter, didn’t make Amy a sociopath because they think that most women are capable of such cruelty. They certainly don’t want the audience to think that. Her actions are more of a hyperbolic response to the psychological turmoil Nick has put her through. In general, the film is a revenge fantasy against all spouses who act like Nick. Far from being a loveable oaf, he was exceedingly selfish. One might even call him inhumane as he refused to treat his wife as an equal person. If she couldn’t be the cool girl, then he didn’t want her at all. Most spouses won’t take revenge as Amy did, but many probably feel the oppression that she lived under. Amy’s revenge is a cathartic outlet for oppressed partners everywhere.
“Gone Girl” provides a candid view of what happens to a marriage when only one partner’s needs are met. The plot unfolds in the midst of the 2008 recession. When money and financial security are paramount, it can be easy to throw emotional health to the wind. Many couples experience the same tension that Nick and Amy do, especially in hard economic times. As they worry about keeping their jobs, paying the mortgage, and maintaining sanity, it can be easy to forget a partner who has the same strong feelings and emotional needs. Overriding concern for one partner’s personal needs causes many marriages to become a second-priority for husbands and wives. “Gone Girl” isn’t making up an absurd storyline that couldn’t ever actually happen. It takes a common occurrence and pushes it to the extremes.
Just because Amy doesn’t meet the usual standards for a strong female character, don’t think she isn’t a champion of feminism. She is the antithesis of the cool girl. And just because Nick is played by Ben Affleck, don’t think he isn’t the devil in disguise. It takes a rather heartless man to emotionally abandon his wife when she fails to live up the cool girl ideal. But, then again, Amy is the murderer, not Nick. It is really up to the viewer to decide who the real hero is. “Gone Girl” shreds all of our expectations about gender roles and marriage. Traditional concepts of good and evil don’t apply here either. Although it isn’t up for the Best Picture award this year, “Gone Girl” should be commended for entertaining us in such a thought-provoking manner.
