2014 has been a year full of disappointment from the movie industry, but the worst of all has been Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher. Fincher’s other films, The Social Network most particularly, are admirable for their sleek cinematography and thrilling storylines. Gone Girl keeps you at the edge of your seat, but leaves you with the nagging question of what the greater point must be. If the movie’s ultimate purpose is for sheer thrills, then Fincher succeeded. But surely a larger message exists beneath the distracting rapid-fire plot twists. The movie is an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel of the same name. This discussion focuses specifically upon Fincher’s take, but doesn’t wish to excuse Flynn’s original work entirely.
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The film faced some dark moments, like when Amy (Rosmund Pike) slashes creepy and obsessive ex-boyfriend Desi’s (Neil Patrick Harris) throat. But more disturbing than these moments of dramatized interpersonal violence is the way women are portrayed in the film. On the whole, Gone Girl assumes the post-feminist mindset—an ideology that claims feminism’s demands to have been met, and given this, men and women are then true equals. In reality, this claim that “equality” has been achieved crumbles quickly; inherent differences between men and women still exist in society. Women are still treated “like women”, and society can’t just turn a blind eye. Fincher’s denial and cinematic attempt to imagine a world moved past such pervasive problems fails miserably, leaving viewers with condemnation for the alleged trickery of women and an unrealistic view of female privilege.
Though movies quite often diverge from today’s reality, Gone Girl is intended to exist in a world just like ours, congruent with 2014. However, in the Real (capital R) world, one in five women are sexually assaulted, domestic abuse is one of the leading causes of women’s deaths, and women are far more prone to suffering from mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. When Amy is presented as this paradoxical badass sociopath murderer, it sparks an undue hatred for her character that today’s real women do not need thrust upon them in the media, considering that they face an unwarranted and unglamorous version of this every day. Amy ensnares men who have betrayed her, victimizing herself and fabricating her own rape and domestic abuse. It is cruel of Fincher to make this Amy’s modus operandi, making it seem like women typically do this in real life.
Gone Girl forces you into hating Amy and forgiving her cheating husband Nick, who she attempts to frame for her own death. On the surface, Fincher sculpts Amy to take the form of a mentally ill, but still beautiful woman to be ironically admired for her psychotic behavior. What end is Fincher striving for? Women do not need another popularized piece of media that facilitates hateful feelings for “conniving”, “bitchy” women. It is due to films like Gone Girl that rape victims aren’t taken seriously. With women portrayed in this manner, it takes only a small leap to arrive at problematic questions like, “Well what was she wearing?” “Was he a nice guy otherwise?” or “Was she asking for it?” Society requires media that empowers women, not David Fincher’s nuanced, regurgitated story of a scorned woman in need of retribution.
Gioia Kennedy & Rachel A. Lisner