Femme

Oh, Jules. Is there enough terms in the English language for me to express how impressed and amazed I am by him? Being able to rise back from a hate crime and not let it forever subdue his freedom of expression is a feat in and of itself, but going even further to plot revenge against the man who caused all of this hurt and fear inside of him is not only incredibly risky but also insanely impressive. Jules navigating this environment where one wrong move could put him at risk of yet again another hate crime, even after experiencing an already brutal one once before would take sheer bravery. It’s not lost on me just how scared Jules was either from how well Nathan Stewart-Jarrett communicated his unease in these situations. This film seemed to work around the positions of dominant and submissive constantly. By being reduced through brutality, Jules is at the beginning placed in the submissive position, emphasised even further by his relationship with Preston, who plays the role of dominant. Preston presents himself as a very tough thug, putting on this facade that he is intimidating and a threat. However, the positions are later flipped completely with Jules taking back control and so, becoming the dominant persona. As soon as this switch occurs, you realise that Preston is at his mercy. Preston’s fate lays in Jules’ hands. I think Jules decision to not post the video wasn’t done randomly either. I think it highlights the complexities of just how entangled they’ve both found themselves in this relationship. It’s no longer just sex for either of them. Whether or not the viewer thinks the revenge should have been enacted isn’t the prime concern to me, whilst the aim was probably to make many people feel angry that it wasn’t completed. To me, revenge is a personal debt that you think someone else owes you, often the payment is in the form of suffering. Key word to highlight is that this is personal, Jules decision to not go through with posting the video, for whatever reason he may have was completely valid in my opinion. I think there also exists the argument of whether revenge is the ‘right’ decision. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Would Jules revenge not have contributed to an endless cycle of suffering? And, Jules’ reasoning for not posting the video being that he felt sorry for Preston, I feel, reinforces Preston’s submission in this relationship. Jules could have unleashed all hell but showed mercy instead. I could never find myself liking Preston and despise him for his actions, but, like Jules, I did find myself feeling pity towards him for how he lived his life. This constant hiding, and putting on appearances. At some point, it must feel pointless and exhausting. In a sense, he’s also a victim, and that’s what fuels my pity towards him. I also had qualms about both Jules and Preston’s friend groups. Jules’ friends were meant to be presented as trying to support him but oftentimes, it felt like they weren’t able to extricate said support from their own thoughts of what they thought was best for him, rather than Jules going out and making that decision himself. Does Preston’s friend group even deserve anything said? They fuelled his internalised homophobia, and just reeked of toxic masculinity 🤢. Also, the contrast between the aftermath of Jules’ attack, where he looks completely broken down and just so vulnerable in comparison to Jules’ appearance as Aphrodite once more. Whenever Aphrodite appeared, there felt something so powerful about her and I adored every scene that had her in it bar the attack… Anyways, amazing film, very glad that I re-watched it! Definitely one of my favourites from last year, if I had to be honest 🤭.