#symbolisms

(general content warning: this post is about "The Substance" which is a body horror movie so I will mention blood&other stuff)

I was very curious about “The Substance” because everything about it, from the trailer to the music, from the actors to the visuals, promised something veeery good. At the same time, however, I was also a bit anxious because the internet content my algorithm had decided for me seemed to suggest that the movie was great for two major reasons: its references to 80s movies and its critique of the toll the beauty industry exacts on women. And I was like “Okay, fine but I hope it’s more than that” and I’m happy to say that it totally is!

Before watching the movie I wrote that, based on the information I had at the time, the movie’s core theme seemed to be the myth of Demeter and Persephone. After having watched the movie I can confirm my theory, although what I watched was a bit different than the usual interpretation of said myth. There are a lot of GREAT movies about the theme of woman/duality but, as far as I remember and as far as I personally know, in almost all these movies the main element is the relationship between two women (which is amazing and I wouldn’t ever change that). This is not (just) what I’ve seen in “The Substance”.

I think that the main element in the movie is the impact that the negation of natural cycles has on people. It’s not just the beauty industry that denies us to embrace the cycles of life (we can’t stay young forever, this is just an obvious fact that we all know), it’s the whole system we live in which doesn’t accept change and favors replacement of what’s known for something similar (and therefore considered “normal”) against the exploration of what’s new and different (and therefore considered “abnormal”.) In our society a “normal” thing like aging thus becomes “abnormal”… monstrous.

Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are PHENOMENAL and I truly hope more and more awards come their way because they deserve them all. However, what struck me the most is how the movie doesn’t rely on dialogue at all, everything and I mean everything it’s in the visuals, the photography, the movements, the body. Coralie Fargeat really had a clear vision inside her mind and she managed to transfer that vision from her own inner world to the outside world. While I was watching the movie I had the feeling that all the people working on it were doing their best to give birth to her vision and it was a fantastic thing to watch.

What I personally took from this vision of hers is that, to the surprise of probably nobody, the main character of the movie is the Substance itself. So what is this mysterious Substance exactly? The first “surprise” is that it’s not merely a thing, a miraculous product but it’s a process. It’s a routine that one must stick to without fail. The balance must be respected: it’s a commandment that demands respect and that doesn’t even bother to tell you what the consequences might be in the event said balance is disrespected. Just obey it.

Elisabeth means “God is my oath” and this is what she does in the movie: she promises that she will respect the balance and obvisoulsy things won't go well. But Elisabeth also means “God is perfection”, “God is seven” so I want to take a look at what this means in the movie.

The process that taking the Substance entails has different stages: the first one is taking the Activator which, the movie tells us, must be taken only ONCE. Once the Activator has been used Elisabeth’s body gives birth to Sue, who’s not only herself but a “better version” of herself, the version she dreams about, perhaps. The Activator stands for the Aristotelian concept of semen as an “activator”, the “active principle”, the thing that creates and gives life and shape form while matter is the passive aspect of the process, the thing that get molded and shaped. The Activator also stands for God: Eve from Adam, Sue from Elisabeth.

Like Creation took seven days to be completed, the process of the Substance lasts seven days after which the balance must be restored. So this specific Creation seems to be a little bit imbalanced to my taste: the weight given on the Created is way too big, the process’ targets seem to be both desperate, lonely people and obedient, docile people. The combination of blind desperation and required obedience is a recipe for disaster. The balance never was balanced in the first place: as ALWAYS the game is rigged.

But seven is not just a biblical number, it’s a magical numbers in many different traditions. 7 times 4 is 28 and oh, look! These are days of the lunar month! There are also the days of an "average"(more or less, it's very difficult to define "average" when it comes to menstrual cycles but I digress) menstrual cycle. If I’m not mistaken Elisabeth starts the process in May, during full spring, while things precipitate at the beginning of winter… on Dec 31st, New Year’s Eve according the solar calendar.

As I’ve said, this movie, at least to me, speaks about time and its cycles and specifically about how societal time is not in tune with nature's time. Elisabeth is 50 and, even if it’s not said, it’s implied that she’s reached menopause, aka the end of her menstrual cycle, a cycle of life that society has decided to be the period when a woman stops being a palatable object of desire. A period of life that's undesirable. Fertility and desire are connected in a way that’s supposed to be “normal” and “natural” but that it’s clearly not. On the other hand, Sue is not a better version of Elisabeth but the version of Elisabeth that society deems palatable. Society wants to eat Sue and Sue wants to eat Elisabeth and be done with her.

One of the things that I loved about the movie is that it used the snake symbolism in such a brilliant way, like I was “woah!”. “The Substance” starts with one egg that, after being pricked with a syringe containing the Activator, becomes two. Moving on, the chicken has a prominent role in the story and it’s mainly associated with Elisabeth, but I really, really enjoyed how the film subtextually framed Sue as a snake that doesn’t eat eggs/chickens but that… eats herself.

Sue doesn’t come from Elisabeth’s rib but from her spinal column. The scar that’s left on Elisabeth’s body is serpentine in form and, of course, it is believed that the Kundalini snake “rests” at the beginning of the spine, in the lumbar area, and, if awaken, raises its head until it reaches the skull. Sue and Elisabeth, but specifically Sue because of her misuse and her desire to eat Elisabeth/herself, feed off the other’s cerebrospinal fluid that’s collected via a lumbar puncture. So what Sue is basically doing is feeding off Elisabeth’s Kundalini energy, which is a sexual energy. An energy, thus, very much connected to desire, fertility and pleasure.

Another thing that I have ADORED is precisely that, the choice of the cerebrospinal fluid. I mean, the easiest, most obvious way would be using blood for its blatant reference to menstrual blood and life but not! Fargeat knows what she’s doing and, instead, she uses the bathroom as the primary location in the show but she doesn't use blood to show Elisabeth and Sue's relationship. I can’t speak for everyone but personally, as a woman, a girl and a kid I’ve always had the closest relationship with bathrooms. I used to do everything in the bathroom, even to hide there and this is what Elisabeth/Sue also does to the point that Sue fucking builds a secret room inside her bathroom to...hide herself/Elisabeth. Genius!!!

Of course, blood is still central in the movie but its main usage is saved for the last scene. Monstro ElisaSue doesn’t make it to the new year because Time as construed by society doesn’t allow monstrosity. Elisabeth and Sue can live provided that they are separate and they obey and respect the balance. They cannot live together, in fact living together as in One person is seen as a monstrosity. You, quite literally, cannot be yourself AND the self society deems it's your "better version". Humans must stay divided, severed, separated in themselves first and foremost because the balance feeds off this separation, this is why the game must stay rigged. If there’s nothing to compare against there is no need for a scale.