The Horror of the Fairy Tale Movie: Where the Crawdads Sing

 Okay, so last weekend, Dan's mom was in town. She loves movies, and there are many TV shows that we both enjoy--mostly mysteries on PBS like Father Brown or Broadchurch. I really wanted to see Nope but I knew that was a bridge too far for her, so we settled on Where the Crawdads Sing. I read a few reviews of the movie and the consensus was that it was pretty bad. I'd also read the book and found it to be highly implausible. I figured I wouldn't like the movie. I didn't. I didn't hate it either, but in thinking about the lens we've been using in our horror class, there were four distinct places where the film failed miserably.

1 and 2.  Gender and Physicality: the main character is a Kya, a young girl who lives in the swamp regions of North Carolina. Her entire family (mom, three sibilings, and dad) decide to just leave her behind. The mom vanishes first, and never reappears. The siblings split one at a time and also never return or even send a letter. Dad, the monster they are fleeing, also just takes off one night. Fine, yes, we are meant to believe that not a single sibling or parent would return or even reach out after leaving the seven year old to fend for herself without $ or a change of underwear or food or anything except for the knowledge of how to steer a boat and how to collect mussels. However, in this particular story, her gender only becomes an impediment when she meets men--specifically, blond haired, bright eyed Tate (good) and the dark-haired, dark eyed Chase (bad). Tate, in one of the most unbelievable love scenes in film history, respects Kya's purity, and just before they are about to have sex, he stops himself, telling her that he doesn't want to put her at risk. Chase, who we know is bad because he has dark hair, does not have such hang ups, and their sex scene is way more realistic, as it lasts about five seconds and she remains unfulfilled. Later, Chase will become so obsessed with her that he will rape her, and she will hit him over the head with a stone to escape. Kya does not necessarily choose these men--they choose her.  They are, in fact, the only two men that she meets. Additionally, one puts her on a pedestal, and the other views her as an object, someone he would never consider marrying, and whom he can take at will. As for Kya's thoughts on sex or sexuality or desire, we don't know. That's never explored. 

Now, if you had been a kid who grew up on the bayous of the swamp, you might expect that physically, there could be some problems. You've never been to the dentist or the doctor, you've never seen a razor, you've never had access to a toenail clipper,  you don't have clean running water. How might you look, Swamp Girl? Well, Kya in the film version is fully socialized (if a bit shy) and though she's illiterate, she learns to read and write quickly and takes to wearing flower print dresses give to her by kind strangers. I get it. This is a movie. They're not going to hire a toothless, malnourished actor. At the same time, her feminity and physicality were tied to her desirability. These two guys wanted her because she was pretty and tame and liked dresses. 

3. Race. Two of the most instrumental characters in the film were the Black husband and wife who owned the general store near Kya. They provide income for Kya by allowing her to exchange mussels for food and supplies. The wife also makes sure the swamp girl has pretty dresses and shoes. Though you could read this as compassionate (and it is), the characters in the movie have no back story, interior life, or purpose other than to serve Kya. I think in the novel, they may have lost a child, but in the film, they exist primarily to feel bad about Kya and help her along. Their particular stories of oppression are not explored. They are the helpful black characters, or the domestics as is outlined in this article about racial stereotypes in film and TV.  To be fair, none of the characters really has much of a back story either, but in this instance, I thought it was startling how much they seemed ot just instantly love and feel protective of Kya and also how they cried when she got into trouble. 

4. Class. Instead of truly exploring how a seven year old girl might survive (or not survive) in a cabin in the swamplands, the movie finds ways to skip over or magically erase any realistic impediments. Kya is articulate, bright-eyed, and socially appropriate throughout the film. She is able to read social cues well and to adapt at a moments notice. Though she can't read, she wants to learn how to read, and dedicates herself to this task with immediate success. She is also a skilled artist, and somehow is able to use her meager income to buy paints, paintbrushes, and sketch pads. Despite never having any guidance (other than watching her mom paint) and no access to other artwork or books, she teaches herself how to be such an excellent artist that the first time she sends out her work to a publishing house, they immediately accept it and give her money (money she conveniently needs to pay off the back taxes on the land and house). It's not that she doesn't struggle, it's that she doesn't struggle for long--there is somebody who appears always to help her out--the Black family, the cute white boy who won't rape her and teaches her how to read and write, the kindly town lawyer who takes up her case when she's accused of murder, the brother who finally returns after years of neglect (and whom she welcomes with open arms). By skipping over any real issues that come with being poor and neglected, the film creates a fantasy world where a white girl with no family and no income can, by sure virtue of will and exceptional good luck, can both succeed and thrive. Even her murder rap is beaten despite the fact that she did murder the guy, and no effort is made to let us understand how she could have possibly done this (by traveling incognito by bus in the middle of the night, luring the guy out of his house, getting him to climb the tower, pushing him off, removing all traces of herself, getting back on the bus without being detected, and arriving back at her hotel). 

My problem isn't so much that these things are implausible, it's more that zero attempt is made to make them less implausible. Go ahead and have dad die in a car wreck. Let the other siblings be whisked away to the far reaches of the world without ability to return. Give the black family a semblance of a life beyond their white friend. Allow for the possibility that she would fail. Allow the men to have more than one character trait. Allow Kya to look like a normal person might given her upbringing. Find a solution to the murder puzzle or allow the bad guy to get away, because often, the rapist does not get his comeuppance. He remains in his position and does just fine. 

Like everything else in the film, we're meant to just accept these poorly thought out or underdeveloped situations without looking too closely. Because if you look too closely, you find a sanitized version of severe neglect, child abuse, race and class in America, rape, and murder. 

That is the true horror here.