MovieChat Forums > Hereditary (2018) Discussion > I can’t but help but think there is a so...

I can’t but help but think there is a socio-political undertone..


While the film is derivative in many ways pulling from the conjuring, rosemary’s baby and the witch (2015). I can’t help but think the director was trying to get a specific point across. And it wasn’t The “mental illness” thing that people are guessing.

It was male dominance. Spoiler.. you know the ending of you’ve seen it.

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I suspect you are correct.


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I think feminism in the west has gotten to the point were it's actually toxic to men and is acting as a deterrent to them. There will be a time when they once again reclaim their ''throne'' as they're getting more than a little sick of it (hence the rise of MGTOW). The movie seems to be delivering a little message for us all..

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Of course feminism isn’t toxic to men and men don’t need to “reclaim” any “throne”. They’re still very much the leaders in the West (and you know... everywhere else).

MGTOW are mostly pathetic and not that different from incels. They’re absolutely obsessed with women. It’s embarrassing.

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(SPOILERS)

I think that is a far bigger stretch then the mental illness thing... I just don't see it...

In the end everyone in the family is destroyed and even the kid, Peter, is destroyed and turned into a demon...

It's not like the movie had a theme relating to male or female dominance building up to the end... Simply the idea that the demon needs a male host to manifest fully...

I don't see how this is some MIGTOW fantasy... It seems you are reading somethjng into this, which isn't there...

Edit: I mean how does the other kid fit in? Is Charlie's death a MGTOW sacrifice? How does this fit in? Maybe someone could make a movie about extreme feminism being toxic, or even a form of mental illness, but this is not it... Maybe Gone Girl has those themes, with it's psycho protagonist who uses society's quickness to judge men as a way to achiever her plan... It doesn't fit in this movie.

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Agree it was about male dominance and being the wish of some to go back to being subordinate to it, especially middle aged white women who we think should know better.

The grand mother and June - older women who thought if the demon got the male body it craved they'd get rewarded. Really, seriously? Drive others to madness and murder for the most pathetic demon ever.

Annie, a wet blanket who had issues up with the whazzo and cowtowed to her mother over Charlie but wouldn't be honest with her family.

Because really? If Charlie was basically the demon trapped in female form he was blinking pathetic, a socially awkward creepy kid who had nut allergies but wouldn't carry an epi pen and was stupid enough to stick its head out a moving car.

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You are all fucking ridiculous.

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You took the words right out of my brain.

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They are. I suspect this thread was just an excuse to have a little MGTOW rant...

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No, that's silly.
The overall vibe of the film is more pro-woman than pro-man.
The main character is a woman. The cult is lead by a grandma and her female friend. Meanwhile the husband is powerless to stop himself from being burnt to death. And we also have Annie's brother who committed suicide cause he couldn't handle grandma.
Lots of powerful females in this film.
The fact that one dude is becomes chosen by a demon can't be the film's way of sending some message about gender superiority.

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I agree with you. The demon has a saying about which vessel is better for him.

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Let's not forget the Joni Mitchell song at the end of the movie. That has to mean something. It doesn't seem to relate to the overt plot point of the film, but seems to be suggesting something. What?

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I agree. But for me the undertone was something different.

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I didn't sense any undertone. This movie had a pretty small budget,,they were able to wring out some good performances, one shocking scene, some decent suspense all the way to a unsatisfactory ending. If there was any undertone I think it would have been more blatant.

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I think the male vs. female element is "in the mix", but not a proclamation for one being better than the other. Not necessarily. Both cult leaders were women and powerful. As for Paimon, he preferred a male surrogate. But in the movie, the males were all weak.

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