We (2011)
Review of We (2011), directed by Madonna
This movie had been appearing on my Netflix recommendations for weeks before I finally cracked and watched it. At first, I will admit, I genuinely thought that this movie was going to be a like a Julia & Julie situation in which one woman from the present just kind of horribly channels a woman from the past, and, guess what? I was right.
While you can’t really compare these two, since J & J doesn’t go into the negatives of Julia Child (nor do I feel like looking her up to see if there were any), this movie provides a critical lens on this idol worship of women from another era.
We romanticize people we don’t know, historical figures, and so often we actually neglect the negatives of them and their situations. Being a woman in the past wasn’t exactly the best.
We (2011) is a split tale between past and present directed by the singer Madonna. I had no idea that Madonna even did movies, but here we are. I’m glad this movie has a female director because it goes into the topic of abuse and how it effects the women involved in the situation. Anyways, I’ve said a lot in this introduction, so let’s dive into the actual review portion!
A New York City housewife is in love with Wallis Simpson’s life story, only to realize the smoke and mirrors of her situation.
As mentioned before, this movie is a split timeline situation. Our main story takes place in the present day, specifically in 1998. Housewife Wally Winthrop lives in a large New York City apartment and seems to have it all on the surface, but once you look closer, you see how unhappy she really is.
Her husband demanded she quit her job at Sotheby’s, the major art house and reseller, and become a housewife, while she’s also having fertility issues. She wants a baby really badly, her husband isn’t giving her the sex life she wants, and, to be frank, he seems quite dismissive of her existence in general. It’s a full on recipe for disaster in this marriage and the movie has just started, so buckle up kids because you’re in for a tumultuous ride.
This is then juxtaposed against the historical context of the marriage between the King of England, King Edward VIII and the divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.
Our modern day heroine, Wally, is in absolute love with this fairy tale story. And who wouldn’t on the surface? It seems so romantic, especially once you see how King Edward VIII gave up the throne to be with his wife. The historical context behind this is that because Simpson was a divorced woman, it caused a major constitutional crisis in England. The only solution for them to get married was that Edward had to give up the throne and then go into a life of exile.
In the contemporary era, Wally falls deeper into her obsession with Simpson as the former king’s and his wife’s possessions are slowly being auctioned off at her former workplace, Sotheby’s.
She keeps going to the auctions, which is where she meets the security guard Evgeni, who she later falls in love with and has an affair in his house after her husband beats the shit out of her. Charming movie. A side note: this was my first time seeing Oscar Isaac as an actor, and then I saw Dune with him in it right after this. Didn’t even recognize the guy. He looks so young in this movie!
Anyways, Wally begins to uncover that maybe she shouldn’t be romanticizing history. I genuinely think this film had the power to pivot and become a great feminist film at this moment, because Wally should’ve realized she doesn’t need no man. She should go back to her career at Sotheby’s and be a kickass woman in the world—that’s what she deserves.
That’s what Simpson deserves too, although this film kind of paints a picture that she should be unhappy settling for the former king. I get that she sacrificed her entire life for this, her privacy, and probably her sanity, but I think they genuinely loved and respected each other.
As someone very into history and this time period, this film does indeed feel a little bit sterilized. King Edward VIII was a known Nazi sympathizer, and historians generally believe that if Hitler had gained control of England, he would’ve put him back on the throne in order to make England more fascist and loyal to the Nazis.
Both Simpson and the former king leaned towards fascism and it is said that they moved to the Bahamas in order to prevent themselves from, well, being major fascists in Europe. It’s not as particularly of a charming story when you consider this part of the characters we’re talking about.
Overall Thoughts
It’s a decent film if you don’t want to think about it. It’s okay superficially. On a deeper level I’m not too sure about it because, at the end of the day, what is actual point and result of the film?
I get that Wally finds happiness and eventually becomes pregnant, but she’s pregnant, probably is going to be dealing with a lot of divorce proceedings in the near future, and is technically employed. That security guard had such a nice apartment, but I don’t understand how he can afford that on that salary.
Most guards I know in New York City don’t make any money, especially back in the nineties. Guess we’ll know get to know the answer to that question. Anyhoo, decent movie if you don’t want to think too hard.
