Feminists don't have so many compliments on "All Universe in a Moment"

It was not released in domestic theaters, but it caused a lot of discussion. The most popular movie on the Chinese Internet in May was "Everything Everywhere all at once". Its Rotten Tomatoes index is as high as 97%, and its Douban score once reached 8.8 points.

The film touches on women, Asians, mother-daughter, sci-fi, nihilism, Gen Z, and more. But what this article wants to discuss is, based on this film, how do we understand the complex situation of women in reality? How does misogyny manifest? How do women reach their true selves? Is society ready to accept marginalized people? How do we view nihilism and suicidal intervention?

The plot of "All Universe": The story revolves around the day of Xiulian Wang, an Asian American woman. On this day, Alian may lose her livelihood due to tax issues. She has to arrange a birthday to satisfy her father, her husband Weiman is about to divorce, and her daughter Joey is about to come out of the closet. Suddenly, Weimen claimed that he was an agent of the α universe, the evil forces were spreading in the multiverse, and only Alian, who was in the worst situation in the original universe, could save the world. Traveling through the universe, Alian sees different possibilities in life. But she finds out that the one who wants to destroy the world is Joy, the daughter of Alpha Universe.

1 Misogyny

Chizuru Ueno's book "Misogyny" mentioned that growing up in a world where misogyny is deeply rooted, there are few women who are not affected by misogyny. This film can observe misogyny from 3 entry points.

(1) Misogyny in mother-daughter relationships

In the family, there are estrangements between Alian and her family. Her father does not approve of her elopement to the United States. Her husband feels that the love between the two has been wiped out by life, and communication with her daughter is always accompanied by quarrels. In terms of career, Alian's laundry is likely to be confiscated by the government due to tax issues.

She is dissatisfied with the current life and regrets the decision she made, which has further evolved into a lack of self-confidence and a blow to herself. Such mothers cannot understand their daughters, they can only see the superficial behavior of their daughters, and even worse, they will attack their daughters.

Alian of the original universe communicated with Joey in an awkward way. When she wanted to express her concern, she said to her daughter, "You have to eat healthy, you are getting fatter." The daughter proposed that she would like her girlfriend to participate in family gatherings. However, she attacked her daughter's sexual orientation: "It doesn't matter if you are Lara, why are you looking for a foreigner, can't you find a Chinese?"

Self-denying mothers and self-loathing daughters , a manifestation of misogyny in the mother-daughter relationship. Through Alian's growth, the film gives the answer to eliminate misogyny - a mother must first find her true self before she can see her daughter's real needs, and only then can the two reconcile.

(2) Institutional misogyny

In the movie, the father, Weiman, is a gentle man. In the domestic wolf warrior-style male-dominated environment, Weimen's image is anti-misogynistic . However, in the Western context, Weimen is a collection of stereotyped imaginations of Asian men in the Western mainstream media, such as lack of masculinity, thin body, taciturn and so on.

The California "Golden Rush" in the mid-19th century led to large-scale immigration of Asians to the United States. Since then, the United States has introduced a series of restrictive laws against immigration, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924. In a series of institutional expulsions, Asian men began to work in laundries that white men would not do, just as many middle-aged women in China can only work in low-income occupations such as cooking aunts and babysitters.

In China, there are also institutional reasons for the dwarfing of women and men who lack "masculinity". The answer is obvious. For example, in September 2021, the State Administration of Radio and Television issued an announcement stating that it "resolutely put an end to the 'girly' deformed aesthetics". In February 2021, in response to the "Proposal on Preventing the Feminization of Male Adolescents", the Ministry of Education stated that it would focus on "cultivating students' masculinity".

The role of Weimen reminds us that mildness and cowardice are regarded as weak temperaments, because the world still respects "hegemonic masculinity", and the difference is only the superposition of gender, race, and class on individuals.

(3) Weakened female power

The lives of Alian and Joey in the original universe are like a pool of "backwater". After the appearance of Alpha Universe Joey, under her leadership, Alian saw the possibility of herself as a daughter, wife, mother and other social identities, and Weimen's gentle way of life also showed strength.

On a positive note, Joy wants to change the world, and she pushes socially compliant parents to reflect on themselves. Such a rare queer Asian character, the movie portrays him as a villain .

Alian represents the energy of traditional Asian middle-aged women, and Joey represents the energy of the new generation of young people. They are the most powerful people in the universe, but they destroy the world and give up the world. In the end, Weimen is the first key person to save the situation.

How do middle-aged women find themselves? What do you think of young women's rebellion against the world? Regarding the former, the film uses her husband as an inspiration. Regarding the latter, the film sees it as a destructive force and argues that a mother's love redeems the child. Placing the answer in the traditional family narrative is lazy, and the arrangement is also a weakening of female energy.

2 Reaching the true self

(1) Only you know the answer

The film presents the mutually frayed parent-child relationship and gives the universal answer - "love". This doesn't convince us. We want to ask, how do lost mothers and daughters find themselves?

As feminists, we are well aware of the irreversible disruptions that fertility care can bring to life. We came into this world, and there was a man destined to suffer because of it. This price in exchange for the bondage to each other. In addition to seeing the achievements of their children as their own, in what ways can mothers realize themselves? If being the perfect daughter responds to her mother's expectations, what about our squeezed selves? Can we imagine a better parent-child relationship?

Chinese female writer Li Yiyun wrote a book "Where Reasons End" . After her sixteen-year-old son took his own life without warning, she wrote about an imaginary conversation she had with her son Nicolai.

Mother: I want you to see me as your enemy, not yourself. The mother is the perfect person for the role.

Nicolai: You can't do this for me, Mom, I've found a perfect enemy in myself.

Even if we are hurt by the parent-child relationship so that we want to destroy ourselves and the world, we need to know that our parents cannot do it all for us. Even if they decide to be our enemy, there are things we can only take on ourselves.

Whether it is a mother or a daughter, we can only find the answer to our true self in ourselves.

(2) The premise of realizing the true self is free choice

What is the real me? Are my decisions an expression of "my" true will? Comparing "All Universe" and "Hello, Li Huanying", we can see different answers to the above questions.

In "Hello, Li Huanying", the daughter travels back to the time when her mother was young. She hopes that her mother will have a wonderful life and eliminate regrets. But the mother traveled earlier, and her cooperation was to make her daughter happy. It is not so much that the mother thinks that the most precious thing is the daughter, it is better to say that this is the daughter's expectation.

In "All Universe in a Moment", Alian saw the possibility of a different life in her own life. After giving up achievements such as stars, artists, and chefs, Alian finally chose her daughter.

The two paths are completely different. The choice made after considering all the possibilities is the free choice, and it is closer to the true self.

Movies with Asian protagonists always have a special focus on family. But in reality, not all problems can be solved in the family, nor do they need to be solved in the family. Many queer sexual orientations are not recognized by their parents. They may form a diverse family or seek out friends to support and refocus their lives.

People always have many choices. The point is, can we accept new options?

(3) The key to reaching the true self is multiple support systems

In the original universe, Weimen was stabbed by Alian and still defended her; in the world of hot dogs, same-sex partners accompany her; in the world of chefs, the raccoon, the spiritual pillar of her colleagues, was taken away by Alian, and her colleagues still forgave her. This support helped Alian think about her own life.

Another key to reaching the true self is multiple support systems. But in reality, getting support isn't easy, especially for women who are already struggling.

Have you ever seen something like this happen? When a woman tells about domestic violence, she may receive different advice - don't get a divorce or get a divorce now, don't fight back or fight back, call the police or kill her husband immediately. If she does not take these recommendations, people will turn the blame from the perpetrator to her, thinking that she herself is the cause of the violence.

It is so difficult to speak out, and we can imagine the failure of other avenues for help. Every small obstacle is breaking down one's support system.

But on the other hand, every little support can play a key role . Just like in the Tangshan beating case, a bystander woman insisted on calling the police and returned to the scene, which effectively prevented the violence from continuing. Everyone does what they can, and the social support system is built up.

3 Destruction and Intervention

(1) Self-destruction

Joey deserves more attention than destroying the world is her strong sense of self-destruction. The last time I saw such a character was Arthur, the protagonist of The Joker.

Arthur is a marginalized person in society. He is interrupted in family (unable to get the protection and recognition of his mother, domestic violence by his stepfather when he was young), love (the lover is his own fantasy), career (want to commit suicide for the final comedy performance, but was interrupted. ) failed to connect. The kind Arthur can't be recognized at any level, doesn't care about the world, wants to kill himself, and doesn't run away when caught by the police. Citizens save him because they identify with the "violent" clown. After that, Arthur lived on the identity of the citizens, but his ego disappeared.

In Joey, neither the complex causes of her self-destruction nor the multiple support systems that bring her hope back are presented. Her only source of support is her mother.

In "Joker", Arthur's violence points to elites, classes, and institutions, and he acts as a villain but becomes a "hero". Joey kills a lot of innocent people just to gain her mother's approval. We see women who commit suicide alone, we see women who are desperate for life and take their children to their deaths, but it is rare for women to attack indiscriminately. Women's sense of self-destruction is often inward, and it is difficult to find a counterpart to the role of Joey in real life.

The sense of self-destruction is not only a person's suicidal thoughts and indifference to the world, but also the abandonment of one's true self. Mainstream society is ill-prepared to accept and understand people with a strong sense of self-destruction, especially women among them.

(2) Suicide intervention

At the end of "All Universe", Alian and Joey's dialogue is related to suicide intervention.

Joey: Leave me alone, Mom. Congratulations, you have figured out your own life. I'm happy for you, but I'm tired. Let's go our separate ways, okay?

Alain: All right. (Alian turns around, then turns back)

Alain: Wait a minute. You do gain weight, and you never make phone calls, even if you have a family data plan, you don’t need to spend money.

Joey: What did you say?

Joey tells Alain to leave himself alone. Allen said first. Then, Alian said some details to Joey, and the two re-entered the specific discussion. In suicide intervention, there is a technique called landing , which uses some methods to drag the person who wants to commit suicide and let him fall to the ground. This is the landing.

Another example of suicide intervention concerns Japanese monks. Someone said to the monk, I want to kill myself. The monk said, "If this is the only thing you want to do in your life right now, then do it. I will save you in the temple."

This story tells us that suicide is acceptable, and we need to trust that everyone can make the choices that are best for them. We respect everyone's choice, but we still have to do what we can. Maybe it was for him, maybe it was falling off the cliff with it, maybe it was helping the police, maybe it was telling her that I would be here with you. There is always something we can do.

(3) Nihilism

Many people hope that "All Universe" will stop at the stone. The emptiness after showing infinite possibilities is very grand and charming. As a stone, it is no longer responsible for any kind of worldly responsibility.

Liu Shijin, deputy director of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said in an interview with the media that 900 million people in my country are below the middle-income group. According to the World Bank's standard, the threshold for middle income is 2,000 yuan per month. Not only the economy, but we can see the difficulty of life on many levels. The predicament of society makes everyone call for nothingness.

However, people always live with perseverance, just like the Shanghai outbound riders sending strangers to the train station for free, like the strangers caring about Xiaohuamei for two months, just like everyone cares about the victimized women in the Tangshan beating incident. We all have moments when we want to give up everything, but keep going.

last words

In "All Universe", the first person with energy is Joey of Alpha Universe. From a positive point of view, Joey found the most down-to-earth mother, led her to see a diverse world, let her see her own potential, and allowed her to make choices. It's very feminist.

After a person has energy, if she chooses to provide support and help to others as much as possible. That's what we've always wanted to see, and we'd like to have more of them.