Thought provoking observations on THE ASSISTANT (Kitty Green, 2019) from students on my NYU Summer Course about the recent rise of women-centric film and television. The film is part of a growing number of tv shows and movies that form something of a post #metoo cycle.
It proves instructive to watch the movie alongside the British Channel 4 documentary WORKING WITH WEINSTEIN. The doc includes interviews with Weinstein’s former assistants. Several of these employees’ stories illuminate moments in this film, and vice versa.
Technically a tight, well-made movie, the film lends itself to close readings like this one here.
CONTAINS SPOLIERS:
In class I screened the below two clips to illustrate the process by which the titular assistant, Jane (Julia Garner), is coached in an office language of submissiveness and complicity that facilitates the boss’s continued abusive and sexually predatory behavior.
A hostile male coworker sets Jane up by fielding her a call from the boss’s furious wife. Jane unsuccessfully attempts to pacify the wife, who angrily hangs up. A key cut follows: The film cuts abruptly from a head-on mid-shot of Jane to this disorientating low angle shot; this cut when compounded with the startling phone ring, and terrified look on Jane’s face creates a moment of horror. At times the film borrows conventions from the horror movie genre. For example, we never fully see the boss in THE ASSISTANT just as classic horror movies hold back and create suspense by refraining from fully revealing the monster. Alternatively, one might consider that by never presenting the boss the film prohibits any form of sympathy for him, or “himpathy.” For further discussion on monsters and himpathy in media representations of abusers see Dr. Karen Boyle’s blogpost Of Monsters and Bombshells As the boss directs a diatribe of insults and expletives towards Jane the camera cuts to the above close-up connoting Jane’s interiority, and inviting the viewer to connect with her. Register Jane’s pale sweater and complexion which make her almost disappear into the background of some shots, underscoring her insignificance in the office, and invisibility to many of the company’s employees. Continue reading →
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