Sucker Punch

I saw this movie in the theater when it was released in 2011. Here is an essay I
wrote recently about the movie (for a philosophy class) :
The movie Sucker Punch seems like a mess. It wants to be taken seriously for its
feminist message at the same time as it exploits its female characters, exposin
g them to violence and cruelty for our entertainment. In this essay I'll explore
the seeming contradiction, and the functions of the movie s message and its explo
itive aspect.
Sucker Punch is the story of a young woman known as Babydoll, who is the victim
of a series of horrific events, some inflicted upon her by specific people, and
some by random misfortune. Despite the horrors of her situation, she fights back
against her oppressors, and inspires her female companions to do the same. The
theme of Sucker Punch seems to be "sisterhood is powerful." (Interestingly, Emil
y Browning, who plays Babydoll, has starred in two other movies in which a vulne
rable young woman is put in situations of sexual exploitation by powerful male f
igures: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and Sleeping Beauty).
Before discussing Sucker Punch in detail, I want to consider two philosophers wh
ose views I will relate to Sucker Punch. The first is Thomas Nagel, the author o
f the influential essay "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" In this essay Nagel expre
sses the view that there are "facts beyond the reach of human concepts." By this
Nagel means that there is "something it is like" to be a bat, or a person, or a
ny other conscious being, that can't be captured directly in language.
The second philosopher whose views I will relate to Sucker Punch is Uma Narayan.
Narayan asserts that in any system where there is a power differential (between
oppressors and oppressed people), the oppressed will have an "epistemic advanta
ge" over the oppressors. Oppressed people tend to know "what it is like" for the
oppressors to a much greater extent than the reverse. Here I am imagining a not
ion of what it is like that goes beyond Nagel. While Nagel referred to low-level ra
w feels I am thinking of a broader concept, one that includes a social aspect, na
mely what it is like to be a member of a group that is treated unjustly by another
group.
It seems to me that the history of the human species, from the adoption of agric
ulture to the Enlightenment, has largely been the history of oppression of one g
roup by another, with very little or no progress. However, in the last two or th
ree hundred years, it seems that moral progress has increased. Consider the fact
that during that time, Western countries have abolished slavery and extended th
e franchise to women and minorities. The welfare state and expansion of trade ha
ve increased well-being for millions of people, and so on. Of course much remain
s to be done, but the general trend has been positive, to an extent that seems u
nique in history.
I can't prove it, but I believe that one of the drivers of this moral progress h
as been an expansion in people's empathy, which in turn has been driven in part
by the proliferation of literacy and the rise of the novel. Novels (and similar
narrative works such as movies) allow the reader/viewer to experience "what it i
s like" to be someone else. We read novels to enter the world (or "enter the hea
d") of the protagonist. We do this for purely selfish reasons (because we enjoy
a good story), but one of the side effects is that when we read or view a story
about someone different from ourselves, we develop empathy for that person and o
thers like her.
By taking on the point of view of a person of another class, or culture, or gend
er (that is, a member of an oppressed group) the epistemic differential that Nar
ayan describes is reduced. Narayan talks about epistemic advantage, and that con
ception is accurate as far as it goes, but it s also perhaps misleading. It s not so
 much that the oppressed have an abundance of knowledge, but that members of the
oppressor class have a knowledge deficit. In order to practice virtue, we need
to have access to the relevant facts, including knowledge of how other people su
ffer under existing social structures.
Since the invention of the novel, at least some well-meaning members of oppressi
ve classes can have access to what it is like to be a member of an oppressed cla
ss. This knowledge has led in turn to a reduction in oppression. At least since
the Enlightenment, people are more likely to see the common humanity of all peop
le, and to treat others as possessing inherent worth and dignity.
How does all that relate to Sucker Punch? The answer is that Sucker Punch contai
ns powerful depictions of what it was like to be a woman and a person with menta
l illness (both oppressed classes) in the recent past. Consider the following ev
ents that Babydoll has to endure: the loss of her mother, the sexual abuse and d
eath of her sister, being imprisoned unjustly, being sexually assaulted herself,
and undergoing a destructive and unnecessary surgery, which causes the literal
loss of her mind. Seeing these outrages (and understanding that they were all t
oo commonly experienced by real people in the past) makes an impression on the v
iewer, in a way that no mere recitation of facts can do.
The fact that Babydoll is both female and identified as mentally ill is signific
ant. In novels and in real life, women s experiences have historically been pathol
ogized and medicalized. Babydoll s travails are just an extreme example of how Wes
tern patriarchal culture has failed to acknowledge women s autonomy and bodily int
egrity. It seems that there is something at the root of misogyny that conflates
femaleness with a disordered psyche. I take it to be a goal of feminism to resi
st this tendency (and that is what I meant by Sucker Punch having a feminist mes
sage).
The most interesting character in Sucker Punch is Dr. Gorski. In order to surviv
e, Gorski must participate in the oppression of her female charges. And yet at t
he same time, she prepares Babydoll and her companions to do what they must to s
urvive in a harsh and exploitive environment. Gorski is the mediator between the
oppressors and the oppressed. She is in the truest sense, a collaborator. We tend
to think of collaborators as traitors, but this reading is too simplistic. In e
very situation where people must accommodate themselves to power, some members o
f the oppressed group serve as collaborators. Although it is a thankless job, co
llaborators can make things better for the group they belong to, at least in the
short term. Gorski is the only character who exhorts the girls to overcome thei
r oppression. She makes them understand that resistance can be heroic, even if i
t is not fully successful. Most importantly, Gorski lets the girls know that the
y are sufficient unto themselves to resist their oppressors. More than once Gors
ki tells the girls: You have all the weapons you need. Now fight!
Is it possible to effect social change by merely creating narratives that show w
hat life is like for oppressed people? Unfortunately, merely creating a good nar
rative is not sufficient. Books and movies, whatever else they are, are commerci
al products. They have to find an audience before they can hope to influence tha
t audience. Sucker Punch, and similar narratives that are aimed at a young audi
ence, have to walk a fine line. They must appeal to what people want (or think t
hey want) enough to make the audience sit through the movie (or read to the end
of the book). If that goal is met, the creators have a little bit of room to sne
ak in a message that would otherwise have been boring (or otherwise unpalatable)
to its intended audience.
In closing, I offer the following speculation. If we have some obligation to red
uce suffering (as I believe we do), and if some narrative works have the effect
of reducing suffering (as it seems), then we may have an obligation to create, c
onsume, or promote those works.
Posted by Ernie Bornheimer on Friday, June 17, 2016 Links to this post
Women I love who are mentioned in this post: Abbie Cornish, Carla Gugino, Emily
Browning, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens