I think the hype around Gone Girl precedes it. I’ve seen the ‘cool girl’ monologue shared and repeated countless times on Twitter and Tumblr, enough to make it meaningless. Sure, there’s something very feminist in the way Gillian Flynn writes her troubled women protagonists - Amy Dunne one of them - but I can’t help but feel this particular character has been adopted as a figurehead far too much. When compared to one of Flynn’s other character’s, Camille from Sharp Objects, she’s plain evil. I felt enormously bad for Nick Dunne during Gone Girl, despite the wrongs in his life. The people idolising Amy are entirely missing the point, however meme-y it may be.

Of course, the point of the movie is the toxicity of their relationship. Both characters are flawed and bad for each other. But as always, the internet steps in and messes things up. Knowing the twist of Gone Girl is the biggest problem I had with my viewing experience. I knew where things were headed from the get-go, and despite that moment at the hour mark being very entertaining - I’m sure it would’ve hit more had I saw this with no preconceptions. The acting is good, and my worry about the long runtime was silly because the film flows like a dream. I just don’t think this hooked me as much as I had hoped. Maybe that’s the flaw of seeing essentially the entire plot of the movie become a tumblr aesthetic as a teenager. Oh well!

Filling in my Pop Culture Blind Spots