Have you seen Spinster?

Chelsea Peretti starring in Spinster (2020). Film Poster.*  

Chelsea Peretti is an actress and comic known for her role as Gina in the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I first became interested in her style of humor after listening to her song Soundproof on Youtube. The song highlights the struggle of needing to find a soundproof bathroom after drinking coffee in the morning. It’s as absurd as it sounds, cleverly written, and hilarious. I’ve grown up around different styles of humor, with bathroom humor being a popular one as a kid...and still a little popular as an adult as well... As you can imagine, listening to this rather edgy song sung by a comedian came as a pleasant surprise. It’s not everyday you get to hear someone highlight some real truths in the world of bowel movements. This song sold me on Chelsea Peretti. Naturally, when I saw her face featured on the poster of the newly released movie, Spinster, I had to watch it. 

The film is essentially about a 39 year old woman named Gaby, who goes through a break up and starts to slowly get her life back on track. In doing so, Gaby learns to embrace her solitude instead of feeling incomplete while being single. At the same time, she also starts to add more valuable experiences to her life by building new relationships, strengthening old ones, adopting a dog, and pursuing her goal to open a restaurant. 

As a viewer, you get to watch Gaby get her life together in a way that works for her rather than for someone else (or in anticipation of someone else). You also get to see someone living what may seem like an unconventional lifestyle to some; a 39 year old woman who is single. Most importantly, you see that this lifestyle isn’t exactly as unpleasant as it might seem. Gaby still found ways to have an enriching and meaningful life without kids or a partner. Shocking. And by taking control of her life, she became more sure of what she wanted out of her life and what she didn't want. Unbelievably shocking. Over the last few years, I've noticed more and more films are being released that present the lifestyle of single women in a more positive light--at least, films that focus on women going through self development. Overall, these portrayals are a great visual to counter the existing societal pressure that may perceive this lifestyle as an incomplete one.  

Spinster is a realistic fictional film that is representative of a modern human life, but is still enjoyable, funny and lighthearted. While the storyline takes place over the course of a year, the pace is still slow. It might also appear uneventful to viewers used to traditional fiction (like a romantic comedy or superhero film) where the climax is some type of major event that the story has been leading up to. Following Gaby’s break up, this film largely remains in the leading up phase until the end. A traditional climax never takes place. But that’s also like real life, right? Life events and milestones aren’t always big climaxes, but rather, are the slowly appearing byproducts of all the connections you build, consistency you put in, and choices you make--all of which take time. Oftentimes, there’s still more life beyond the milestone. This is part of the good in this film; Gaby’s life still moves forward with time and passes milestones without being presented as overtly climactic. In doing so, the pace of the story feels more true to our own lives.

*START OF POTENTIAL DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT* Close to the end of the film, Gaby meets a guy named Will while hiking. At the end of a pleasant hike, Will reveals he lives far away from Gaby and wants to pursue their connection. My initial thought jumped to Oh but they’ll make long distance work. The film is almost over, it’s the only way this story gets its happy ending. However, not wanting to give up on the new life she’s created for herself over the past year, Gaby opts to instead celebrate the short relationship they shared on the hike. As someone accustomed to classic Rom Com tropes, seeing Gaby challenge the script like that made me feel a mix of discomfort, satisfaction and inspiration. This film reinforced a less popular trope that I think we need to see more of in films about how relationships can be perceived: The single person embraces singlehood. They learn to genuinely appreciate and value the non-romantic aspects of their life. And when faced with a relationship being inconvenient to their lifestyle, they choose themselves.

I call it a trope, because as mentioned earlier, some of the better films I've seen recently have had similar storylines to Spinster, like Brittany Runs a Marathon. And that too, without purposely disparaging a specific gender or romantic relationships, which in doing so, I find takes away from the positive message of taking responsibility for yourself. And while our lives do not break into musical songs, I believe the bittersweet ending in La La Land also follows this trope to an extent (*holding my tears back* Why couldn’t Sebastian and Mia both have their careers and each other? Why? So realistic, but also so sad. Did the filmmakers really need to rub it in with the “What Could Have Been” Montage? Those creative, heart-strings-tugging monsters). You could also argue here, that the post-hiking conversation is the film's climax, however, it’s not the climax we expect. But perhaps given the premise of the film, a moment to showcase self development is the appropriate climax. *END OF POTENTIAL DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT*

To anyone thinking about watching this film, I would say: Watch it for a laugh. Watch it to see some seemingly real characters face realistic problems. Watch it for the budding trope that normalizes single older women who value themselves and have fulfilling lives. Lastly, but most importantly, watch it for Chelsea Peretti. (Naturally, I’m biased on this last point, but nevertheless, I’m throwing it in). 

Until next time

*Digital Poster of film Spinster (2020) was taken from the following website: https://thebuzzmag.ca/2020/09/spinster/