{"id":20022,"date":"2021-04-19T15:07:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T05:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=191509"},"modified":"2021-04-20T16:12:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T16:12:30","slug":"promising-young-woman-emerald-fennell","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/promising-young-woman-emerald-fennell\/","title":{"rendered":"Promising Young Woman\u2019s Emerald Fennell On Seduction Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Emerald
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – APRIL 11: Emerald Fennell winner of best original screenplay and outstanding British film for “Promising Young Woman” is seen in her award show look for the EE British Academy Film Awards 2021 on April 11, 2021 in London, United Kingdom. Due to COVID-19 restrictions nominees will be attending virtually alongside a virtual audience. (Photo by Zoe McConnell\/via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Promising Young\u00a0<\/em>Woman\u00a0<\/em>has been praised with five-star reviews and a slew of awards and nominations since its release to the public this month. Directed by Emerald Fennell, the film follows Cassie (Carey Mulligan) who seeks to avenge the death of her best friend, a victim of rape. The groundbreaking project has now shed further light on topics such as gender equality and toxic masculinity. Fennell spoke with Glamour<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>this month to speak on a little-publicized issue, seduction culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis subject touches a lot of people and we have been very, very conscious of that,\u201d Fennell tells the publication. \u201cThe truth of it is we live in and we’ve grown up in a culture where we’ve all been complicit, because we haven’t thought very deeply about it. Certainly if you’re British and American, getting people drunk and taking them home is still a huge part of our seduction culture. It is a grey area that’s so important to interrogate every kind of side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It opens up the conversation around whether we’re romanticizing the notion of “playing hard to get”. Harassment can often be confused for friendly persistence and as Fennell notes, being complicit isn’t necessarily a resounding “YES!”<\/p>\n

\"Promising
Carey Mulligan stars as “Cassandra” in director Emerald Fennell\u2019s PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fennell who has also starred in The Crown<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Call the Midwife,\u00a0<\/em>won two BAFTA awards – Outstanding British Film and Best Original Screenplay – this month for the film and is also the first female British film director to be nominated for an Oscar. Speaking on being a female filmmaker and equality within the film and television industry, Fennell believes it is actually those who are oppressing gender equality that can make the most change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI genuinely want to know what male filmmakers and male actors think about [the film],\u201d the director said. \u201cBecause up to a point all we can do is make the work. The people who can actually change it are the people who are putting the obstacles up. We collectively need to widen the conversation. I want Promising Young Woman<\/em> to be accessible to everyone and it’s not effective as a movie if the only people who go and see it are the people who already know about this. It’s a conversation we all need to start having more honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film has been released at an apt time. It follows the merciless death of Sarah Everard<\/a> at the hands of a British police officer as well as the larger conversation around sexual assault at a government level in Australia<\/a>. Nonetheless, it is a must-watch whether you’re male or female.<\/p>\n

Last week it was announced that the film would be streamed free for college students<\/a>.<\/p>\n