shakeitoutmimi

I went to watch this film with my best friend and oh my goodness. I cannot handle horror or thriller to save my life but this is one of my favourite films. Long story short, Linda Liddle is stuck on an island with her boss, Bradley Preston. Due to Linda's extensive survival knowledge, she is able to look after herself and her boss in this environment.

Power isn't evil. In a world where one's place in the hierarchy is to be used and then thrown away, Linda knows what it's like to be there. When she is in a position of power due to her boss' injury, she is trying to show him her worth so that when they get rescued, he can give her a promotion. Even though he wants to fire her after the business trip because...reasons? There is also evidence that suggests that Bradley was going to hire 'eye-candy' since Linda was not attractive enough.

The problem with patriarchy is that it doesn't matter how hard a woman (this includes anyone who identifies as a woman) works, a man will always be valued more. Skills that take years to master are viewed differently depending on whether it is a man or woman who does them. A woman is to be pretty or work hard in the background. An example being the scene where the 'boys' laughed at her audition video for 'Survivor' while she worked on an important document that they have taken credit for. She recognised that she will never be taken seriously, no matter how hard she tries.

So when Bradley is in a position where he is at the mercy of Linda, he is uncomfortable because he doesn't view her as an equal. She's the one taking charge because of her skills. Even if he doesn't like the decisions (eating fish for sustenance), he is not able to communicate this in a respectful manner. He still views her as his worker to boss around. So when she leaves him alone, she finds him sunburnt and dehydrated while she is glowing.

My friend noted that if you tally the number of times Linda and Bradley wronged each other, Bradley would make the first strike, and Linda would react out of self defence. Even in the scene where she "castrated" him, it was as a result of him poisoning her. While it is problematic that she did not tell him about the boat or mansion for a speedy rescue, she knew it would mean going back to square one: being used and abused. She thought that by being kind to her boss, he would see her value and 'learn' to respect her. It was going to take a miracle for that to happen. It never came.

To me, the power dynamics on the island between Linda and Brad was a microcosm of how patriarchy affects the workplace and homes. He was willing to do certain...favours simply for the food that Linda had. Showing how surviving in some places means you are at a person's mecry. This...attempt was made after Bradley was mean to Linda so while he had to apologise, it did not have to be of that nature. For others, you may be in need of work and have only the boss as your source of help. They may not be so kind.

So I like how well this movie showed how uncomfortable men become at the mercy of women they deem lesser than meanwhile, women have always had to be (and still are) at the mercy of men because of laws and regulations that continue to affect us even after the great strides feminism has taken at fighting patriarchy.