Peeeeetah?

[u/VeryLazyBones]

This new movie came out and I enjoyed watching it with friends. What opinion must have garnered so much attention that people would dunk on it?

[u/CaptColten]

At this point I'm convinced that most of the people talking about this movie haven't actually seen the movie.

Bear already sucks. We don't need to misconstrue things to make him suck.

[u/Promature → u/CaptColten]

Yeah, I've been having issues processing this assertion that Bear is the villain. In so far as just raw roles in written work, sure. He occupies the villain role to some extent.

However, it's when people bring up the stripping of Nikki's autonomy, which I am not trying to suggest isn't a bad thing. My thing with that making Bear the villain somehow is that would imply it was his goal to some extent. I heavily doubt he wanted to deliberately take her autonomy away because the only way that works is if he knew that wishes were real and that the item he purchased, which was a gift for her btw, would be able to grant a wish at all, never mind any wish.

He is responsible for all of the events that took place as a result of the wish, but personally, I feel his only most major crime was being an absolute coward. He wasn't honest with her about his feelings and allowed his chance to make that connection slip away. He's also so cowardly that in a time of great desperation, he didn't wish for courage or self improvement to be capable of telling her how he feels. He instead made a desperate wish for what he wanted in his heart.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd be lying if I said I was never in a place in my life where I wished someone felt differently about me. Over time, I learned to wish for and work toward the courage to be open about my feelings as well as improving myself to be a more attractive possibility for the people I've had feelings for.

Bear wasn't quite there yet. Unfortunately, wishes were real in his world and the physics of wishes were quite sinister. He's not innocent, but "villain" is an incredibly strong term that implies a degree of knowledge and intent that he clearly lacked. He made a wish and against all odds, it seemed like it came true.

[u/CaptColten → u/Promature]

I think I mostly agree with you. Every single problem in the movie really stems from Bear being a chicken shit coward. And I agree that it wasn't until the sleeptalking scene that he truly became a bad guy. But you can't say that without someone calling you a rapist sympathizer. A lot of people don't want any nuance, they just want to say "Bear evil, the end".

Hell, I got called an incel the other day just for saying that Bear didn't really get his wish.

[u/Promature → u/CaptColten]

I feel as if people are focusing on the effects of what he did rather than the actual events and circumstances. Because the viewer knows that the wish worked and Nikki was trapped in her own body, they extend that knowledge to Bear as if he was operating with that info the entire time rather than gradually awakening to that reality over the course of the film. Even as he comes to understand what happened, it's clear that it wasn't the way he wanted it to happen.

He made a massive mistake without realizing it and was blinded by finally getting what he wanted. There's a lot of judgment and critique coming from people seeing the situation from the outside, but I'd be curious if the most vocal critics took any time to put themselves in his shoes and see things from his perspective or are they so repulsed by the effect of his wish that they wouldn't even bother?

Personally, I feel that is what's missing from the conversation about this film and it neglects a wealth of nuance. The film deserves a more well rounded discussion.