so, you want to cosplay poverty

[Yharazayd]

adding a pinned comment for clarification:

someone pointed out that the beginning of this video could be seen as being dismissive of anyone who identifies with films like *the virgin suicides* and *girl, interrupted* and how that dismissal could also be interpreted as a dismissal of their own mental health.

so, i want to be clear: that part of the video is not intended to dismiss anyone's mental health or suggest that anyone is pretending to be depressed. as someone who grew up using tunblr and identifying with those movies, those gifsets and the so-called "sad girl aesthetic, " my issue is with the romanticization of depression and s*icidal ideation. as a teenager, i loved those movies not only because i identified with them but because they made me feel like my depression made me beautiful and interesting, which, frankly, is a terrible, terrible way of thinking. those images made me not want to get help because i thought my depression, my sadness, is what made me me and what made me worthy. and that is a huge problem. i apologize if i wasn't clear enough about that.

tl;dr: it's not bad that people identify with these films. but romanticizing their tragedies does more harm to our mental health than good.

[afterdinnercreations]

The actual stuff that comes with poverty is too unmarketable for the advertisers.

[aidafuentesv]

I think what makes Parasite PARASITE is the fact that Bong Joon-ho is a sociologist before a film director, in all his films you can see what his real profession is

[adamtherock]

Nicola Peltz’s father Nelson was in serious competition to purchase Disney at one point. That’s the level of wealth we’re talking about here.

[jordanetherington]

"Even her drug addiction is photoshoot ready" is a chef's kiss line. Perfect.

[FishareFriendsNotFood]

Thank you for mentioning how EXPENSIVE poverty is. That's such an important thing the 'never poor' miss

[krisjustbegun]

She really is posing in every shot. Her mouth is always pouty and slightly open and her makeup and hair always looks like it was professionally done.

[ApatheticBananas]

I am 21 year old white girl who struggles with depression, anxiety, addictive traits, and live alone in poverty. My life isn't a vibe. It's not an aesthetic. I use every dollar I have for gas money so I can get to class and work, and depend on food banks for food. You don't see clips in these movies of these pretty poor girls waiting in line at the unemployment office or trying to set up a payment plan for a speeding ticket you can't afford. It just frustrates me watching these movies of girls who are supposed to relate to me and my life experiences, but instead reminds me that I look uglier, my clothes are cheaper, and my home is worse than the portrayal of poverty.

[nuttynancy]

It feels like this movie is a way for a rich girl to think “well yeah it's hard to be poor but you need to look at it as a growing opportunity, just stop being sad about being poor and break the cycle mama”

[legendaryfrog]

Peltz is a billionaire. She got into acting because her dad bought her way into the industry. For Lola, she basically just watched an older Kesha music video and thought "wow, being poor is hot".

[dangernoodle]

The Florida project is one film that depicts poverty, showing many of the bad parts of it, but still letting some of it be pretty and whimsical because the main character is a child. Movies about people in poverty don't have to be super dark and gritty, but they do need to have depth.

[aestheticalrose]

As someone who grew up with massive depression and anxiety problems and was also sexually traumatized at the ripe age of 13, I think my obsession with this tumblr aesthetic of the "sad white girl" was about me wanting to feel like I was beautiful and deep and aesthetic because of my sadness at a time when I felt my absolute worst and ugliest.

[heydiddlediddlethecatandth]

i also hate how voyeuristic/misogynistic these kinds of films are. the women are just aesthetic shells instead of people and they get treated as such by the fanbases of theses films. it's all about their beauty and not at all about their development as characters. like they're just dead-eyed and its eroticized and romanticized like porn is. it's so gross.

[zwoodarts]

i've always found it really sinister the way rich people use poverty as an aesthetic to seem like they have depth and grit or whatever

[cassandralyris]

This feels like what a rich person THINKS being born poor is like. It would've gone a long way just by showing Lola stealing all that makeup she's using. Having to go to a friend's house to shower because yours is turned off. Having your local gas station demand you take your coat off in the middle of a Midwest winter because you got caught stealing a banana once. Begging for car rides to work only for your once "friend" to demand a sex act first.
Arlo would've been taken by CPS long before Lola even became a teenager. She wouldn't know that, she's never dealt with any state's DCFS. There is absolutely NO way CPS wouldn't have become involved long before she became a stripper, let alone an addict. The reality is that it doesn't matter how pretty she is, that's fleeting and people above you in status generally act in their own self interest to keep you down because frankly it makes them feel better. "I might not be rich, but at least I'm not Lola!"
Just like I wouldn't know what it's like to have been born as privileged as Nicola Peltz-Beckham, she has absolutely no idea what it meant to be born like me, and that shows.

[aeolia]

Speaking of Parasite, I was living in Korea when it came out. I didn't see it in Korea becausemy level of Korean was basic and no cinemas near me were showing it with English, so I had to wait until it came out on streaming. Anyways, I remember when it came out there were tons and tons of ads all around Korea for the furniture used in the film in the rich family's house, these were pieces of furniture that I would NEVER be able to afford, even now, where I'm somewhat financially comfortable. And the ads just felt in such poor taste given the theme of the film, and I couldn't believe the producers and studio signed off on this.

[jordanetherington]

Your story about the electricity being turned off and your mom making it a magical night reminds me of the time my mom and us kids had to go to a shelter but we just thought it was this fun outing to a hotel because mom wanted to protect us. That's real resilience right there.

[thelastchannelonyoutube]

“It’s an art house movie about poverty written, directed, and starring the white girl who played a Asian person in Last Airbender because her dad was a producer.” My head is imploding in on itself

[crestflames]

i think the best depiction of poverty I’ve seen was in the Netflix series Maid, but that’s because it’s based on a memoir written by a woman who experienced the things depicted. And it does portray resilience, and the main character attempting to make a better life for herself and her daughter.

[krose]

“how expensive it is to be poor” nearly made me cry