Saturday, September 21, 2024

Cat Person (2023)

This film RUTHLESSLY invaded my personal space.

From the theater concession stand I used to work in my early 20s (right down to wearing the vest and bow tie) to physically battling your way out of a man's house when the date went bad. This movie felt personal.

I'm entirely not okay with how this film knows my soul and experiences.

Let's talk about:



This is a film about women's lives. Daily.

I was on a date recently and he asked me where my "safe place" was. I turned my head to him, looked him in eyes, and said "I don't think I've ever felt safe, truly safe, in my life."

This film is that. It's all the thoughts women have, related to dating, intimacy, and how terrifying it is sometimes (always). 

There's a reason the MeToo movement occurred. Why women choose the bear. And why EVERY singe woman knows the statement "....I just wanted to get it over with ...". WE KNOW, GURL.

So I've been in a de-centering patriarchy period of my life for a while now - parts of it have been occurring my whole life but it really is kicking into high gear now that I'm in my mid 40s, widowed, and in the dating world. I'm not even playing with patriarchal nonsense anymore. I'm in the trenches, reporting back on the chaos, and earning my hedge witch or bog witch badge. 

This film focuses on the youth and ignorance of women going out into the world but this plot line can occur anytime, to any woman, at any age. 

Here we have a story about a 20 year old woman who fell for an older man, via text. And then when she discovers who he is vs texts, she doesn't like him anymore. That's fine, expectations didn't meet reality. Totally normal. 

Expect here, we have a man who's insecurities put everyone in danger. Bonus, her valid fears created absolute chaos. It's a perfect storm of dating madness. Because this film mirrors so many personal experiences, this one gave me a damn near panic attack.

This might be a good time to circle back on how I had to battle my way out of an apartment because my date got mad at me. He thought I wanted to leave because I had another date. I just needed to feed my cats. 

He said he liked cats. A cat person.

He went insane with my defiance (again, I wanted to get home to my cats) and he barricaded me in his home. When I took the opportunity to escape he ran after me. The night, darkness, my black coat, his stupidity, and a stranger standing there having a smoke who I hid behind, saved me. 

Like this film, it's hard to describe the complexities revolving around relationships - particularly hard for men to understand what women really go through. It's a nightmare and constant battle field of self preservation, identity, safety, all while looking for someone to be nice and like us. 

A lot of men don't like us. And that's a hard pill to swallow.

Watch this film with your besties who will slap the phone out of your hand when he starts throwing red flags that you think are an amusement park. Pairs with cans of beer and neighborhood takeout. 

Now, all that said - Happy Spooky Season, folks! I'll be gathering the 50 horror movies you made have missed list together for Oct 1st. Reviewing films throughout October, and will end with a short horror film fest on Halloween. My goodness, Horror Habit is getting old...

I watched this film on Hulu. Use the Find It! Watch It! links on Horror Habit's side bar to see where else you can find this personal earth shaking film. 

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