Beatriz (Salma Hayek) decides to attend the dinner just as she is.
BEATRIZ AT DINNER
Film review by Marlene Ardoin
“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Rich is better.” – Sophie Tucker
“Beatriz at Dinner” may look like a battle between the givers and the takers, but they are both right. The winner is a balance of the two extremes.
Beatriz (Salma Hayek) appears to be unable to receive. Being poor does not make her superior. Her client, Kathy (Connie Britton), offers to dress her up for the dinner, then later, offers her money for the tow home, both offers are refused. Had she accepted these offers, the outcome may have been drastically different.
Beatriz is the odd one out. At the dinner, she describes an experience with her father, where he was kicking an octopus. She sides with the octopus.
Another point of view is that her father was trying to protect her from the octopus. Had she had this alternate point of view, things might have turned out very different for her.
I believe that we shape our world by how we see it. A more positive viewpoint would have enabled Beatriz to love men, to love the world as it is, and then, to become a positive force in making it even better.
Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) has no problem accepting and showing appreciation for her shoulder massage. When alone with her, he offers her a gift. He points out that we are all dying from the moment that we take our first breath. He encourages her to try to enjoy her life.
Beatriz appears to have more judgment, more pride and more ego as the “healer”, than her opponent, “the successful rich guy.” His comments make her seethe. But, he expresses more love and caring, than her massages or songs do.
Doug Strutt, the man who kills rhinos, who strips bare the environment, who is on his third wife, has the moral high ground here.
I personally prefer all of his transgressions to the transgression that Beatriz ends this film on. I left the theatre feeling ashamed to my core for identifying with Beatriz.
While everyone else is sending prayer lanterns into the air, Beatriz chooses to take a swim by herself.
This story is very much needed at a time in the history of our world, where the “Have Nots” are blaming the “Haves” for all of their misfortune.
Bravo to the writer, Mike White. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right?
But wait a second, what if this is the guy, who is hiking up the cost of cancer treatments by 5000%, who is raising the price from $12.50 a tablet to $750 a tablet?
What if this is the guy, who does not pay his workers a living wage?
What if this is the guy, who is kicking families out of their homes, so he can raise the price 500% higher?
Or, what if this is the guy who is cutting down all the 3000 year old redwoods?
These are just variations to the story, which would make that guy less likeable or sympathetic.
His jokes would be more offensive.
As written, I do not feel the script is sympathetic to Beatriz, nor does it capture all the reasons for her despair and anger.
Public humiliation is just a part of it. Racism and indifference can be subtle and very debilitating.
Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) is pensive during dinner.
Bio of screenwriter Mike White:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_White_(filmmaker)
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6/28/2017 # Beatriz at Dinner