Every work of art also needs a social climate to come to life. A film like “The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022), for example, can only appear in a world where the value of mutual responsibility has weakened and there is a lack of accountability that is increasingly intellectualized and justified through phrases such as “My life, my choice” and “I owe no one an explanation.”
It is no coincidence that such a film was released at a time when leaders and governments around the world seem to have entered into a disconnected relationship with the people.
At the same time, each work of art also helps shape the social climate from which it emerges. So while an egocentric value system may be a prerequisite for a film like The Banshees of Inisherin, the other side of the coin is that the film itself can also reinforce and legitimize that value system.
Curry Barker’s “obsession” should be seen in this context.
The movie is about Bear, who is in love with Nikki. For fear of losing her, he has not confessed his feelings for her. One day, using a ‘One Wish Willow’, he makes the wish: ‘I wish Nikki Freeman would love me more than anyone in this world *beep*’. His wish comes true, but with an unbearable twist.
Nikki becomes obsessed with him, her behavior becomes horrible, causing Bear to want out of the relationship. The film also shows that Nikki is possessed because of the wish made, and the real Nikki is trapped underneath.
The film does two things here. First, it condemns its protagonist, the Bear, for wanting to fall in love. All he does is make a wish, not unlike what any of us do when we are in love. His desire is clearly expressed. He longs for love. But what he gets is horror.
On the other hand, when love blossoms in Niki’s heart, even if through cosmic intervention, she loses control of herself. Does the film warn people about the desire for love? Because, through the narrative, it says that wanting love will cause horrors to descend on your world, and being in a relationship will cause you to lose your freedom and autonomy.
In an extremely simplistic way, ‘Obsession’ equates love with obsession, relationship with loss of self, and belonging with entrapment (and the internet has gone mad in its discourse around ‘Obsession’, simplistically equating desire with manipulation and desire with abuse). Thus, the film criminalizes and demonizes simple human feelings and emotions. It contributes to a market-driven culture that benefits from the breakdown of human connections (relationships, unions, associations, etc.).
It is no coincidence that this is also the time in history when humans have been made to forget that they are relational beings. The result: ‘solo tourism’ is trending, benefiting the tourism industry. “Self-love” and “boundaries” are simply promoted to benefit the self-help and wellness industry. Isolated people, cut off from others and from themselves, become very profitable for capitalist society. Therefore, links must be abused in order for people to choose voluntarily.
When Ian makes a wish for a million dollars with the same ‘One Wish Willow’, he gets it. But when the Bear longs for love, he is terrified. ‘Obsession’ is a world of capitalist values where human desire and human emotions are made to face consequences, while greed and ambition win out.
The company faces no consequences for exploiting human needs and offering a wrong ‘product’ (which is also wrong by market rules). Nikki says she wants to fall in love because she wants to bring a story to life (write a novel).
Emotions in the service of ambition. Relationship for the benefit of a project. There are no consequences. In addition, the film also rewards those who numb their emotions. Sarah, who loves Bear but doesn’t want a relationship with him and doesn’t pursue her love (an emotional laziness even romanticized by movies like Past Lives), is accepted into college.
But Nikki, who comes in contact with love, desire and connection (even as a result of someone else’s plea), is shown to have lost her autonomy and forgotten her project of writing the novel. The film quietly says that the desire for human connection gets in the way of ambition and makes a case for prioritizing ambition over belonging.
Ambitious people are more profitable to a capitalist world than emotional people. Since emotions and relationships make people human, a capitalist world order requires people to stay away from them. He wants to present love as obsession, relationship as self-loss and belonging as a trap. To conclude, ‘Obsession’ is against emotions, against relationships.
(The author teaches screenwriting at FTII, Pune)
