The Substance
Caroline Fargeat’s film The Substance builds a world where the person you always wanted to be can live out your dreams.
In our modern society, women have been programmed to believe that they are no longer valuable once they reach a certain age. That they can be discarded and replaced with a shinier, newer version of themselves. In the film, this is something Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore, discovers she can do to herself. All she needs is a product called “The Substance” that will create a better version of herself. Once she begins the process, she births her new self, played by Margaret Qualley, out of her. This new Elisabeth begins to call herself Sue, and soon snags the job as Elisabeth’s replacement on her television show. Demi Moore perfectly encapsulates the pain that older women experience of trying to hold onto the past life they are pushed out of by the media. By trying to keep her life going and parading this younger version of herself, she actively destroys what she has left of her own life. This is because while the newer self is technically different, they are still one, and must act as so. This is where Margaret Qualley shines as this power, fame hungry young woman who just wants success, not even considering what her actions might due to herself.
Where both of their performances shine, they also add to the overall symbolism of the film. The Substance perfectly portrays how holding onto your past instead of moving on, you can destroy yourself both mentally and physically. This is portrayed through the creation of Elisasue Monstro, who is created when Sue tries “The Substance” on herself to be able to remain presentable for the New Year’s Eve Show. This creature is a horrific amalgamation of Elisabeth and Sue, with multiple sets of teeth, breasts everywhere, and Elisabeth’s whole face on its back. When she arrives at the New Year’s Eve show, everyone is horrified (rightfully so) and attempt to kill her. By creating this worse version of herself in order to remain in the limelight, she ruins her life and becomes something out of your nightmares. The gore of this ending scene is both marvelous and disgusting, which also serves as a symbol for plastic surgery culture. Elisasue has no ides just how horrific she looks to others, while everyone else can see just how wrong her appearance is. Similarly, women feel obligated to get multiple surgeries, injections, and procedures done to look “presentable” to the rest of the world. When others look at them, however, they can see just how much they have done to try and remain attractive, which typically looks horrifying to most people, just look at most of the Real Housewives.
While I do think her appearance is both horrifying and hilarious, I do not see this portrayal of the surgery/Botox/Ozemipic culture as a mocking one. I see it as a message for women that they do not have to feed into this disgusting mindset. Having Elisabeth be played by Demi Moore, a woman who is stunning but shunned because of her age, makes the purpose feel more prevalent. The whole time you are watching, you are wondering why she even feels the need to do this. She knows that people still find her attractive, especially her former classmate, Fred, who she almost goes on a date with. This is the same question we think when we see any woman who gets this procedures done: Why? Well, the answer to this is the media and tabloids. All the time, magazines and articles are being written criticizing famous older women for just existing. They could be wearing a swimsuit or leaving dinner, and suddenly they are disgustingly fat and should be burned at the stake for that. This fat-shamming, age-shamming mindset is damaging to both older and young women, and The Substance tells people that they don’t need to believe in that mindset. They are allowed to look whatever they look like, and there is noting wrong with it.