Warning: this article contains major spoilers for him.”
It is not every day that we get a horror film on the theme of sport, in particular the one with the name of producer Jordan Peele slap everywhere in marketing. Naturally, there was no shortage of interest surrounding the “him”, mainly concerning the way in which the co-author / director Justin Tipping would take the too familiar idea of the toxic football culture and would transform it into an original story of horror on the will of a emerging athlete to sacrifice to sacrifice Nothing To reach the big leagues. In the end, it is more or less the film that we have received … Even if certain aspects are a little lacking, Chris Evangelista of the film is detailed in his criticism. But a particularly fascinating aspect of this script has to do with the biggest problem (by far) confronted with sports in general.
“Him” is not exactly a story that prioritizes silly things like “subtlety” or “restraint”, and it takes long to realize that it has a lot in mind. But even before the title card appears, the incentive action roughly states the most pressing thematic concern in the film. After the young quarter-Arrière Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) grew up by idolatrating the star football player Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), the time has finally come for him to make his biggest stage to unravel the professional level. (Interesting fact, the words “National Football League” are never mentioned or shown on the screen at any time … probably for legal reasons, given the less than flatteen representation of the film.) But even before he could take off his career, a disturbed fan in a scandalous outfit puts a tooth on these plans – with a swing of a category head.
From there, “Him” adopts an increasingly increased and hallucinatory approach to Cam’s trip to become the greatest of all time. But even in the middle of the nightmare and bizarre that follows, a thread in progress remains clear. In an environment where athletes are systematically treated as basic and dehumanized products, “Him” points out the blame with two main culprits: team owners and fans.
He is a film on toxic sports culture in all its forms
For a film that could just as easily be the physical manifestation of this “I know the writers who use the” even “subtext,” he clashes surprisingly thoughtful and rather daring about what is necessarily a controversial subject. There is a reason why Universal Pictures relied on the idea of passing the marketing campaign of this film as a mixture of Nike ads crossed a horror filter Jordan Peele. American football is the most popular sport in North America, so making an effort to use the overall fans base directly in order to reach the red box office area? It is as simple and logical strategy as possible. But once these butts found themselves in theater seats, the director Justin changed and credited the Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie co-authors pulled some switcheroo on them. It was fair to assume that a film like this would not necessarily have the most optimistic point of view on the culture of football. But what the public may not expect a fairly direct history of prudence on the way in which we engage, love and take advantage of our favorite athletes.
“HIM” is not only addressed to this first shock which leads to the staples in the shape of a cam football lace on its head and to a concussion, to start, but also through its most enigmatic and disturbing sub-contained. When Cam agrees to save his wading career by training with Isaiah White Recluse (and soon retired) for a week, he immediately met the extremes of the Fandom. Apart from the Isaiah desert complex, a group of obsessive fans holding panels calling Isaiah “The Chosen One” and Sporting Face Paint Attack The Cam car, shouting the vulgarities on the way they do not “want”. He considered a potential threat and replacement, and that makes him the enemy.
Most films would have dropped this right away, after having already asserted a strong point. “Him” is not like most films, however, and that degenerates from a dramatic (and perhaps hallucinated confrontation?) As heartbreaking as it is unexpected. The same fan (played by Naomi Grossman) and two accessories physically attack the cam in a vulnerable moment, using an extreme example to make a salient point. Especially with the proliferation of online sports betting, it is easier than ever for fans to present their worst me. It is not a coincidence that “him” brings such behavior to his logical conclusion.
The grand finale of him aims for sports owners, agents and other guilty parties
But before anyone entrusted the “Lui” as a film only About the most disturbed fanatics on the market, the bloody final makes absolutely obvious that the real blame for the biggest problem of sport goes to the top. In a dreamlike sequence where Cam emerges from the Isaiah training complex, covered with blood after fighting his (former) mentor to death, he finds himself on a football field arranged as if it were the opening day of the NFL season. The owner of the Saviors (once again, the subtlety is for cowards), the team that Cam dreamed of joining his whole life, is on a podium alongside his agent Tom (Tim Heidecker) and several other dark characters – who all wear disturbing masks, some literally made from the pork skin. While the mysterious wife of Isaiah, Elsie (Julia Fox), urges Cam to sign the dotted line of a contract that changes his life and essentially put her autonomy as a person, something in him finally slams him and triggers a bloodbath for the ages against those who were responsible for her sufferings throughout.
It does not take much creative license to see a set of films staged almost as a sale of slave auction and interpret it as a very convincing metaphor for talented athletes (many of whom are people of color, like CAM) subject to the most dehumanizing conditions imaginable. No, no one will cry for multimillionaire athletes who have reached celebrity and realized their dreams … But that does not deny the very real problem of billionaires by fully taking advantage of this workforce and abusing them in order to make money. Isaiah could ultimately play the role of antagonist against Cam in the end, but it is hardly exaggerated to say that the real bad guys are men (with white predominance) in positions of power that made everything possible in the first place. None of them had his well-being in mind, but everyone took advantage of the talent and the ability that far exceeds theirs. It may not be a racial metaphor as elegant as “release” or “us”, granted, but “him” cannot be accused of having nothing in mind.
“Him” now plays in theaters.
