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This year’s debut of I Care a Lot, a dark comedy/thriller directed by Jonathan Blakeson, exploded in popularity for a brief moment before becoming sidelined in favor of more prominent 2021 releases. As a Netflix original, this movie already had a few things stacked against its successes since many refuse to accept the legitimacy of a streaming platform “original” as award-worthy. Yet, this movie had its share of nominations, regardless of the intensely mixed reviews it received (making it just shy of the eighty-percent mark on Rotten Tomatoes and less than forty for the public rating). (( J Blakeson. “I Care a Lot.” Rotten Tomatoes, August 11, 2020. )). Aside from the more traditional movie critics, I Care a Lot was criticized amongst bloggers and YouTube channels as well, making it a dismissed movie amongst most American audiences.
This being said, many of the adverse critics had a consensus of the film, not necessarily of the worthiness of the plot itself, but of the unlikable nature of the anti-hero, Marla Grayson. Regardless of personal preference regarding the likability factor of its protagonist, I Care a Lot is an impactful film because it exposes many of the flaws in society and the viewer, depending on how they perceive the storyline. I Care a Lot is an innovative film that is not simply telling a story but holding a mirror to the ones who watch it. Blakeson’s film is a significant marker of how far we have come as a society… but also how much further we have to go.
I Care A Lot: The Story
*If you have yet to see Netflix’s I Care a Lot, please be aware of spoilers in the following sections.*
I Care A Lot follows the established professional Marla Grayson, a sociopathic narcissist who utilizes her knowledge of the court system and her ability to manipulate to get custody of the elderly. (( “Marla Grayson.” Netflix Wiki, 2021. )). After doing so, she makes large profits by selling their items and assets to pay herself as their government-assigned “caregiver.” The title itself comes from the paradox of her job and how corrupt she is. To gain access to these older people and their assets, she has to prove to the courts that they have no family to take care of them and that they cannot take of themselves, and she does this through sinister means.
The majority of the plot focuses on her fixation with one older woman who has no family and no connections but is extraordinarily wealthy and seemingly defenseless. When Marla gets custody of this woman and moves her into a care home, she learns that there is more to this woman and her story than meets the eye; she secretly has a son who is a considerable crime boss and will stop at nothing to free his mother. The rest of the movie is a chess game between these two ambitious and corrupt characters, Marla, who wants to exploit the older woman and her riches, and Roman Lunyov, played by Peter Dinklage, a crime boss who just really loves his mom.
What ensues is a back and forth of plays and counterplays as it progressively gets more violent and desperate between the two. Finally, when Lunyov kidnaps Marla and almost kills her girlfriend (and partner in crime), Marla gets dangerous and goes full dark, no stars. By the end, Marla has the upper hand, and she triumphantly visits Lunyov in the hospital, the same one she put him in. Marla informs him that since he is a crime boss and therefore made sure to be entirely out of the governmental system, he is a “John Doe,” and she has been assigned his legal guardian and now can do as she pleases. She won.
But then, Lunyov cuts a deal; he decides to have a truce, a real one. He offers Marla unlimited wealth and resources if they work together; him in the shadows, her in the spotlight. She agrees. Together, they expand her caregiving scam to the hundreds of thousands. She is the face of their scheme, and she becomes the biggest name in caregiving, all while using Lunyov’s underground connections to ruin lives “legally.” Nearing the end, it all feels dismal. The criminals won, and there is nothing to do about it. But then, seconds before the credits roll, a haggard man whom Marla had wronged at the beginning of the movie catches her as she is on the way to her car with her girlfriend and shoots her dead.
Marla Grayson & The Story Of I Care A Lot
The cast comprises a group of talented actors who are so believable as their characters; they make it easy to get lost in the world that Blakeson wrote and directed. The story is unpredictable and fresh, and every single character’s complete and utter corruptive nature is a strong point — not a handicap. The unlikable nature of every character in this film strengthened it because it is able to put the audience members in the anti-heroes’ shoes. With all of their absurd schemes and money-driven power plays, every character was splendidly human. In this way, the movie is hard to face because it reveals the existing corruption of our society. This is achieved through Marla Grayson — the by-product of America’s capital-driven society. She wasn’t born the way she is as an adult; she is the sludge at the bottom of the barrel; she is the worst of us and the best of us; she is who we all look up to and strive to emulate because she is the embodiment of capitalism.
Capitalism
Marla is voiceless, groundless, and to a certain degree, helpless. She makes this intensely evident from the onset as she comes across as pristine in her opening scene. Her perfectly blonde hair is in a slick bob, sharp edges — not one hair out of place — with a suit freshly pressed, laying perfectly on her fit body. She isn’t just beautiful and put together; Marla is calculatedly so. She isn’t effortless. If anything, the effort Marla puts into her appearance alone must be exhausting. Marla grew up poor, grew up abused, grew up with nothing and seemingly no good examples; she is a product of the system. Marla is what happens to the forgotten kids. Additionally, Marla hates men. Throughout the film, she mentions moments where men tried to use manipulation and power to threaten or harm her; in response to this, she has grown a thicker skin and disgust for them. She never had a father to protect her, and she doesn’t care for men romantically.
Marla does not feel the need to conform to the patriarchy to please them. She only conforms to obtain more power and money. To look at Marla and say her hatred is unjustified would be a long shot. That being said, Marla by no means is the most marginalized person in America. She is a charming white woman, which gives her an edge, an edge that she makes work for her. Marla does not want your sympathy, but she does want your empathy. The film wants the audience to look at Marla and sense her pain and desperation — even when it is discretely hidden behind golden blonde locks and a dazzling smile. In I Care a Lot, it isn’t just two villains fighting each other or an “evil woman” meeting her demise; this isn’t a revenge dark comedy; it is a poignant commentary. It is the story of a hurt child. A child is taught from a young age that money is power, and power is everything.
To hate Marla is to hate the worst parts of ourselves. To scorn the film because of her ‘unlikeable nature’ is to expose one’s own insecurities surrounding the darkness that exists in society. We are all contributing members of society who perpetuate capitalistic ideals; it is patriarchy that is capital first and love last. In our everyday life, we applaud and even idolize billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and most frequently, Elon Musk (a man loveably “memed” daily). Many of the people who may look down on Marla also look up to these men. There is a parallel between the two. In a world full of unending poverty, child suffering and starvation, and pain, the existence of billionaires in and of themselves is unethical. While so many go with nothing, there are those with uncomprehensible excess.
Various publications have done the math for us, and almost everyone has come to roughly the same conclusion: Jeff Bezos could end world hunger for at least fifteen years straight and still be a billionaire. How can our society applaud the existence of such a man and renounce Marla? Preying on the elderly is atrocious, but it says a lot that she has to prey on the elderly, to begin with. She isn’t a cis-white man born into privilege, but she has learned from them. Marla isn’t likable, no, but she is understandable and, to a certain degree, a sympathetic character. It is unfortunate that her reality was so warped from such a young age by America’s “ambitious” and “driven” societal ideals that customarily lead most to corruption in the pursuit of money. The “better life.”
Gender & Sexuality
The movie does its best to try and make the audience forget two crucial facts: one, Marla is a woman, and two, Marla is a lesbian. The film wants to make the audience sideline these facts in favor of the story and plot. It does so without ever having to explain that Marla is lesbian or that she is a woman. The one and only illustration would be when she explicitly lays out the obstacles of being a woman in a dog-eat-dog world; she explains to her girlfriend, Fran, that men try to make a woman do what they want, and when they can’t, they call them a “bitch” and threaten to kill them. But, aside from that, Marla generally tries to ignore her gender presentation’s effect on her and her role in society. Countless times, men try to manipulate her, threaten her, break her, and she refuses to fold. Lunyov’s lawyer sent to free his mother (before he resorts to other means) is completely condescending throughout their conversation. He offers her enormous amounts of money, yet she demands more, and he refuses.
Later, when in imminent danger, she still doesn’t fold. The only time there are any cracks in her resolve is when Fran is threatened or hurt, which is the only time we see her cry. She even tells Fran she will give up the whole chase if Fran wants her to. Marla is relentless, and she is cutthroat, has a hot young girlfriend, is smart, and is in it for money and power. Sound like anyone you know? Try every protagonist that is male in a dark comedy thriller that has ever been made about heists. Imagine a man in a movie about a heist; the best in the business, an assassin just for the money, then one day his wife is killed, and he is driven to avenge her by killing the crime boss who offed her — and he takes the money for good measure.
Or maybe, a silent and unrelenting man, a lovable background character in, say, one of the famous Ocean’s heist movies. He says very little, does many illegal things, takes advantage of innocent people, and gets his fair share of the diamonds. That is when we ask the question, why are audiences more receptive to these characters? They even revel in their sociopathy, while when women exhibit identical characteristics in comparable movies are instantly unlikeable. So much so that the whole film is written off as a failure.
Marla As A Feminist Lead In I Care A Lot
I Care a Lot has exposed our society and exposed the misogyny that lies at the heart of every complaint that Marla is “too severe,” unlikable, or “hates men for no reason.” It is impossible to count how many men there are in movies that arguably objectify and demur women, and yet those movies are still beloved and rallied as a genius. Marla is not likable, she is a horrible person, no question, but this is while ignoring her gender and sexual orientation. This movie has been written off because the character is unlikeable, and this is where the misogyny comes from. After all, the viewer expects, no, needs, women to be one thing; legitimate. Women need to be likable; women need to be sexual beings. Female characters need to be someone the hetero man could imagine having courtship with, or it is a no-go.
That is where the brilliance of Marla being a lesbian comes in. It is exhilarating to watch a movie with LGBTQ+ representation without making it the central plot device. It allows for LGBTQ+ legitimacy without the need for sexual orientation to drive the plot, just as heterosexuality is hardly ever used to explain or drive the plot in other films. Marla is not here to please at all, and she certainly is not here to please the male audience with skimpy outfits and some form of sexual innuendo. Her existence is in no way to please men, and, therefore, her story is seen as illegitimate. The film’s comedown is that it was not made to satisfy the patriarchy, like many feminist movies portraying female violence and villainy that also do not fit the stereotypical roles and ideas about women in society. Marla is a woman, but she isn’t soft, isn’t sexually manipulative, isn’t motivated by love (although in love), and she isn’t attempting to please a man. A common interpretation is that the movie wants the audience to praise Marla as a “#girlboss” because of her powerful moves and savvy intellect.
This is a misconception driven by sexist beliefs about women. Women do not deserve praise for being ambitious and hardworking women, even if corrupt, just as men don’t. Like Marla’s sexual orientation, her gender is not the central plot device of the narrative, and all of the discussions that focus on this appear to be missing the mark. Marla isn’t a #girlboss. If anything, she a mob boss, and she is not “peak feminism,” she is just a person securing her bag by any means necessary. Feminism being the want for complete and total equality between all genders means allowing women to exist in the same space as men, in the same capacity, even if that is (in this case) the underground crime world.
The Conclusion
There is only one major flaw of I Care a Lot. When it came to the plot, the story’s impact was diminished with the death of Marla. Marla is murdered just as she accomplishes all she sought in life, money, power, respect, and then all of a sudden, she is bleeding in her girlfriend’s arms. It is well-known that LGBTQ+ characters never get a “happy” ending in movies — especially such as these. One of the most common tropes in the film — particularly romances where there are LGBTQ+ characters — is that the characters cannot end up together or die. I Care a Lot is not an exception to this rule. The basic idea that the movie wants to punish Marla is understandable but seems lethargic. Because she is an “immoral” person, in an ideal world, the corrupt would be punished (by god, karma, etc.) However, we don’t live in an ideal world, leading to two significant problems with how her death is executed in the film.
Number one, death is not a good punishment. Death is easy, although many fear it, and there are those who strive to prevent it; death is pain and then nothingness. Life is what is hard. If Marla, instead of dying, were put in a position where she could not ignore the appalling things she had done and their repercussions, that would have been much more satisfying. If the man who shot her had missed and killed her girlfriend instead — that would be real punishment. She would still have her money and power, but not her love, the person for who she was willing to give up her chase of power. That would have been brutal.
The second problem is that it is an unrealistic ending. Yes, there is somewhat of a “poetic” nature to having a cis-white man be her murderer, the embodiment of the women-hating patriarchy taking her down. But in real life, so many corrupt people are powerful and wealthy. Look at any corporation. Look at the millionaire CEOs who give money to organizations that oppress members of the LGBTQ+ community or try and disenfranchise black and PoC. Corruption is real and rampant and most noticeably amongst the top one percent. Realistically, Marla would have gotten away, and, to a certain extent, that ending would be even more unsettling and poignant than her violent death. Marla’s unrealistic “punishment” is where the movie abandoned itself. This is where they could no longer ignore her gender and sexuality. Because she was a woman and she was lesbian, she had to die. Historically, women who have been ambitious, loud, and powerful have also been murdered. It is so ingrained in our society that it was inevitable.
Why Lunyov Was The Perfect Match For Marla
Although not the focus, it is necessary to remark the part that Dinklage’s character, Lunyov, plays in the film. Dinklage has dwarfism, and although he has played countless characters where this characteristic of his is a main defining factor of his personality, that is not the case in I Care a Lot. Again, Marla looks at Lunyov and sees a man she despises because she ordinarily despises men. She does not perceive that he is inadequate or “irregular” because who cares? When someone strives to murder you, the person’s height and size do not commonly factor into your hatred and want for vengeance.
Additionally, the pitting of Marla against an antagonist who also knows how it feels to be marginalized by a society not built for them while still being a white man is brilliant. It levels the playing field. They both have what others perceive as “handicaps,” yet they are each formidable and take each other seriously (as they should); it is a fascinating dynamic to watch play out.
Is I Care A Lot‘s Marla “Unlikable?”
Historically, capitalism and the pursuit of wealth have generally been accepted as somewhat honorable traits found in men. From adventures with a literal chest of treasure to be had at the end to stories revolving around the more selfish pursuits of an anti-hero down on his luck, audiences have always been receptive of these characters, even when their end goals were not the noblest. Now, having a female LGBTQ+ character doing the same has exposed audience members’ internalized misogyny and the very corrupt nature of the men in these other films that we applaud so openly.
If audiences cannot accept Marla in her own selfish pursuit, it is because society has made it clear that the goals that Marla wants and pursues are traditionally “male,” and therefore unlikeable when observed in a woman. Marla is only unlikable to the same extent that men in the same position with the same motivations as her would be. Marla wants power and money, but she also is in love and uses strategy. She isn’t good or nice, but she isn’t malicious or sadistic, she is cold and calculated, and those are traits that we do generally appreciate in our society since those are traits that help many gain power and influence (not to say that is necessarily a good thing, but it is something that is rewarded in a society based in capitalism).
Considering there are even more aspects of the film to interpret than what is covered, justly this is a worthwhile film — even if merely for analytical interest. This is definitely a worthwhile movie for fans of thrillers with intricate plotlines and mysteries, a lot of action, and compelling narrative arcs. The movie is fresh and new, and even though the film industry still has so much farther to go in the area of equal representation on screen, a story like this is undoubtedly a good step in the right direction. Although the movie is not without flaws, it leaves viewers with a lot of insights and a lot of rage; rage at all of the characters, rage at the plot, rage at the society that made all of this possible. That last one is key. But if the rage is at the movie itself, that would be misplaced.
