‘Materialist’ director Celine Song responds to ‘broken man propaganda’

Materialist writer-director Celine Song has given a smooth response to online reviewers, who called the movie’s romance “broken man propaganda.”

On Friday, Aug. 8, a TikTok video circulated featuring Song speaking with Refinery29, responding to online critics' comments on Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans’ characters’ romance.

"Thank you for asking me about it. I think that it doesn't make me laugh, because it really is disappointing to me," Song said about the misogynistic perspective.

"I think that there is a very real confusion about feminism and the history of feminism. Through intersectionality,” Song added, “so much of feminism has been about anti-corporate and anti-capitalist movements, and of course it was always at the forefront of fighting capitalism, so I'm very concerned about the way that we talk about people who are poor.”

Song further stressed that the fact poverty is not the fault of the poor weighs on her a lot.

"And I think that given that, it is very brutal,” she asserted. “I find it very cruel to talk about John as a character who loves Lucy, and who is a beautiful character being played beautifully by Chris, to talk about him in such cruel terms as 'broke boy' or 'broke man.' "

Materialist features Johnson as an NYC matchmaker whose life is in a loop between a wealthy man named Harry (Pedro Pascal), whom she meets at a wedding, and her ex-boyfriend John, a struggling actor who works a catering job at the same wedding.

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