Celine Song, the talented writer-director behind the romance movie Materialists, is speaking out against critics who have described her film as "broke man propaganda."
In a recent interview with Refinery29, Song expressed her disappointment and concern over the way people are talking about poverty and class.
Materialiststells the story of Lucy, a young and ambitious matchmaker played by Dakota Johnson, who finds herself torn between two men: Harry, a wealthy financier played by Pedro Pascal, and John, a struggling actor played by Chris Evans.
The film explores themes of love, class, and capitalism, prompting viewers to think critically about the role of wealth in relationships.
When asked about the "broke man propaganda" criticism, Song said, "I think that it doesn't make me laugh, because it really is disappointing to me. I think that there is a very real confusion about feminism and the history of feminism. Through intersectionality, so much of feminism has been about anti-corporate and anti-capitalist 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 emphasised that poverty is not the fault of the poor, saying, "The thing that's very important to me is to stress that poverty is not the fault of the poor. And I think that given that, it is very brutal. 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'."
The director believes that the criticism of her film reflects a broader societal issue, where people are judged based on their income. "There is something about the classism of that, the kind of hatred of poverty, the hatred of poor people, who, again, it's not their fault that they're poor," she said.
"I think that is a very troubling result of the way that the wealthy people have gotten into our hearts about how it's your fault if you're poor, you're a bad person if you're poor."
Ultimately, Song's film is about fighting against the way capitalism tries to colonize our hearts and love. "The whole movie is about fighting the way that capitalism is trying to colonize our hearts and colonize love," she said.
"It makes me feel very concerned that anybody would talk about my movie and my characters and to really think about it in such classist terms."