The stars aligned for me this weekend and I actually got to see Teeth, the movie about vagina dentata that both the Porn Librarian and I have been blogging about. Again, as the title of this post says:
SPOILERS!!!! If you want to see this movie and not have any insider info, skip this post.
That said, holy crap this movie was good. The three sentence synopsis:
Dawn O' Keefe, an abstinence-promoting, squeaky clean high-schooler quickly realizes something is going on with her vagina after she is basically date raped. With a little Internet research and chilling trip to the gyno she figures out that she has vagina dentata, or a toothed vagina. Horrified at first, Dawn slowly realizes the power she possesses within herself (cheesy cliche made into an even cheesier pun, thank you).
Ok, now for what I thought of it. Wow. I wasn't sure what to expect really. I was thinking it was going to be more along the lines of a horror movie, but it was more a black comedy with little spurts of gore here and there. And I really wasn't expecting the social commentary on women's sexuality and empowerment by any means necessary. After Dawn learns what's going on in her vagina, she realizes that she can control it as well, and uses her "gift" to avenge the continuous sexual (both mental and physical) assault that she endures. Kinda like Batman, but so much better.
So, back to the commentary about women's sexuality, I think this fairly overt way of putting a "victim" back in the role of power and having her find strength or defense against reoccurring sexual trauma was accomplished in a really unique and engaging way within the story. The movie uses the culture of fear that our country is creating around sex (abstinence-only programs) and takes it one step further to include the equally fear-inducing idea of women's sexuality and women's agency as sexual beings. Mix that with our society's preoccupation with the vagina as a totally mysterious and even dangerous place and boom, you've got yourself one hell of an intense place to start a storyline. Then add some teeth to the vag to manifest that fear into something tangible to fight.
Oh, and I just need to mention the subtle reference to Georgia O' Keeffe with Dawn's last name (though it's not spelled the same). I know it could not just be coincidence that they name her something so close to the famed vagina flower painter.
Ok, academic rant over.SPOILER over too.
To sum Teeth up in three words/phrases: thought-provoking; unexpected; funny (in a slightly creepy and macabe way)
This is a seriously good movie and I highly recommend it. Here is the actual movie site that has a trailer. And, like I posted before, the first five minutes are online here.
Go see it, then comment back.
xoxo
-J.D. Bauchery
www.hotmoviesforher.com
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