American Mary ~ Film Review
Horror movies have the ability to create and explore sub-genres within our own culture. American Mary is a perfect example of exploration within film. The movie revolves around a jaded medical student named Mary (Katharine Isabelle) who is struggling financially while attempting to be the best surgeon she can be. Straight from the start it appears the world is out to get her and eventually she is pushed to her farthest limits.
The film comments on a lot of things within our society. What this movie does a good job of is taking you into a world that most of us don’t know anything about. Body modification is getting bigger and has an entire culture within itself. I have to ask myself though — if I did have body modifications would this be the kind of movie I want representing it? Furthermore, the issue of sexual abuse or rape is prevalent throughout the film. Would someone who has suffered such a trauma want this particular film representing him or her in the way it did?
Mary is the product of the men around her. In this film the men are mostly all sadistic and unlikable. When a professor rapes her, she quickly begins to seek her revenge. I am a true believer that films have the ability to mold minds and educate the people that watch them. If this film is attempting to comment on women in our culture who have suffered from sexual abuse then I think it does a horrible job…
