Bitch: Treat her better
Summary of Bitch sounds very thought-provoking in the most absurd way. Mother of four loses it and starts acting like a dog which leaves her husband deal with responsibilities that are given to the wife of the family by society for years. Since the beginning of her directing career beside the acting, Marianna Palka has never held back when it comes to taunting men. In times of stories telling the ugly truth about being a woman in the society and basically in everything, her latest film, Bitch, hits the right note unapologetically with a modernized Kafkaesque tone.
The aftermath of Jill’s situation, which is beyond being on the verge of nervous breakdown is shown with reasons behind it. Reasons could have been exposed more, though. That would make it hard for Palka to keep it ambiguous whether the behavior of the mother is conscious or unconscious, but that’s not the real issue. Either way, the husband has a lot to go over the things he should have done differently. Jill’s sister comes to help him to realize they have been ignoring what’s obvious. So, together they try to protect family unity with the only tool they have: the family spirit. It sounds like quite a traditional way to think in order to tell an unconventional story, yet Palka tells it a way that triggers the audience, especially men to put themselves in women’s shoes. However, the story gets wrapped up so fast that it feels like the husband needed to get through much more to come to that point. Difficulties a mother of four children has in daily life are of course a lot more than picking up them from different schools and doing chores. In order someone to get to a point that results them to act like an angry dog like this, he should have had many irons in the fire for the character development. Jill’s sister also helps him with the kids enough to take the burden away from him, so he also has time for work. That’s kind of cheating, though. He should have had to deal with all these by himself to see what causes Jill to say she’s had enough of this. Thinking of the way it is, one may think it still is a good way to reconnect the sisters whose lives seem to have turned to very different roads after becoming adults. If only the matter of differences were laid emphasis on more.
Jason Ritter, who plays the husband, has an innate ability in comedic timing. Palka and Ritter have been friends for a long time, result of working together in Palka’s first feature length, Good Dick. He was being punished in behalf of men in that movie as well. Watching him in goofy physical actions with situation comedy is quite delightful. If only the kids too had more to play with too. Child actors who played the kids could have put a lot on the table to make the story stronger and effective, if they were given more. Because they are responsible for the behavior their mother starts to show too, they need to eat humble pie as their dad.
Overall, Bitch is a good reflection of the modern version of families that used to shine in commercials showing ‘the American Dream.’ It is also befitting the times when definition of motherhood and societal attitudes towards women are being reshaped.
