Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2023 film Poor Things, based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, stars Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo and more. It won 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. It was not without its controversy or detractors, however. Writing in The Guardian in January 2024, Samira Ahmed, trustee of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: ‘Bella, Stone’s character, has an infant’s brain – and the consent issue for a woman with learning difficulties is a blazing red flag. She embarks on a “voyage of self-discovery” which leads, quickly, to an insatiable desire for sex with as many men as possible, one of the oldest abuser myths.’
Offering an opposing view in the same article, the Guardian’s…
