If you want to say that the largest and most controversial work at the beginning of this year, it must be this Oscar hit that has just met us-"Poor Thing".
The film is directed by "Lobster" and "Beloved" director Ogus Lanthimos, starring Emma Stone, won the Golden Lion Award at the 80th Venice Film Festival, was shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Picture, and is likely to help Sister Stone win two Oscars after "La La Land". 
However, in terms of Douban scores, domestic audiences have seriously polarized their evaluations, and there are also constant controversies about the issues and forms of performance of the film. On the one hand, this is because there are too many nude shots in the film, which is suspected of selling meat to attract attention; On the other hand, its unethical plot is still a bit "too advanced" for many people. 
But the plot that seems to be ahead of its time is actually very retro. The film is derived from the famous horror IP "Frankenstein" (also translated as "Frankenstein"). Born in 1818, the protagonist Frankenstein is a crazy biologist who works out parts of different corpses to piece together a monster and miraculously resurrect it. Frightened by his creation, Frankenstein deserts him and flees, but monsters chase him after him, demanding companionship, warmth, and friendship. 
In the film, the heroine played by Sister Shi is such a "monster". She lived in Victorian England, originally just a woman who committed suicide by jumping into a river, but when she was dying, she was brought home by a crazy doctor. 
The doctors revived her, but also used her as an experiment. Because he found out that she was about to give birth before she died, he surgically swapped the brain of the fetus in her womb with her, and named the newborn monster "Bella". 
With the body of an adult and the mind of a young child, Bella is both a child and a mother of herself. In order to better study Bella's growth, the doctor kept her in captivity and invited his apprentice to serve as assistants to observe and record Bella's every move. 
However, as time progresses, the apprentice falls in love with the beautiful Bella. Bella also gradually awakened to the consciousness of enlightenment, and one day suddenly discovered the beauty of sex, because she was not trained by society, she often satisfied herself like an animal. 
The doctor sensed the change and betrothed Bellash to an apprentice. But the apprentice was a proprietor, believing that when Bella was truly an adult, the two would be able to marry and become husband and wife. 
At this time, a wealthy businessman came into their lives. The wealthy merchant also fell in love with Bella's beauty, and in order to seduce Bella, he agreed to take her away from the family that had imprisoned her from birth, and bluntly stated that he never equated sex with marriage. 
In this way, with a yearning for sex and freedom, Bella eloped with a wealthy merchant and began an adventure to travel the world.
The film adopts a chapter-style narrative according to the different stages of Bella's growth. The first chapter tells about Bella's life before she left home, and the portrayal of the protagonist is de-gendered. It gives a glimpse of what human nature itself would be like if it had not been educated by society. The biggest characteristic of Bella at this stage is that she is simple and direct, she has to eat when she is hungry, she can sleep anywhere when she is sleepy, she only follows the purest physiological needs, and has no concept of "right and wrong" and "shame".
In this simplicity, there is also an irrational desire to destroy. When Bella sees a frog for the first time on a picnic, she widens her eyes and clapps her hands in amazement like a child, but the next second she wants to shoot it to death out of curiosity.
When the doctor refused her requests, her reaction was to spill things and attack others. When wishes aren't fulfilled, violent venting is the only way she can think of coping.
In the second chapter, Bella, who was taken out of the house, began to experience socialized growth, and gradually gained a certain sense of identity in the process. The wealthy businessman who lured her to elope was undoubtedly taking advantage of her. For him, the beautiful and simple Bella is the perfect ** object - just take her to see the outside world, you can make her amazed and admire, and just make up a few lies can make her her his own unique plaything.
And that was true in the beginning. However, he ignores Bella's curiosity and desire for freedom, and does not stop because of a man. After walking out of the house, she heard the ** she had never heard before, and she would unconsciously dance along, even though she had never learned to dance; After touching the books, she read one book after another, and began to follow the author to think about some questions that she had never thought of.
She made new friends and found that people were so different, some boring, some funny, and she wanted to meet more people.
Of course, she also met other men and opened her arms to everyone. The rich merchant was no longer her only one, nor was he "the best" as he boasted about it.
This made him unacceptable, and angrily asked Bella: You chose me between marriage and elopement, which means that I am the better one, why do you go to someone else now? Bella replied seriously: Because it's fun.
This chapter ends with a falling out between the two. At this time, Bella had already established a connection between herself and the world, and she did not know what she could do for the world, so she gave all their money to the poor, and because she could not pay the house bill, she was thrown off the ship with the rich merchant.
The destitute two came to Paris, and neither of them could think of a way to make money. At this time, the prostitute on the side of the road pulled Bella onto the thief ship. This became the final blow to the two in their parting ways.
The rich merchant humiliated her as much as he could, and Bella replied that she didn't think there was anything wrong with making money with her body. But the experience in the brothel made her deeply appreciate the unfairness of society, and also made her realize that ** is not always pleasant. For the first time, she was angry with herself, and suddenly she lost her sense of sex.
That being the case, there is no reason to continue. Once, after being intimate with her female partner, the other party saw the scar on her body and told her that the wound on her abdomen was a caesarean section. She began to think about who she was and why she was so different from others.
In the final chapter of the film, Bella, who had traveled a lot, returns home. By this time, the doctor was terminally ill and had a short life, but before he died, he saw the results of the growth of his creation.
It turned out that Bella's real name was Victoria, and she was the wife of a general. Because she couldn't stand her husband's abuse, she decided to jump into the river with her fetus. Although the doctor has selfish intentions, he gives her a new life, and Bella, who is reborn as a monster, is given the opportunity to grow freely in human society, and Bella does not resent him.
At the end of the film, the general comes to the door and wants to confine her to her home again. Bell followed his father's footsteps, decided to study medicine, and together with her apprentice, she operated on her ex-husband, swapping his brain with sheep and keeping him in captivity.
On the whole, Bella's growth process is a process from subservient instinct to resistance instinct, but because she is a natural monster, she still maintains a certain beastly nature until the end and is not completely tamed by human society. Perhaps, it is precisely because the film discusses realistic issues in a surreal setting that the ending of the cool film can be reached.
Bella's experience is a metaphor for an indictment of a patriarchal society, but the "father" (doctor) and "husband" (apprentice) portrayed in the film are highly idealized and conceptual images. Although the doctor treats Bella as an experiment, claiming to be the creator, he always observes her and does not interfere with her will.
The apprentice is more innocent, and after Bella returns home from everything she has been through, she still thinks she is a special being, and does not have a worldly prejudice gaze.
Imagine if there were no surreal Frankenstein settings and idealized "family of origin", what way would a Victorian woman want to pursue her own independence and get rid of patriarchal oppression?
However, despite the film's lack of depth, it's no surprise that it will be hugely controversial. Because a person's self-growth and perception of the world cannot be achieved only through sex, a large number of oversized ** shots in the film really seem unnecessary. The intention of shooting these scenes is contrary to the intention of the film, and it also blurs the attitude of the creators.
That's right, Bella is indeed special, and in the real human society, Bella does not exist. She is beautiful, crazy, innocent and **, after seeing the unbearable world, she still simply thinks that as long as she knows the world enough, she can improve the world, and as long as she is true to what she wants in her heart, she will not lose herself. She has always practiced herself, and although she may not necessarily get the desired ending, she is not pitiful.
So, who is the "poor thing" in the title?