Slanted
- Ben Pivoz
- a few seconds ago
- 3 min read
Satire can be difficult. Lean too hard in one direction and it is too subtle for the audience to understand. Lean too hard in the other direction and it is so blatant it is practically slapping the audience in the face. The satirical comedy Slanted spends too much time in the latter category and not nearly enough in the ideal middle ground. The premise is essentially Mean Girls meets The Substance. That promises something ripe for commentary, while creating the danger of attacking a very easy target. It ends up playing it pretty safe, giving its audience a production that acts like it is risky, but ultimately isn’t close to being as bold as either of its two most obvious inspirations.
Its biggest gags almost come off as a parody of American mockery, they are so over-the-top and rely on tired clichés that they don’t make any kind of point (“Americans love guns, beer and blonde women” isn’t exactly cutting-edge analysis). The central story works as an identity crisis for a young woman desperate to fit in. It is decent when it doesn’t try to cram its message into the plot, though it only occasionally allows it to come out organically. It has nothing new to say about popularity, racism or assimilation. Something like this needed scalpel-sharp writing. This is far too dull.
Joan is a Chinese-American high school student, living with her Mandarin-speaking parents. She has dreamed of being prom queen since she was little, but that title is always given to a blonde white girl. Just as Joan begins to consider how she needs to change so she can be like everyone else, she begins to receive messages from a mysterious company offering a solution to her problem: a surgical procedure that turns people of color white.
The main idea in Slanted (99 minutes, without the end credits) is that pretending to be someone we aren’t can erase our identity. And yet some elements of society push people toward thinking that sanding themselves down so they don’t stand out is the answer. Well, there can’t be discrimination if everyone is the same! In the world of this movie, becoming “white,” embracing stereotypical American values and looking like everyone else is the key to happiness. Some of the people who have undergone the procedure do actually appear to be happy. They are satisfied with sacrificing individuality in the name of hollow success.
If the screenplay (by director Amy Wang) had explored that idea more fully, with thought and insight, this could’ve been interesting. Instead, it is empty provocation, safe and filled with cheap-shots. This is Wang’s feature-length debut, both as a writer and as a director. It is clear she wanted to come out swinging, taking deadly aim at a culture that has made it far more challenging for someone like her to get opportunities.
She combines premises in a way that I haven’t quite seen before. However, the result is so tame that it has no impact. Some of the jokes do land okay. The scenes involving Joan being talked into getting the surgery are darkly funny. The ones showing her parents reaction to her new identity are heartbreaking. This one-two punch suggests what Slanted could have been. Unfortunately, its satire has no bite and its body horror is basically nonexistent. It is an intriguing concept that falls very flat.
2½ out of 5
Cast:
Shirley Chen as Joan Huang
McKenna Grace as Jo Hunt
Fang Du as Roger Huang
Vivian Wu as Mrs. Huang
Amelie Zilber as Olivia Hammond
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Brindha
Written/Directed by Amy Wang