i watched an interview with sofia coppola and kirsten dunst where the interviewer kept obliquely referencing how this film “removes” certain aspects of the book (all hints of blackness), but neither director, star, nor interviewer were able to address the topic directly. the film is justified as a “feminist” statement in distinction from the macho 70s version; it focuses on the female POV, blahblahblah. it’s a very effective demonstration of white supremacy, the sanitized illusion that black life is absent; whiteness is all that exists. with a critical mindset, there is a lot to be learned watching this film. the lingering question, however, is whether it was ethical to produce it to begin with.
i heard from another (unverified) source that coppola decided to erase the central black character of the novel from her adaptation because “little girls watch her films,” and she didn’t want to depict a black slave—which is an idea i can get behind, but i don’t think the palpable void at the centre of this film was intentionally integrated into its structure. for example, i don’t think the little girls coppola caters to will be able to pick up on how much the invisible presence of slavery informs what is happening onscreen. in my assessment, this film is illustrative as a failure; it was unethical to produce, and should probably be kept away from its target audience.