Sometimes, films paint 30 year olds as adults. In theory, we are adults but sometimes, it isn’t really that easy to figure out what an “adult” is supposed to do. Especially when it comes to love. Materialists is one for the messy girls who are trying to figure it out.
**Spoilers for Materialists lie ahead**
Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a woman in her 30s working as a match maker for the rich socialites of New York City. Despite her ability to find love for her clients, Lucy herself hasn’t lucked out. But there are aspects of her character that I think are incredibly relatable. Especially when it comes to her new relationship with Harry (Pedro Pascal) and her old relationship with John (Chris Evans).
In a flashback, we get to see how John and Lucy break up and she says something that really stuck with me. She recognized that she didn’t want to think about money in her relationship, that she wanted her love for John to be enough but it wasn’t. To me, that’s incredibly realistic.
We look at love as enough to fight through anything but the reality is that it isn’t! Money plays a huge part in a relationship falling apart and she was right, in that moment, to say that. It is why her relationship with Harry, at first, made sense. A rich man who took her to dinner and didn’t need a special occasion to do so was what she wanted.
And I like that Celine Song doesn’t make that a bad thing. It is just what Lucy needed in that moment to realize that it isn’t just about money either. Love is complicated and Lucy had to come to that realization all on her own.
We love who we love, no matter how messy the journey is
We’re told that you shouldn’t love someone for their height or how they look or the money they make and I love that Materialists shows us that people care anyway. But what I love more is that Lucy isn’t perfect. We see her fancy job, her nice clothes, and then she reveals that she makes $80,000 a year before taxes. Which, if you live in New York, is not that much.
When a client gets hurt, she takes on the stress and the upset of the situation and tries to make it right because she just wants her to know she cares. I find that highly relatable. It isn’t on Lucy or her fault and yet she wants to fix things. As someone who is a people pleaser and doesn’t like when someone doesn’t like me, I understand the motivation.
Lucy is flawed, honest, and someone who closes herself off from expressing her emotions to those close ot her. It is why John asking if she’s okay is so beautiful. I am often that way. I don’t want to express what is going on with me, but if you ask I’ll open up and I like that we have that in Materialists.
Flawed women are the best
Since the dawning of film, women are told they have to be one way or another. We’re either villains or perfect little princesses. It has, in a lot of ways, given many of us a complex. Because what if we have layers and don’t always make the best decision first? I love that we’re starting to see more well-rounded and real female leads.
Materialists allows Lucy to figure it out. She doesn’t head into this movie with everything in her life right as rain. She’s trying to navigate being in her 30s, working, and finding love and that’s what we’re all trying to do.
I love her. Not because I relate to her (I do though) but because she feels like a real person and kudos to both Celine Song and Dakota Johnson for bringing to life a character who isn’t going to be perfect. She’s real.
(featured image: A24)
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