Spinster
I’d read about Spinster and heard rave reviews on CoSP (and even on Rotten Tomatoes), but just never had gotten around to watching it. But, as a cinephile, particularly with respect to pro-single movies, I am required to review it, as the trailer did pretty much read “pro-single.”
And it’s THE ultimate pro-single movie. Chelsea Peretti of Brooklyn Nine-Nine starts as Gaby, who begins the film by getting dumped by her boyfriend on her 39th birthday. Even as she’s begging him to stay, she doesn’t appear totally enthusiastic about their relationship, which gives us a foreshadowing.
At points, she compares herself to her friends and family members her age who’ve gotten married, had kids, etc. Her married friend, Amanda, seems to detect that Gaby, at this point in the film, may be experiencing societally conditioned, internalized singlism. “Do you actually want to find that forever person?” she asks with a tone of skepticism.
Gabi does the whole swiping thing, and we see her being less than enthralled with the dudes she meets on those apps. After one that ends in what appears to be a lukewarm sexual encounter, she decides to do the things she’d been putting off doing for a partner. She adopts a dog, Trudy. She opens a restaurant. Side note: her father, who abandoned the family, gives her $25,000 to do so. Gaby mentions that her brother and sister got much more for their weddings. One review I read ascribed this complaint to Gaby’s entitlement, but the way I see it, if you’re going to give your kids money, spread it equally, no matter what the reason.
The movie is also sharply observant when it comes to singlism. In an early scene involving a gathering of parents at Amanda’s house, she hears, “Who will take care of you when you’re old?” To be fair, Gaby does fire first by criticizing parenting, but in a later scene, the “bingoer” appears to have come around by mentioning, “That’s an advantage of being single” when Gaby discusses how much time she’s putting into her new restaurant.
In that same scene, a dude named Blair claims, “No one is single by choice” and then goes on to lambaste Gaby in that his kids will be paying for her pension. Fortunately, the women swoop down on Blair like crows, and Amanda and Gaby appear to respect each other.
There’s also Gaby’s brother, divorced and adrift in singlehood. His stand-up comedy act consists of a rant about being divorced, and Gaby even encounters him on the app. And Gaby grows by hanging out with his daughter, Adele, once a week. Her character development consists of her becoming the cool aunt (something I wouldn’t mind). She teaches Adele how to knit, and an even more important life skill, how to assert herself. There’s also a next-door neighbor with whom Gaby bonds, biology professor and lifelong single. On others’ perceptions of singlehood, she says, “People need to mind their own fucking business.”
I’d read the Wikipedia summary before watching it, so I knew about the tease toward the romance at the end. While hiking solo, she encounters a dude who’s gotten lost. They spend the rest of the day together, and even kiss, but Gaby decides, “I’ve got my shit together. Why ruin it?”
Gaby’s a single at heart. Her character arc just involved coming to terms with that. Many reviews described Spinster as the anti-romcom, and it’s accurate. My only quibble: I don’t typically complain about movies being too short, but I might have liked just a bit more insight into what makes Gaby tick, which would have made the Single at Heart message hit home more. But hey, maybe this film will be a trendsetter.
And it’s THE ultimate pro-single movie. Chelsea Peretti of Brooklyn Nine-Nine starts as Gaby, who begins the film by getting dumped by her boyfriend on her 39th birthday. Even as she’s begging him to stay, she doesn’t appear totally enthusiastic about their relationship, which gives us a foreshadowing.
At points, she compares herself to her friends and family members her age who’ve gotten married, had kids, etc. Her married friend, Amanda, seems to detect that Gaby, at this point in the film, may be experiencing societally conditioned, internalized singlism. “Do you actually want to find that forever person?” she asks with a tone of skepticism.
Gabi does the whole swiping thing, and we see her being less than enthralled with the dudes she meets on those apps. After one that ends in what appears to be a lukewarm sexual encounter, she decides to do the things she’d been putting off doing for a partner. She adopts a dog, Trudy. She opens a restaurant. Side note: her father, who abandoned the family, gives her $25,000 to do so. Gaby mentions that her brother and sister got much more for their weddings. One review I read ascribed this complaint to Gaby’s entitlement, but the way I see it, if you’re going to give your kids money, spread it equally, no matter what the reason.
The movie is also sharply observant when it comes to singlism. In an early scene involving a gathering of parents at Amanda’s house, she hears, “Who will take care of you when you’re old?” To be fair, Gaby does fire first by criticizing parenting, but in a later scene, the “bingoer” appears to have come around by mentioning, “That’s an advantage of being single” when Gaby discusses how much time she’s putting into her new restaurant.
In that same scene, a dude named Blair claims, “No one is single by choice” and then goes on to lambaste Gaby in that his kids will be paying for her pension. Fortunately, the women swoop down on Blair like crows, and Amanda and Gaby appear to respect each other.
There’s also Gaby’s brother, divorced and adrift in singlehood. His stand-up comedy act consists of a rant about being divorced, and Gaby even encounters him on the app. And Gaby grows by hanging out with his daughter, Adele, once a week. Her character development consists of her becoming the cool aunt (something I wouldn’t mind). She teaches Adele how to knit, and an even more important life skill, how to assert herself. There’s also a next-door neighbor with whom Gaby bonds, biology professor and lifelong single. On others’ perceptions of singlehood, she says, “People need to mind their own fucking business.”
I’d read the Wikipedia summary before watching it, so I knew about the tease toward the romance at the end. While hiking solo, she encounters a dude who’s gotten lost. They spend the rest of the day together, and even kiss, but Gaby decides, “I’ve got my shit together. Why ruin it?”
Gaby’s a single at heart. Her character arc just involved coming to terms with that. Many reviews described Spinster as the anti-romcom, and it’s accurate. My only quibble: I don’t typically complain about movies being too short, but I might have liked just a bit more insight into what makes Gaby tick, which would have made the Single at Heart message hit home more. But hey, maybe this film will be a trendsetter.
