Posted in: Movies | Tagged: bottoms, emma seligman, film, rachel sennott

Bottoms Director on Staying True to the Film's Values

The director of the new teen comedy film Bottoms is discussing reactions from audiences who don't understand its characters.

There's always debate about what makes a final cut work for a film. Some enjoy a "director's cut," some appreciate the final (professionally) edited result, and some even want more audience influence that can come with test screenings, sometimes explicitly designed for plot-point feedback.

Regardless, all options can lead to a very different cinematic effect. But in some instances, there's a reasonable need for a filmmaker to draw a line in the sand in order to maintain certain key aspects regardless of how they're received. Fortunately, the new teen comedy film Bottoms had a strong core team that was prepared to bring this specific story to life.

Bottoms' Director on Early Feedback

When discussing what was needed in the film despite any particular grievances audiences might have, the Bottoms director Emma Seligman shares, "There wasn't one universal, 'You can't include this joke,' you know what I mean? Or like, 'Oh my god, the fighting is too much. It's too bloody.' But everyone sort of had one thing or another that they were like, 'I didn't love this.'" She adds, "There was a lot of PJ specifically, but 'PJ and Josie are unlikeable, and I don't like them.' And I think that I was so naive and shocked that people still say that. Like I almost thought it's a joke at this point that people are like, 'These female characters make sort of questionable decisions, and therefore, I don't like them.' Even if you're like, 'You're not supposed to like them.' You kind of are enough to want to follow the movie, but you're not supposed to think they're good people.

Seligman tells Collider, "And I didn't feel any pressure to rewrite the movie to make them nice because that would totally change what the movie was, but I definitely felt pressure to try to humanize them to a point. We found a sweet spot, and I do think it helped for sure in terms of what you were asking earlier. I do think it's important to care somewhat about these characters. But, yeah, I remember being like, 'Whoa, there are some people still really not cool with – or don't enjoy a movie with female characters that are doing things that are human and shitty and relatable.'"

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