Is Disney's New Movie, 'Poor Things,' A Celebration Of Promiscuity And Defiance?

The film, starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and vocal progressive Mark Ruffalo, has been lauded for its celebration of feminist principles. Stone portrays Bella Baxter, a reanimated corpse with the brain of an unborn child, in a narrative that draws heavily from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

The film's plot centers around the male characters' failure to control their female creation as they had planned. Instead of a docile and manipulable woman, Bella Baxter evolves into a fiercely independent woman, as described by the Hollywood Reporter. The character rejects societal norms and asserts control over her body and identity, refusing to be dominated by men.

 WATCH: DOOCY AND KJP ARE HAVING A LITTLE FUN FOR A CHANGE

Rolling Stone commended the film for its depiction of the character asserting her independence on her own "sexed-up, pro-science terms." The film includes multiple sex scenes intended to portray female empowerment. In one scene, Bella Baxter describes how Wedderburn (Ruffalo) reacted when he discovered her promiscuity.

 WATCH: AOC AND MTG FIGHTING IN CONGRESS

In response, Max McCandles, a character hired to document the progress of the female experiment, states that he has no right to judge her actions. "I find myself merely jealous of the men's time with you, rather than any moral aspersion against you. It is your body, Bella Baxter, yours to give freely," he says. Bella Baxter responds, "I generally charge 30 francs."

 CAUGHT ON CAMERA: THE DIDDY ASSAULT FOOTAGE THAT'S TOO OLD FOR JUSTICE? (WATCH)

The film's feminist narrative is its primary focus, with humor playing a secondary role. In a pre-release featurette for the movie, Stone shared her thoughts on her character, saying, "the more autonomous [the character] becomes, the more challenged these men seem to be by it." She added, "I wanted to play Bella because it felt like acceptance of what it is to be a woman: to be free, to be scared and brave."

 HEY, WISEGUYS! AMC’S TRIGGER WARNING FOR ‘GOODFELLAS’ SPARKS OUTRAGE

 UTTER CHAOS: BOEING WHISTLEBLOWER'S SUICIDE NOTE REVEALS DECADES OF IGNORED WARNINGS

The film and the book it is based on, published in 1992, present a clear portrayal of a feminist character who is ahead of her time but oppressed by the men around her. The book describes the character's pursuit of her sexual desires around the world. A review from 1992 noted how the character became a "famous campaigner for health education and women’s rights," but was "defeated by public mockery and interference orchestrated by profiteering English newspapers."

 NEXT LEVEL DAZED AND CONFUSED: BIDEN APPEARS UTTERLY LOST AS HE CLAPS FOR CEASEFIRE

Even in the early 1990s, the character was depicted as a "feminist doctor with a burning commitment to social justice" who is unjustly silenced. The book's author, Alasdair Gray, was a politically active Scottish nationalist and separatist.

 FROM GOLF GREENS TO SIN CITY: DC MAYOR'S SPENDING SPREE CONTINUES ON YOUR DIME

He controversially referred to English immigrants to Scotland as "settlers" and "colonists," but clarified that he considered settlers of any background to be beneficial, while he defined colonists as immigrants who exploit Scotland's arts or business sectors, only to return home for promotion or retirement.