Hello beautiful people!
Back in November I took a trip to Chicago and had the pleasure of viewing Where’d you go, Bernadette? on the plane. Synopsis an architectural genius loses her passion after sacrificing for her family. She puts aside her fears and pursues an adventure that terrifies her, but ultimately leads her to find herself. This movie is about 2 hours long I was only able to watch about an hour and 30 minutes of it and was left on a complete click cliffhanger. I was desperate to know does her family find her?
During this time at home, all I could think was this is the perfect time to search for this film. I’d tried before but it came out in 2019 so it hadn’t come out in 2 Amazon Netflix or Hulu just yet. Luckily I googled it and saw I could watch it via YouTube, Amazon or Hulu for 3.99 rental. Where’d you go Bernadette is about an architect who raises her daughter Bee while her husband works for Microsoft. Bernadette was one of the youngest most brilliant female architects in history. She is incredibly eccentric and doesn’t get along with their neighbors. Throughout the film, we see Bernadette in an incredibly anxious state about many aspects of her life but especially about being around people. She rants and raves throughout the film about various subjects to her virtual assistant and an old friend.
The reason I love this film is that it passes the Bechdel test. The Bechdel test states that two women have to be on screen without a man and not discuss a man. It is also very appropriate for these current trying times when everyone is in a state of panic and kind of renting ranting and raving about what should we do next? Who are we really? What is our true purpose?
Throughout the film we see Bernadette struggle to work on the house they bought. Since she is such a world-renowned architect you would expect that finishing the house she bought (that basically needs to be condemned) would have been an easy task for her, however, we discover there are more intricate reasons for her hesitation to work on the project. She also points out that she’s an artist and she has to be inspired by a lot of information – such as how many people are going to use this? Are they male or female? Can I see the space that they’re going to be living in? She someone who has to kinetically touch the space as well as visualize all the potential so she can come up with solutions to multiple problems that other people wouldn’t necessarily see.
I think in a time where everyone is feeling upside down due to the current pandemic, Where’d You Go Bernadette? reminds us that sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself. Bernadette set aside her fears of people and of travel all for the sake of not letting down her daughter. In her drive to go to Antarctica to be with her daughter and husband, her husband and daughter realize why she has been so riddled with anxiety and sorrow. As a result, they are more open to supporting Bernadette emotionally and supporting her to find her next project. When they find her she has already accepted an amazing architectural endeavor but vows she will turn it down if they want her to. This film reminds us it’s okay to take a break, then come back reenergized.