Why is the ending of Beatriz at Dinner so disturbing?
Because throughout the film, we have witnessed our own whiteness: normalized, privileged, comfortable. And then we are confronted with the stark reality of existential choice.
Salma Hayek is Beatriz
There are only three ways the film can end:
- White people heal ourselves and change.
- White individuals are killed.
- Healers die.
The first option is decidedly unappealing. The Trump-like character of Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) reeks of white fatalism, and his supporting cast stinks of white fragility. What can one do but ignore the damage and keep doing whatever provides pleasure?
The second option doesn’t solve the problems whiteness has created for all other living beings and the planet.
The third option is our history and our present. Are we so incapable of sacrifice, so afraid of discomfort, that we have already surrendered the future?
Brilliant, unsettling filmmaking suitable to this desperate era. A must see.
