Emma Stone’s Poor Things got the world talking for many reasons, one of which is thanks to a very crude implementation of an apple.
The movie follows Stone’s Bella Baxter, who is reborn thanks to the sick and twisted experiments of Willem Dafoe's Godwin Baxter. After reviving her, Godwin then cares for Bella as if she were his child.
The unique twist with Bella is how she starts with an infant's brain in an adult body and, therefore, grows and uniquely experiences the world. Needless to say, this can lead to some controversial scenes.
Emma Stone Did What With an Apple?
Fans are aflutter throughout social media, shocked by a big scene in Poor Things involving an apple.
The scene in question happens early in the movie. At this point, Bella is still extremely immature and going through some early developmental milestones (relatively speaking).
One of those is when Bella starts to realize when she touches herself a certain way, it feels very good. That is about as much as she understands, not yet comprehending any concept of societal expectations regarding something like self-gratification.
So, this results in Bella grabbing an apple from the dinner table and using it on her privates while she attempts to reach climax.
Understandably, this shocks Vicki Pepperdine’s Mrs. Prim and Ramy Youssef’s Max McCandless, who urge her to stop immediately. Bella is only minimally phased, as the scene ends after she reaches for a more efficient, but still inappropriate, tool.
Bella Baxter's Poor Things Journey
So why does Poor Things' apple scene even exist?
Well, this particular moment is an important first step in Bella Baxter discovering herself.
She would go on to have quite a lot of fun with Mark Ruffalo's Duncan Wedderburn. Then, after he becomes a ridiculous mess, her life intersects with a brothel in Paris, where she experiences the world of love in an entirely different way.
Now, many of these scenes likely made audiences feel uncomfortable—which is entirely on purpose. Bella is still basically a child, yet countless men are pining for her.
The societal dynamics and expectations at play are what the movie is putting under a microscope. So, for those who squirmed a little bit, know that means the film succeeded in what it was trying to achieve.
While Bella embracing her sexuality itself is a key part of the story, it also plays into every other aspect of the film.
A key pillar of this is the thematic commentary about a woman living in a man’s world and how someone would turn out if they hadn't been through the same societal conditioning that everyone goes through since birth.
Emma Stone’s Poor Things explores so much that’s important, yet many seem stuck going on about a silly Apple.
Poor Things is now playing in theaters, but the film is expected to be available on demand sometime in early 2024.
