The Kind and Angry Feminisms Of The 'Knives Out' Movies
Why the Agatha Christie novels are racist and Benoit Blanc isn't like Hercule Poirot after all
31st December 2022 was the best New Year’s Eve I’ve had so far! I spent it at home with my family—eating sushi, drinking red wine, and watching the Knives Out sequel that has been on everyone’s mind, Glass Onion.
As someone who once consumed Agatha Christie novels for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, mystery stories in all formats have become a bit predictable. Though I still enjoy consuming them, I am rarely truly shocked by, well, anything.
I’d seen Knives Out in early December after a reinvigorating morning spent crawling through an escape room adventure with my team at Bound. The film was well-made and entertaining, but predictable. Then, I started seeing Twitter blow up about Glass Onion. Twitter did not disappoint.
Poor WOC vs. Rich White Men
A pattern emerges: a young, poor woman of colour, working an undervalued job like a nurse or a school teacher, fighting against a rich White entitled man.
In Knives Out, Latina nurse Marta Cabrera becomes the focus of the Thrombey family’s ire when she inherits all their wealth—left to her by the recently deceased crime novelist, Harlan Thrombey. Also, she’s pretty sure she accidentally killed him and spends most of the movie trying to hide this fact. The final twist reveals Harlan’s grandson, Ransom, to be the real culprit. He’s the black sheep of the family and pretends to be Marta’s confidant while trying to get her blamed for the murder.
In Glass Onion, Miles Bron is an eccentric entrepreneur with a penchant for puzzles and a newly purchased island that houses his ‘glass onion’. But behind the smoke and mirrors, he is just an extremely confident mediocre man who has murdered his ex-business partner and the real tech genius, Andi Brand. He’s in for a rude awakening when he faces Andi’s twin, Helen, a poor school teacher who poses as Andi to get justice. The movie’s name is an ode to The Beatles’ song that focuses on the same class struggle.
What’s A Benoit Blanc?
Benoit Blanc is a Poriot-like figure if you replace the Belgian accent with a cartoonish Southern drawl and Poirot’s ramblings about his ‘little grey cells at work’ to Blanc’s ramblings about ‘the doughnut within the doughnut’. Benoit Blanc even sounds like a vaguely French name.
But while Poirot is the leading character in Agatha Christie’s novels—the genius detective that solves the most unsolvable cases—Benoit Blanc is just…around.
In Knives Out, he doesn't know who hired him and asks for Marta’s help to solve the case. Later, he reveals that he suspected her from the start because of a blood stain on her shoe. But Marta is the one who runs around trying to cover up the murder she believes she committed. In the end, Blanc solves the case by reading a medical report uncovered by… you guessed it, Marta. He simply has the authority to point at Ransom and say, “You’re the killer.”
In Glass Onion, Benoit Blanc is again approached by the twin sister Helen (revealed in the second half of the movie) and shows up on Miles’ island to help her. He potters around while Helen gets a makeover, pretends to be Andi, sneaks into people’s rooms, uncovers secrets, and almost gets killed! Once again, he solves the case, but the ‘revenge’ is enacted by Helen.
The genius of Benoit Blanc is that he doesn’t act like the protagonist or hero detective here to save the world or solve the unsolvable. He acts as a foil or a distraction from the true ‘heroes’ of the story—Marta and Helen.
There are no heroic rescues. Even his ‘I know who did it’ scenes lack the smugness or satisfaction we have come to expect from the current trend of Sherlock Holmes-inspired egotistical detectives. In Knives Out, he rages against the family for their hypocrisy and then very kindly explains to Marta that she’s, in fact, free of blame. His (once again) angry monologue in Glass Onion about the stupidity of the crime and the criminal is simply meant to be the distraction while Helen is finding the clues she needs to find her sister’s murderer.
Another refreshing thing about Benoit Blanc is the complete lack of romantic interest or sexual chemistry between him and the leading woman. Instead, he is an ally or at least a semi-paternal figure. Glass Onion also nods to Blanc being gay with his lovely partner, Hugh Grant. A bold move, but how whether this will be properly explored in the coming movies is yet to be seen.
Eternal Racism Of Agatha Christie Novels
Have I mentioned how much I love Agatha Christie’s novels? I really do. But the classist and racist messages with colonial undertones are hard to swallow: from ‘exotic’ settings like Egypt to the depiction of non-White people as servants, criminals, or just plain untrustworthy, often accompanied by strange descriptions of appearance and behaviour. Even Hercule Poirot, who is labelled as the Belgian ‘foreigner’, is not safe from the stereotypes of these novels. This BBC article lays it all out. And this is the best-case scenario. Google the history of ‘And Then There Were None’. I dare you.
Knives Out (and Benoit Blanc) is not only an ode to the classic Agatha Christie ‘cosy mystery’ but also a subversion of the racist and classist stereotypes that it often propagated.
Knives Out reveals the hypocrisy of the ‘respectable family’, who cannot give up their privileges no matter their politics, which range from Neo Nazism to socialism. Marta is supposedly loved by the Thrombeys, though they can never remember which country she’s from. When her employer—the famous author Harlan Thrombey—dies, they promise to take care of her. Until they find out that Marta has inherited the entire estate. Then they start accusing her of seducing Harlan and threatening to reveal her mother’s undocumented status. A poignant moment is when Ransom screams that Harlan’s mansion (now owned by Marta) is the Thrombey family’s heritage, only to be told that Harlan bought the house from a Pakistani family.
Kindness And Rage: Two Sides Of The Same Rebellious Coin
Knives Out tell us that not all forms of feminist rebellion are loud and noisy–sometimes quiet acts of protest can be more impactful. Marta’s rebellion is subtle. She proves her innocence by doing what Ransom did not expect—trying to save the housekeeper, Fran, instead of letting her die. This one simple act saves her from being framed and uncovers Ransom’s deceit. In the end, we see her standing on the balcony of the Thrombey house, looking down on the family and deciding whether to help them or not.
Marta sends a powerful message: in a world of discrimination and ignorance, kindness is powerful.
Ultimately, Marta stays true to herself and does not succumb to the wishes of anyone: the Thrombeys, Ransom, Benoit Blanc or the 'benevolent' Harlan Thrombey who put her in this situation in the first place. Here’s an article on why kindness can be radical and how we can practice it in our everyday lives.
Glass Onion takes on a different beast—the eccentric billionaires of today who go on ignorant rants, buy Twitter, become presidents, and leave us regular folks frustrated. Miles Bron thinks he can get away with anything, including murder. When Helen realizes that the proof of Andi’s murder has literally gone up in flames (holding the evidence within arms reach of the actual murderer is such a rookie move), her quest for justice turns into pure unadulterated rage. We spend almost 15 minutes watching Helen destroy Miles’ collection of artwork, make his house explode, and burn down the Mona Lisa. And it is glorious.
There is something cathartic in watching the unbridled expression of anger rarely seen from women on screen or in the real world.
What makes this scene especially satisfying is that the anger is not devalued as Helen being helpless or ‘emotional’. She inspires the others to stand up against him. She destroys his business, credibility, and the illusion of grandeur and imperviousness he has built for himself, his ‘friends’, and the audience.
Glass Onion shows us a reality where justice cannot be found through existing systems which are controlled or evaded by those in power. Like Miles’ friends, sometimes people will choose to reinforce these flawed systems for their own benefit. In such a situation, the only way to be heard is to burn shit down (metaphorically)! Mona Eltahawy talks about why anger is important for women and can lead to real change in her newsletter.
What Do We Take Away From This?
Be angry. Or kind. Or both. As needed.
Carry yourself with the confidence of a mediocre straight White man.
Write your own reimaginings of Agatha Christie novels! Hercule Poirot is officially in the public domain in the US. Every year a new Poirot book enters the public domain, so far including The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder on the Links, Poirot Investigates and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. But the books will not become public domain in the UK until 2046 (70 years after Christie's death). Read More.
Other Stuff
Words of affirmation to watch every day -
A hilariously meta Agatha Christie movie to watch! - See How They Run - available on Disney+ Hotstar
It’s a good song for your playlist -