How Did This Needledrop End Up Everywhere?

There’s a rumor that I’m enjoying it Mom, Netflix’s new action movie starring Jennifer Lopez. But really, I’m not so sure if that’s true. One moment at the very end of the movie, I was too stuck to remember what had happened before. Everything up until the last 10 seconds was more than usable – at least I think it was. As soon as I heard two piano notes, everything turned into a flat, static noise, followed by the familiar hum of a certain English chantelle clattering on a beat of the determined and victorious-looking J.Lo: Oooooooohhhhhh haaaaoooooooooo.

If you haven’t yet experienced the phenomenon of music supervisors cramming Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” into a piece of visual media you’re watching, either you have hobbies that don’t involve staring at the screen all day (good job!) or you haven’t seen it yet. Mom (a curse on the firstborn). At this point, “This Woman’s Work” begins to give direction to any song. Suicide Squad or guardians of the galaxy soundtracks in terms of purely overuse.

This is like when most of us cried watching that gay episode. what’s left of usbefore the most annoying people online cropped to say“Stop weaponizing Max Richter’s ‘On the Nature of Daylight’.” Since its release in 2004, Richter’s song has been what’s left of us, Arrival, Dungeon Islandand a few other movies and television shows as well. I’m not deaf enough to notice the repetition of a sloppy orchestral piece, but I definitely do for a bravura vocal performance from Kate Bush. And I’m afraid many music supervisors misunderstand the purpose behind “This Woman’s Work” and use it as an exaggerated form of emotional exploitation.

“This Woman’s Work” was written by Bush for John Hughes’ 1988 film. she has a baby. The song is introduced at a pivotal moment during the movie, which is generally a romantic comedy – until the titled baby she gave birth to knocks on the door and the movie suddenly takes on a very real gravity. In a hospital waiting room, Jake (Kevin Bacon) reflects on his relationship with his wife, Kristy (Elizabeth McGovern), whose health is in jeopardy during childbirth, when their child is put in an upside down position. Jake understands that he might lose Kristy, his kids, or both, and he can’t even be with them right now. While waiting for the news, a flashback montage of her life played by Kristy is set to “This Woman’s Work.”

It sounds a little stale and distinctly 80’s, but the scene is incredibly effective in its context. This is especially true given that the audience is hearing “This Woman’s Work” for the first time; It was written by Bush about experiencing a crisis during childbirth from the male’s point of view. The video for the song blurred these details a bit so it could resonate with a wider audience, but the meaning of the song remains the same. Simply put: If you’re going to use “This Woman’s Job” in a movie or television show, it should stray from the fine line between sentimentality and hockey.

In the past five years alone, I’ve witnessed two shocking and haunting demotions of “This Woman’s Job” for equally horrific but different reasons. The first was at the second season premiere. Handmaid’s TaleIt’s where a group of about 50 servants are sent to a barren, dystopian version of Fenway Park and forced to climb the gallows, where they think they’re about to hang under the glare of the stadium lights. While loops are being put around their necks, Bush’s unforgettable tune is heard. “I know you have some life in you / I know you have a lot of strength left,” she mutters, as the maids silently look at each other with their mouths shut and tearfully attempt to accept their fate.

it’s absolute torture to watch. Brutal to the point of audience manipulation, it’s pure trauma porn from a show that makes its name by trading material. And Bush’s song, once a delicate examination of life’s fragility, becomes a ruthless ammunition stripped of all meaning to give audiences a psychological beating.

Somehow, the fact that this scene is a big fake, that no one actually died, just feels more brutal. I am very angry Handmaid’s Tale I was so upset after that episode that the writers and music consultants thought no one would tell them about their bullshit, I never watched another frame of the show. Was I paying for Hulu at the time, so would my viewership or lack of views have any impact on its metrics and margins? No. But I like to think I’m doing this to them.

The second shrewd use of “This Woman’s Business”, as it was just this year, A Man Named Otto. That Tom Hanks clunker is already a deeply confused movie narratively, and that doesn’t help. Otto When it comes to sprinkling exciting resonance throughout the movie, he has no reasonable idea where to start. However, the only thing that counts for this intro is that it’s common sense to emulate how the song is used. she has a baby (However, if you have to imitate a scene that already works much better, you’re dealing with bigger problems than deciding which song to play.)

Inside OttoIn Bush’s song, there is a flashback to a young Otto (played by Truman, Hanks’ real 27-year-old son) and his pregnant wife in a bus accident. Destruction intersects with present-day Otto preparing a suicide attempt, which he ultimately did not live through. Frankly, none of this is funny. However, the way the film presents them together has an atmosphere similar to that scene in the movie. Handmaid’s TaleYou wouldn’t believe how far someone goes to make you cry.

Writers and music consultants think that if we cry, we will be blinded by our own physical emotions. The simple biological action of moisture in our tear ducts turns us into vegetables. If we choke, we automatically assume it’s related to the goodness of a movie or a television show. That’s not the point! Sometimes, it’s just overwhelming. Other times I cry with laughter; There’s nothing more hilarious than seeing a bus spinning in slow motion with Kate Bush’s wail. At this point, the use of “This Woman’s Work” becomes a parody and you basically want me to chuckle.

And now, with Mom, we chipped this poor, abandoned Kate Bush song into nothing more than a pin drop of the last credits. supposedly Handmaid’s Tale And Otto It didn’t do a good enough job at destroying all the power of “This Woman’s Work”. Mom He showed up to get the job done. In the last seconds of the movie, Jennifer Lopez, who saves the day and her daughter, smiles to herself and turns in a different direction. Bam! Tick ​​”This Woman’s Work”. Cry, you little baby!

Netflix

The song is completely out of place here, and its use in the film also fails to do a good job of looting our better judgment. It does not reveal any tears or even a lump in the throat. It’s kind of there. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that Netflix still owns the rights to several of Bush’s songs circulating after the success of “Running Up That Hill” last year. stranger thingsand he threw the song there because it wouldn’t cost them another penny.

While I can’t help but be happy for Bush’s continued longevity and late success, somewhere a line must be drawn when it comes to one of the greatest voices and songwriters of the past century. However, the bastards in Bush’s art stand out too much for my liking. However, it looks like they’re still working on some of them, given that “This Woman’s Job” has grown in search popularity since then. Momrelease, according to this tweet Kate Bush News from her fan account. And again, in the replies under that tweet, there are vending machines that are victims of the song’s overuse. One user “Couldn’t have been better than this moment” aforementionedBy connecting the “This Woman’s Work” scene Handmaid’s Tale.

Yes, maybe. It could be much better.