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What Is It?

Name: What Is It?
Director: Crispin Glover
Released: 2005
Duration: 72 min

Representation Score

8.2/10

Excellent

2005

NC-17

Director

Crispin Glover

Runtime

72 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Crispin Glover's experimental drama uses surrealism to externalize psychological trauma and the fragmentation of the self. By focusing on a protagonist battling a racist inner psyche, the film moves away from conventional hero clichés to explore internalized systemic biases. The film's strength lies in its thematic engagement with racial prejudice and its rejection of standard social expectations. It prioritizes an abstract, dream-like reality that challenges mainstream cinematic conventions and traditional moral structures. However, the work lacks explicit markers of diverse identities or clear evidence of non-assuming gender matches what was assigned at birth identities. While it explores psychological distress, it risks relying on traditional clichés regarding mental health.

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Category Breakdown

Does What Is It? have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

While the film doesn't explicitly confirm any queer identities or romantic pairings, it hints at a departure from traditional narratives by exploring a fractured psyche that questions stable, straight-centered structures.

How does What Is It? portray gender?

Fair

The story focuses on a male protagonist's internal turmoil, rejecting typical masculine archetypes in favor of a vulnerable, psychologically troubled state.

How racially and ethnically diverse is What Is It??

Good

The film addresses racism by focusing on the internal deconstruction of prejudice within the protagonist's mind, challenging traditional depictions of racial harmony.

How does What Is It? represent religion and culture?

Good

The work emphasizes a subjective experience over traditional Western morals by centering on a character battling an internal, hubristic, and racist voice, thus critiquing the corruption of the individual psyche.

Does What Is It? include disability representation?

Fair

The protagonist's internal struggle suggests a profound mental health issue or neurodivergent experience. The surrealist approach aims to depict the internal reality of psychological distress without relying on familiar clichés.

Present on Screen

Engages deeply with the deconstruction of internalized racial prejudice.
Rejects standard masculine archetypes through a vulnerable, psychological perspective.
Uses surrealism to explore complex, non-traditional psychological landscapes.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or romantic pairings.
May rely on traditional clichés when depicting mental health struggles.
Does not include clear, diverse demographic markers within the narrative.

Official Synopsis

The adventures of a young man whose principle interests are snails, salt, a pipe, and how to get home. As tormented by a hubristic, racist inner psyche.

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