Billie Eilish in Bell Jar?

Yes you read that right, they are making a movie inspired by the 1963 novel Bell Jar written by Sylvia Plath. There is no doubt that Bell jar is one of the most commendable and important pieces of modern literature and has played a big role in popularizing the genre of feminist literature.

But the book is not perfect and does have some extremely problematic tone and themes. So when I heard that a book as complex as this was getting a film adaptation, I was very confused. In this article, we’ll discuss the cast, director, storyline and how they are going to deal with the problematic themes of the story as well as the portrayal of complexity of the characters on the screen.

Bell Jar is a book about a young woman in 1950s America dealing with depression and suicidal tendencies. This book really revolutionized the way mainstream media looked at women’s mental health. The novel challenged social stigma and sexism. But all this could have still been adapted on the screen; the real problem is that Bell Jar is not a fiction, but it’s not a non-fiction either.

The novel is a semi-autobiography; the characters and setting are fictional, but the events were inspired by the author’s life. You can’t treat Esther (FL) as a character; Sylvia lives in the book through her experiences. Moreover, the story is based inside Esther’s mind; we live in her brain with her. She doesn’t leave us even for a second; you simply can’t replicate this feeling in a movie, especially when the character is dealing with such heavy emotions.

The complexity of the character and the story is not an easy thing to present on the screen. That said, it is not impossible; of course, many movies have been made with similar storylines and have done a very commendable job at transporting us inside the character’s mind. There are a lot of movies with characters dealing with depression, but Bell Jar has turned into a cultural phenomenon. Everyone has a different interpretation of the characters and stories, not to mention Esther is a character based on a woman who gives her characters a happy ending but tragically dies by suicide.

Alright, I’m going to need you guys to be civil when I tell you the casting for Esther is… Billi Eillish, I know. Let us dissect that choice.

Billie Eilish has never acted in a full-length film before; in fact, she has only acted once in an episode of Swarm, where she plays a cult leader, and to be honest, she wasn’t bad. I think she did a great job, but good enough to play Esther? Fuck no. A role as complex as this requires an experienced actress who knows her craft. I think someone like Michelle Williams would have been great; she has such a melancholic look on her face. I loved her in Blue Valentine and Brokeback Mountain, or maybe a new face with theatrical history.

Also, fuck book accuracy, right? Because how does Billie look like Sylvia? And before you start typing, yes, the book never explicitly describes Esther’s looks, so we are going to assume that she looks similar to Sylvia Plath since the book is also a semi-autobiography. I guess the bigger question is, why must there be a big name attached to every movie? Bell jar is a big name; even if you cast a first-time actress, people are going to come to watch the movie. But now this will be a “Billie Eilish movie.”

I hope Billie proves me wrong because I do not have trust in this casting choice. Also, Corner Store is in this movie for some fucking reason; his role is not known yet, but I have zero opinions about him. I haven’t watched a lot of his movies, so we can just hope for the best.

I am a big believer that a director makes or breaks the film; it doesn’t matter if you have the biggest cast, writer, or cinematographer in the world; if the director is trash, the whole film is done for. And so when I heard that Bell Jar is being adapted into a movie, I ran to see who the director is, and I am not mad.

The film is directed by Sarah Polley, who made her feature film directorial debut with Away from Her (2006), for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Director and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She won her first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Women Talking. So I do have some belief in her to do a good job; tbh I’m just grateful that it’s going to be a woman-directed film. I haven’t watched any of her movies, but from what I have heard, she is pretty good. Of course, there will always be better options, but I’m excited for what she will bring to the screen.

Also, the movie has an all-white women crew and cast. I get the cast, of course, but not a single woman of color in top executive roles. This is so ignorant considering the kind of themes this movie deals with: the screenwriter, director, producer, costume designer, camera operators, and sound department—none of them have a leading POC. Let’s discuss more of that in the next section.

The most infamous part of Bell Jar is the constant Racism against people of Color. Let me quote a few instances:

“The city has faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman.

“She just sat there, dusky as a bleached-blonde negress in her white dress and sipped daintily at her drink.”

“Then my ears went funny, and I noticed a big, smudgy-eyed Chinese woman staring idiotically into my face.”

"A tall, indolent-looking Negro walked in with a tray... He grinned, showing two rows of long, yellow teeth."

"I thought the people in Peru were as ugly as Aztecs."

And these are just a few; the book is also filled with fatphobic and ableist remarks. My question is, will Billie Eilish say the N word? Will she look in the mirror and call herself an idiotic Chinese woman? Will she say that the yellow tan makes her look Chinese?

If yes, then I am curious to see how the film will handle such scenes. She doesn’t have to explicitly say the N-word, but there have to be racist remarks throughout the movie as well as microaggressions. Sylvia was a white woman in the 50s, and she was racist as fuck.

If no, then it will be 100x worse because not only are you making a movie on a racist white person, but you are also actively ignoring the blatant racism equipped in their novels; the book is inspired by real events, and the racism is a reflection of what the average white person used to think like. Sylvia wrote this book at the height of civil right movement, black and brown people were marching the streets everyday for their rights, so the average white folks definitely knew what was happening and how wrong it was. Would it be right to erase this history?

The internet is very divided on this movie; while Billie Eilish fans are thrilled, people who have actually read the books are not happy at all. There was no need for a Bell Jar movie; we have tried in the past. The 1979 Bell Jar was so infuriatingly bad I had to stop midway; I mean, it was terrible.

Out of all of the books, they chose this one for screen adaptation, but alas, the production has already begun, and there is nothing we can do about it. The film will most likely be released next year, mid-2027. Now we can only hope that everything turns out to be good.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return