Unleashing unabated feminine powers!

Cruella (2021)

We were introduced to Cruella de Vil in Disney's '101 Dalmations' (1996). At that time, it appeared as a comedy a weirdo lady with a funny flamboyant sense of dressing and two fumbling henchmen with their disastrous attempt at dognapping dalmations for their skin.

This 2021 offering is a prequel of sorts, tracing Cruella (as her previous alter-ego Estella) to her birth, her subsequent loss of her mother and growing up in the streets of London as a petty thief. Estella was born with a half depigmented scalp of hair. Brought up by her single mother, he harboured ambitions of being a fashion designer. Fate had other plans. Her mother died while meeting someone in a big mansion, and Estella had to run for her life. 

The story then goes on to show how Estella starts off as a cleaning lady in a high-end boutique, impressing a particular cranky fashionista Baroness von Hellman and being employed as her assistant in typical rags to riches story. After discovering that the Baroness is her mother's killer, Estella morphs into her alter-ego, Cruella de Vil, a vengeful no-holds-barred perpetrator of evil. 

One particular highlight of this offering is its background music score. It is a repository of pop songs of the 70s, the timeline when this story is set. London, at that time, was at the tail-end of its place as the world's fashion centre. So, it is pretty logical to cast London as its location for a fashion crazed malicious supervillainess.

It is a far cry for the wholesome family offering that Disney intended in 1961 and 1996. In 1961, the animated Perdita and Pongo were talking dalmations trying to save their litter from Cruella. Both versions were more like romantic comedies. Perhaps, in the 21st century, there is no fun in life anymore, and romance has vanished. Life carries a dark undertone with a sombre soundtrack in the background.

Just watch 'Jerry Springer Show'. It kind of shows the thinking of an Average Joe. Nothing is sacred; nothing is taboo. There is nothing to look forward to in life anymore. The mysterious things that used to remain unmentioned in public spaces are no more. There is neither anything sacred nor sacrilegious anymore. There is no filter. One says what he feels and does what he wants. There are no biological differences anymore.

The patient, all-embracing, calm Mother Earth is supposed to reflect feminine beauty. What we see in Cruella, especially between her and her nemesis, Baroness von Hellman, is an example of what happens to unabated feminine power when it is unleashed with no restraints. There can only be mayhem and Hell on Earth.

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