Smile and The Cassandra Effect

Within the first few scenes of the 2022 horror film Smile, the audience encounters Laura, a Ph.D. student who witnesses the suicide of a university professor, arriving at a hospital constrained to a gurney. Frazzled and sleep-deprived, she makes it clear to Dr. Rose Cotter, the psychiatrist assigned to Laura's case, that she isn't unhinged and proceeds to give a coherent and articulate, albeit frantic, account of her experience following the suicide. An unrecognizable "thing" is haunting Laura. She recognizes her encounter and subsequent emotional response will appear fantastical and unbelievable to others, which forces Laura to instantly warn her doctor against any mental incapacitation. However, her demeanor should tell Rose that her patient isn't incompetent but laden with legitimate fear. [1]

Nevertheless, Rose responds in the usual concerned but robotic, almost indifferent manner that plagues women who speak up and out. However, once Rose begins experiencing the same demonic entity her patient warns of, others treat her like a mentally unhinged half-wit. Rose's knowledge and work experience become increasingly insignificant once Laura's horror becomes her own. The entity Laura falls victim to, and Rose attempts to identify and fight off, has left a prevailing trail of suicides for which no one is paying attention. Its patterns are real and aren't taken seriously by those not affected. Although Rose eventually discovers the creature's identity and history, the task requires Laura's suicide and Rose's unraveling. The film displays a historical and social theme of being skeptical about what women say and how they say it, which has now transformed into an ongoing sociocultural concern. Both women in Smile vocalize with gumption about the creature plaguing their waking and sleeping moments but suffer the consequences of The Cassandra Effect and a contemporary social structure based on not listening to and believing women.

The Cassandra Effect involves someone, usually a feminine-identifying person, making a valid assertion of imminent danger and others disregarding the warning. Coined after priestess and Trojan princess Cassandra, King Priam of Troy brushed off his daughter's warnings when she relayed the hazard of sending her brother, Paris, on a voyage where he coincidently returns with Helen of Sparta. She knew Troy would fall to Greek soldiers if Helen wasn't returned to her home and husband, Menelaus. Despite Troy's ongoing political conflicts with other nations, King Priam oddly dismissed Cassandra as hysterical and ignored her forewarnings.

Like Cassandra, Laura and Rose attempt to foretell how The Monstrosity will impact humanity based on their real-time, personal knowledge. [2] And only one person is affected at a time, making it difficult for anyone beyond Laura or Rose to feel the urgency of what's going on. The movie's byline, "once you see it, it's too late," indicates that a solitary encounter with The Monstrosity intentionally perpetuates uncertainty and distrust. Its objective, like Apollo's when he bestowed his "gift" of prophecy onto Cassandra, is to create an atmosphere of doubt and confusion. [3] The goal seems feminine-centered, desiring a gendered and binary interpretation of gumption and mental instability. For instance, the movie depicts men also succumbing to The Monstrosity, but the male characters refuse to inform anyone about their experiences. They either remain quiet and die or, like one character, prefer an incarcerated life rather than reveal to anyone what happened to them.

The film's theme and our social atmosphere indicate feelings surrounding women speaking. Patriarchy would rather wrestle with danger and destruction than take a woman's experience at face value. When the choices are to either believe a woman or perish, misogyny will take a chance on perishing.

[1] Dr. Rose Cotter is referred to by her first name throughout the movie. Interestingly, her professional experience and title are no longer utilized once she begins responding to the creature's torment. [2] The creature causing havoc goes unnamed in the movie, but is listed as The Monstrosity in the movie credits. [3] Apollo is a classical mythological god who attempted to seduce Cassandra. When she rebuffed his advances, he punished her with the ability to foretell the future and have the public doubt her.