Screenwriter Will Tracy is nominated for an Oscar for his script for the film Bugonia, released in theaters last fall. Bugonia follows a disaffected paranoiac named Teddy (Jesse Plemons), who kidnaps Michelle (Emma Stone, also Oscar-nominated). Teddy, gripped with a fanatical mistrust of society at large, has convinced himself that Michelle, the wealthy CEO of an unethical pharmaceutical company, is actually an alien in disguise who plots to destroy all of humanity.
Through this narrative lens, Tracy’s screenplay indelibly, if uncomfortably, examines several contemporary social maladies like polarization, echo chambers and a lack of empathy for our perceived enemies.
Oscar nominee Tracy visited the local Mill Valley Film Festival when Bugonia screened there last October, and I was lucky enough to attend the film and the following Q&A. The moderator’s first query: How on Earth did Tracy write a character as unhinged as Teddy?
Tracy gently came to his character’s defense: “Honestly, there are days where I feel like Teddy.” This was a bit of an alarming admission to make to a room full of people who had just watched Teddy’s increasingly deranged actions on the big screen for the preceding two hours. But Tracy was merely revealing that he, like any good writer, couldn’t help but feel empathy for the characters he gives life to, no matter how questionable their actions may be.
The matter of empathy is at the heart of Bugonia—key to its narrative, and its effectiveness as a work of art. Wealthy elites like Michelle ruthlessly pursue their objectives with no empathy for those who suffer the collateral damage; in turn, Teddy’s capacity to empathize with her erodes to the point where he no longer affords her basic humanity. As the mind games between Teddy and Michelle escalate, and the stakes become increasingly high, the question of empathy for those who have done terrible things becomes central to the film’s conclusion.
Empathizing with those who have done something wrong, or who hold objectionable beliefs, can be hard to do—and socially risky. Tracy even took a risk by confessing compassion for his screenplay’s demented lead character. But, of course, empathy is essential to a healthy society; we wouldn’t want to live in a world dominated by Michelles and Teddys.
Roger Ebert once said that “films are like machines that create empathy.” I would suggest that if he was right, films are the perfect tonic for many of our current social ills.
‘Bugonia’ is nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture.
