Zoë Kravitz is speaking out about why her goal to “reclaim” the word “pussy” with her latest project didn’t go over so well.
While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the Batman star, reflected on her directorial debut with the upcoming thriller, Blink Twice, and explained why she had to nix its original title, Pussy Island.
“It was made very clear to me that ‘pussy’ is a word that we, our society, are not ready to embrace yet,” she said in the interview.
“There were a lot of roadblocks along the way, whether it be the [Motion Picture Association of America] not wanting to put it on a poster, or a billboard, or a kiosk; movie theatres not wanting to put it on a ticket.”
Zoë said she ultimately had to change the title after discovering some women — the film’s target audience — were put off by the term.
“Women seeing the title were saying, ‘I don’t want to see that movie,’ which is part of the reason I wanted to try and use the word, which is trying to reclaim the word, and not make it something that we’re so uncomfortable using,” she explained.
“But we’re not there yet. And I think that’s something I have the responsibility as a filmmaker to listen to,” she added.
“I care about people seeing the film, and I care about how it makes people feel.”
Written by Zoë and E.T. Feigenbaum, “Blink Twice” follows a tech billionaire (played by Channing Tatum) who welcomes a cocktail waitress to join him and his friends on a luxurious vacation on his private island. But things take a sinister turn.
Despite having to change her project’s OG title, the Big Little Lies actor says that the spirit of Pussy Island is “still alive” and “present in the film”.
“I do believe that Pussy Island was the first thing I wrote down when I wrote this movie, and it’s the seed of the film, and the spirit of what that means to me is still alive and very much present in the film,” she shared.
In the end, Zoë, who began writing the suspense horror script with Feigenbaum in 2017, says she’s pleased with the altered name.
“I love the new title. I’m happy with the new title. I think everything happens for a reason, and I think it actually really focuses the movie in a great way,” she added. “And I think that was always the way it was meant to be.”
Blink Twice, which also stars Christian Slater, Simon Rex and Alia Shawkat, hits cinemas next month.