Of course, it’s not a huge surprise that Mia Goth’s performance got turned into memes at various points in the film. Not only does Mia Goth nail her performance, but there is something depressingly relatable (and funny) about Pearl as a character. Who among us has not gotten our hopes up a little too much for something, only to have the dream come crashing down? Who hasn’t tried to hide parts of themselves to people they like, only for it all to slip up to the surface? Admittedly, it wasn’t great that Pearl murdered all those people, but hey, nobody’s perfect.
Much like with “M3GAN” in 2023 or Dani (Florence Pugh) in “Midsommar,” the internet loves to ironically rally around a female character who takes things into her own hands, who self-actualizes in her own twisted way at the expense of the people around her. Morally, none of these movies belong in the “good for her” genre of film, but it’s fun to pretend like they do.
The “I’m a star!” meltdown likely blew up as much as it did because most of us do understand the impulse to react as Pearl does to a crushing rejection. But whereas we usually have the dignity and self-control to not have a public meltdown, Pearl has no such qualms. She makes zero attempts to hide how devastated and angry she is, and we respect that. As we wait for the final entry in Ti West’s “X” trilogy, “MaXXXine,” to release in theaters, we can only guess what sort of deeply-troubling, unforgettable moments Mia Goth will gift us next.