my thing with anora is the same thing i had with poor things which is they're both very clearly male-directed movies about women's sexuality and people want to act like you said men can't make movies about women when the issue is that their male gaze is inextricable from their art and that becomes an issue when we want ani to be a fully developed character and she isn't. i watched the girl with the needle earlier today and had the same issue bc the movie is about motherhood, but it's told through the lens of a man.
