My Cultural Diet

Charles Burns’ artwork was the main draw for me; his dark inking and woodcut-esque style seems staid and static at first, but it becomes increasingly intriguing and even haunting and surreal at times. Unfortunately, Final Cut’s story left me somewhat underwhelmed with its tale of cinema, unrequited love, family dysfunction, and (maybe) male entitlement. A burgeoning cinephile, Brian makes low-budget sci-fi films with his friend Jimmy, and their planned remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers promises to be their best work yet. But when Brian falls head over heels for their lead actress Laurie, who is going through some relationship drama of her own, his ability to separate fiction from reality grows increasingly fraught. Final Cut is ultimately ambivalent whether Brian’s fixations are tragic or toxic — you could make a convincing case for either one, or both — but it’s stuck with me since finishing the book, and seems particularly relevant in this age of toxic fandoms and “Your body, my choice.”

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