The weekend has been all aflutter with the release of the new trailer for the movie “Wicker,” which is based on a short story “The Wicker Husband”. It stars Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgard, and Peter Dinklage. The movie centers on a single, middle-aged fisherwoman, whom’s ridiculed by the village people because of her marital status. She goes to the local basket weaver/magician and asks him to make her a husband. It takes a month, and she is quite pleased with the results. Throughout the trailer, especially the UK version, they are shown in various states of sex and how he affectionately treats her.

This has brought out all the creature/monster lovers. Mainly book girlies. Video after video, all I observe are women excited about seeing the movie. Women wanting to have their own wicker husband. And I will not count myself out of either of those. I am excited to see the movie for various reasons. 1. The woman isn’t the standard Hollywood beauty. She is older and not “glamorous”. As someone who turned 40 a few months ago and loves to write about older women, I’m all for it. 2. The husband’s made just for her. In a world where relationships seem complicated for various reasons. Cheating is rampant, etc. It’s refreshing to see this “man” only has eyes for her. The UK trailer has more scenes demonstrating this than the US trailer. 3. They have sex. Nothing more to add to that one. So, yes, I am very excited to watch this movie. I’m ready to reserve my AMC seat right now.

However, with cheers come jeers, and this is mainly the reason I wanted to write this article. I’ve seen men upset about the trailer and women’s reactions to the wicker husband. Some are spellbound why women would choose a man made of wood over one of flesh and bone. I’ve also seen multiple men refer to this movie as the reverse of “Obsession”. It is not.

The difference between “Obsession” and “Wicker” is a gap as far as the borders of Texas. First, “Obsession” is about a man wishing a woman he is in love with felt the same for him. Essentially, the wish is granted, and Nikki, the victim, has her autonomy taken away from her. The old Nikki still lives in the body, and comes out in multiple parts of the movie, but she is not herself. She now exists only to love Bear, against her will. Because of this, their friends and people around them are affected in deadly ways. Nikki becomes so obsessed with Bear that her every waking moment revolves around him. She duct-taped the door to prevent him from going to work so he could stay home with her. When he went to work and came home, she was standing in the same spot as when he left, covered in sores, feces, and urine. She killed their friends for coming between the two of them. In the end, when Bear kills himself to stop the wish, the real Nikki comes back and has to deal with all the consequences of Bear’s wish. All the deaths are on her hands because, technically, she killed them.

In watching the trailer for “Wicker”, the scenarios are not the same. The wicker husband is not flesh and bone. He doesn’t already exist in the world, well, besides the tree he was taken from. However, we’re talking as humans here. He was created especially for one person. His autonomy wasn’t taken while his real self lay trapped inside an already fully functioning body. The wicker husband was made from materials in nature and brought to life with magic and passion. They aren’t indications of obsession. In the US trailer, she states, “he has his days, I have mine, and we have our nights” suggesting that they still have their own lives and move freely without getting in each other’s way and at night, they are fucking. Sorry, not sorry! He’s even seen at the bar with the other men in town, alone.

I also want to point out a big thing regarding the sex scenes. In “Obsession”, when Bear and “Nikki” are having sex, you can see she’s not there. Her eyes show dissatisfaction and have a distance to them. Her soul has gone from the experience. On the opposite side, the wicker husband is eager and seems to be the main one who wants it. Especially by the way he snatched her up after she saw his penis grow for the first time.

So no, this isn’t a reverse “Obsession”. It’s a romantic fantasy of a woman who wants companionship and instead of settling or taking away someone’s autonomy, she has a partner made just for her. It’s not complicated at all. Yet, I believe men make it that way as a “gotcha” to women.