The Substance: The War within the Self

"Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect. One single injection unlocks your DNA, starting a new cellular division that will release another version of yourself. This is the Substance. You are the matrix. Everything comes from you. Everything is you. This is simply a better version of yourself. You just have to share. One week for one and one week for the other. A perfect balance of seven days each. The one and only thing not to forget: You. Are. One. You can't escape from yourself."

In the 2024 body horror film The Substance, the middle-aged actress Elizabeth Sparkle faces a career and identity crisis. Once a shining star in Hollywood, she's now fired by her agency due to her withering looks. Feeling frustrated about retiring from the spotlight, she decides to obtain an injection from a mysterious firm. The chemical compound "grows" a younger, more attractive body out of her original body. Having a new body, "Sue", Elizabeth now has the chance to return to her past, galmorous life. The only catch is, the new body can only be active for a week each time; once the 7-day time is up, Elizabeth must switch from "Sue" back to her original body.

Living as Sue immediately got everything that Elizabeth wished for back - a fitness program deal with the agency, sexual encounters with young and physically appealing guys, even the opportunity to be the host of the New Year's Eve program. However, Elizabeth gradually becomes increasingly addicted to living as Sue. The 7-day boundary began to blur. Sue's active time becomes longer, resulting in the deterioration of Elizabeth's body. Furthermore, Sue and Elizabeth, although technically the same consciousness switching beween two bodies, become increasingly divided. While in the old body, Elizabeth's declining self-esteem compels her to withdraw from the public's eyes and binge-eat her feelings; she also becomes distasteful, even jealous of Sue's spotlight and achievements. Meanwhile, when Sue's body is active, she feels disgusted by the original body and becomes filled with contempt when she sees the messy lifestyle Elizabeth immerse in. Eventually, the repeated violation of the body-switching rule and the warfare between the two identities lead to the death of both Sue and Elizabeth.

Through extreme gore and satire, The Substance conveys several phenomena, such as Hollywood's toxic industry climate and unrealistic beauty standards, and the self-destructive, extreme pursuits of fame and looks. Diving deeper into the movie, I find the conflict between Elizabeth and Sue especially intriguing: it cleverly speaks to a psychological struggle that every audience can potentially relate to.

The Different Facets of the Self

In Psychology, the "self" refers to a person’s perception, thoughts, emotions, and awareness about themselves. In Self Discrepancy Theory, E. Tory Higgins (1987) proposes that the sense of self is multifaceted and can thus be categorized into mainly three different "types". These three types are:

1. Actual self: who you believe you currently are (your attributes, traits, and behaviors)

2. Ideal self: who you aspire to be, based on personal goals and desires

3. Ought self: who you feel like you should be, based on others/societal expectations and obligations

Because we can think about and understand ourselves differently, we might often face discrepancies among these facets of the self. You might currently be an engineer who aspires to be a music producer while feeling like you should be an investment banker. According to the Self Discrepancy Theory, these "gaps" between expectations and reality within the self generate negative emotions such as guilt, shame, frustration, and disappointment. Other self-related theories (e.g., the Multiple Selves Theory) posit that we might even feel as if the different selves within us are sometimes "people" who have their own reasoning and decision-making styles.

To me, the Substance personifies the idea of self-discrepancy. The identity of the fallen star, Elizabeth, represents the actual self: the one that faces the harsh reality in the Hollywood industry. The young, successful, and attractive Sue represents the ideal self, a glorious, past version of Elizabeth that she can't let go of. The tension and conflict between Elizabeth and Sue depict one's internal struggle and emotional build-up fueled by her self-discrepency.

The dramatic peak and nosedive of Elizabeth's story demonstrate the danger behind unchecked self-discrepancy. We see that Elizabeth's desire to re-create and maintain her ideal self (Sue's body) becomes out of control once she gains a taste of temporarily escaping from her actual self (Elizabeth's body); this temporary escape exacerbates the gap between the ideal and the actual self. This is characterized by the escalating hostility and contempt that Elizabeth and Sue feel toward each other: Elizabeth sees Sue as a pretentious, ungrateful replica that steals all the dreams and spotlight, whereas Sue sees Elizabeth as a bulimic corpse that she can't afford to lay her sight on for one second (Sue even builds a secret chamber to "store" Elizabeth's body somewhere out of sight). Alas, little did they remember the most important user disclaimer: "You. Are. One". Elizabeth and Sue belong to the same "matrix" and were supposed to have an equal share of life. However, Sue, drunk on success and showered by love, began pushing the boundary of balance. Going down the slippery slope of trying to maximize the time she occupied, Sue's greed and Elizabeth's self-hate led to the gradual deterioration of Elizabeth's physical body, and eventually, the destruction of them both. Perhaps, all these could have been avoided if Elizabeth were more accepting of her actual, aging self and found the joy and meaning that are unique to growing old.

Plastic Surgery: A Tool that Fuels Self-discrepancy?

One interesting discussion we can derive from the Substance is the pathological attempt to pursue or "recreate" the ideal self. Come to think of it, isn't the effect of the chemical compound from The Substance similar to the function of plastic surgery? With each injection or procedure, plastic surgery gets us closer to our ideal self, or at least, our ideal looks. Plastic surgery seems to give us a chance to escape the constraints of our actual, aging self, and temporarily live as a younger, more aesthetically pleasing version. However, like Sue, we might unwittingly become addicted to living this ideal self. We might even unconsciously think of this temporary illusion as our actual self ("this beauty is what truly represents who I am!"). We might also become increasingly fearful of returning to living as our inner "Elizabeth", the actual self that is less perfect but natural and authentic. When the slightest wrinkles and droopiness pop out as the effect of the procedure wears off, we panic; like the war between Sue and Elizabeth, internal conflicts might also arise when the "gap" between the ideal self and the actual self become wider (since we try to freeze our looks at a certain age but our actual age becomes older and older). As a result, we seek more quantity and frequency in the procedures to maintain the "ideal" self, while our physical and psychological state becomes increasingly distorted. The perishment of Sue and Elizabeth is indeed symbolic: when unresolved tension between the ideal and the actual self reaches a certain threshold, what awaits is self-destruction.

Self-Transformation: Do you hate your past?

The second phenomenon to point out is the hatred and contempt that Elizabeth and Sue direct toward each other. Ponder this question: Is there a version of you in the past that you try to suppress, avoid thinking about, or even hate? I've made the same observation on friends who had "dark" episodes of their past: bullied or suffered low self-esteem because of their looks, weight, introversion, or sexual orientation. They were all motivated to undergo a dramatic positive transformation, such as losing weight, changing how they dress, and building a successful career.

"Can you believe how ugly I was? I was disgusting, and look at me now!". While I was happy to see them becoming a better version of themselves, I noticed the discomfort, sometimes even contempt, in their tone when they spoke of their past, almost as if they were belittling their past self to affirm their current self. (Had they watched the Substance with me, I would have encouraged them to reflect on the quote: "You. Are. One"!). I also noticed they tended to become overly clingy to the things that maintained their current self and distinguished them from their past: (extreme) body building, luxurious clothing, make-up, plastic surgeries, and social media. In my eyes, these things, or at least the marketing of them, are "the substance" that nourishes the Sue within them. These pursuits are reminders that they've left their past self behind. However, the fact that they showed contempt toward their past is a sign that they never fully accepted that part of the self; instead, they try to run away from it, just as Sue's attempt to avoid Elizabeth.

A more healthy stratagy, in my belief, would be to take some time to directly enageg their past selves with a non-emotional or positive manner: revisit the photos, written works, videos, or even thoughts of their past self; become aware of/appreacite how their past contributed to the parts of them that they like today; become aware of the fact that the different facets of the self, including ones that they grew out of, remain precious parts of their identity. This holistic integration and appreciation of the self might also allow them to become more accepting when the state of their current self inevitably changes or fades through time.

Concluding Thoughts

Our ability to evaluate our past self, imagine our future self, and think about the "what if" about ourselves gives rise to an internal "multiverse" that carries different versions of the self. Sometimes, self-discrepency motivates us to become better or to see more possibilities. However, it's important to be mindful of whether unrealistic societal standards, medical and technological advancements, and the marketing of certain products tempt us with an "ideal" image that fuels a chronic disharmony within the self. If you feel like there are growing gaps between, for example, who you want to be and who you currently are, and there are rising negative emotions and obsessive behaviors that accompany this self-discrepency, it might be useful to consider the following questions:

1. What are the sources of information that form your definition of your ideal self? Is that information realistic, logical, and authentic?

2. What are the emotions you feel and the attitudes you have toward your current/actual self? Are they highly negative? Why?

3. What are the parts of your actual/current self that you would like to grow/improve? What parts do you appreciate and love?

4. Can you construct a coherent life narrative/story that integrates your actual self, ought self, and ideal self by linking your past, present, and future together?

Most importantly, even when you have achieved a better, closer-to-ideal self, remember to love your past, present, and future selves equally. Remember, each version and facet of yourself makes up who you are and will remain a part of you as you move forward. Rather than locking the parts of you that you don't like in the basement, integrate them by constructing a healthy narrative of growth, resilience, and redemption.

Remember. You. Are. One.