Three Billboards: Fighting Fire with Fire

Post by Emily McTyre

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri tells the story of Mildred Hayes’ (Frances McDormand) fight for her daughter’s justice through bold revenge on the local police department. After months of waiting for the officials to track down her daughter’s murderer and gaining no information, Mildred takes a stand by calling out Chief of Police William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) through three stranded billboards. Once Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) gets involved, the conflict is turned on its head, and things get out of hand, to say the least.

Looking at the line-up for this previous award season, Three Billboards didn’t fall in line with my favorites. I enjoyed the film, of course; it is a brilliant piece of art in many, many aspects. Still, I feel like the reason it wasn’t up as high on my list is because I couldn’t truly relate to it. I understood the story and its message, but I feel like the illustration of the message was so out of my reach, so exaggerated that the movie seemed more like a midwestern fable or an expressionistic allegory than a narrative piece.

Before I continue, let me emphasize my disclaimer. As a film, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is a brilliant art piece, full of intelligent writing and directing, beautiful cinematography, and outstanding performances. The reason I was not as drawn to is as others was because I could not personally relate to the narrative. However, the story’s message is one that I believe should be advertised and shared around the world.

Here’s the message I got: don’t fight fire with fire. The writers go as far as to even show this moral in a literal sense over the course of the movie. Explosions, arson, guns -- it is all blatantly there for you to see. As the story progresses, each revenge plot falls into a ping pong pattern. One character makes his or her move followed by another’s, which seems to be worse than the previous, and it spirals out of control.

I haven’t read much into the making-of for this film yet, so maybe the story was written this way on purpose. It seemed like that to me. The characters’ reactions to their scenarios were either so over the top or so out of the blue that it was impossible for me to relate to their emotions and thinking processes. Even really serious and heartbreaking moments in the story left me feeling untouched.

There is a fine line, though, that I’d like to clarify. The actors’ performances are the last thing I’d attribute to this disconnect. The small but mighty cast deserved all of the recognition it got throughout this year’s award season. Frances McDormand owned this movie with Sam Rockwell following close behind. Without their larger-than-life portrayals, the story would not have the same effect that it does.

My personal perspective on Three Billboards is that this is a movie you are not meant to connect with, but rather a movie you are supposed to carry with you. I feel like I speak for most of the audience when I say I wouldn’t throw someone out of a window then walk outside to continue beating them up, not matter how angry I was. I wouldn’t use someone’s illness to promote my cause. The lives of Mildred, Dixon, and Willoughby are placed in a realistic and relatable setting but are told in a more-than-distant manner. But it gets the message across. Like I said, Three Billboards is telling us to not fight fire with fire.

Ever-present themes of racism, sexism, police brutality, rape, and many other types of social issues are scattered throughout Three Billboard’s story. The way these characters deal with the injustice is almost juvenile; they try to one-up each other with every move they make. Yet, when they are able to finally see eye to eye, talk out their issues, apologize for their mistakes, and evaluate future consequences, the blaze subsides. It is a message for us all to carry out of the theater. As Penelope recites from her bookmark in her book about polio (or is it polo?), “Anger begets greater anger.”

Don’t fight your battles with more fire. It will only add to the flames. Take a step back from the fight. Take in the previous damage done by both you and those around you. Take into account the possible consequences of your future actions. Take others’ opinions in your stride, keeping an open mind. Then and only then, you are able to make rational decisions to better the world and people around you.