Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religious Music and Entertainment
Marie Antoinette: Let Them Eat Diamonds

Marie Antoinette: Let Them Eat Diamonds

Last updated on: June 28, 2025 at 9:52 am by Chase Padusniak

0 Comments

Marie Antoinette: Let Them Eat Diamonds 2025-06-28T09:52:43-04:00 Chase Padusniak

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Marie Antoinette with two of her children (1785) by Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller
Source: Wikimedia
License

Confession: the only Sofia Coppola movie I’d seen until last week was The Bling Ring (2013). Confession: I didn’t care for The Bling Ring. Confession: of the three Coppola joints set before me in the last week—her best-known films from The Virgin Suicides (1998) through the subject of this essay—only one resonated. One spoke to me, cried out and found a listening ear. The phrase? Let them eat cake!

I remember when Marie Antoinette (2006) came out, and I was far too young, male, and at baseball practice to care. I vaguely remember some controversy about Chuck Taylors and Iggy Pop or whatever. Kirsten Dunst saying “the line.” In retrospect, it all seemed so 2006.

Ladies, gentlemen, those in between—I was wrong. Marie Antoinette deploys the occasional punk or industrial track to bring late eighteenth-century Versailles to life. The piccolo just doesn’t do it for us anymore. Behind the petticoats, powdered wigs, and be-ribboned shoes lies the fundamental human desire for fun, an infatuation with surfaces. We love to lose ourselves in things. And Marie Antoinette, plucked as a teenager from Habsburg Austria, does just that.

She faces demands too. Most notably, she must produce an heir. Her husband Louis’ virile brothers seem to have no problem siring. So, what’s up with him? Or, rather so far as the court and society (including her own mother) are concerned: what’s up with her? Can she not seduce him? Louis, we learn, is technically minded, shy, not a bad man but not much for lovemaking. Asexual? Probably not. But he’s not going out of his way.

Long stretches of the film pass sans dialogue. What little human noise we do get is chatter, gossip. What’s with the king’s mistress? Why isn’t the dauphine pregnant? Did you see those shoes? This is always the reality of court life, vain and self-obsessed. Versailles, however, is the Platonic ideal of court life, Real Housewives for the ancien regime. Coppola captures this fact masterfully. She created what The White Lotus (2021-Present) believes itself to be.

The film is a portrait of life in a dollhouse. With total commitment, it labors over sumptuous meals, big wigs, and manicured trees because that is the essence of its subject’s life. These aristocrats are prisoners of their own position, wastrels and scoundrels with very human desires. If audiences need a Converse or two to understand that, fine by me.

Do I wish Coppola had covered the Affair of the Diamond Necklace? Do I wish we’d gotten more Maria Theresa? Yes and yes. Coppola, however, did not set out to please the history nerds. She set out to bring history to life. In this, she succeeds—her obsession with surfaces and female imprisonment finds the perfect subject matter.

Catholic

Religious Art

Previous Post

June 22, 2025

If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?

Next Post

July 6, 2025 Dude, Where’s My Car?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Do The Right Thing was a terrible movie, with a terrible message, a man owns ..."

Frank Holzhauser

Do the Right Thing: What Can ..."

"NOT the experience of those who actually lived through those years. Let's not forget that.Too ..."

captcrisis

54: Let the Good Times Roll

"Your accurate assessment of where the Blockbuster and the studios have ended up reminded me ..."

Dave G.

Jaws: Ad Fontes

"Another Dementia experience: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkbxNibXiLx_ak8IuhZiutd2Fxe7_KAon&si=VhOYNUIBV3CTlyDf"

Ame

Dementia: Silent Nightmare

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Culture Politics Reviews Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the Israelites worship while Moses was on Mount Sinai?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A golden calf A statue of Moses A bronze snake The ark