Why do biopics love turning rebellion into an aesthetic? Just watched A Complete Unknown and while it’s visually hypnotic, it felt like someone curated “cool” protest vibes instead of actually wrestling with what made that era’s activism so raw and urgent.

Joan Baez in particular, played with this polished kind of discontent, felt like a character someone remembered rather than a person who actually lived through it. Her activist scenes? Less organic struggle, more “rebellion but make it marketable.” It’s giving carefully arranged chaos, the kind that looks great in a trailer but doesn’t quite land with real weight.

And here’s the thing. I can’t tell if the movie knows it’s doing this. Is it critiquing performative activism? Or is it just indulging in it? Either way, I left feeling like I’d walked through a museum exhibit of “Rebellion™” — beautiful, curated, and weirdly safe.