Warning: This post contains major spoilers for Polite Society
Polite Society ends in a mash-up of genres that sees the Khan sisters running for their lives from a group of angry wedding guests. Written and directed by We Are Lady parts creator Nida Manzoor, in her featured directorial debut, Polite Society is an action comedy that sees Ria Khan, an aspiring stuntwoman, planning a wedding heist to rescue her sister Lena from what she believes to be a villainous mother/son pair.
Polite Society ends with Ria’s friends drugging and kidnapping Lena (Ritua Arya), Ria (Priya Kansara) attempts to hold off Raheela (Nimra Bucha) from realizing Lena is gone with a Bollywood-influenced dance. But it's not long before Raheela realizes something’s amiss and goes to check on Lena. Raheela and Ria fight, and she’s thereafter held hostage. Meanwhile, Lena is whisked away to the altar, but before she can sign her life away in marriage, Ria outs Raheela and Salim’s (Akshay Khanna) true intentions to the guests, though they don’t believe her. Lena realizes it’s all true, leaving Salim as she and Ria fight Raheela on their way out, defeating her before driving off together.
Raheela & Salim’s Nefarious Plans Explained
Raheela and Salim worked together to bait women into marrying Salim, with the latter charming women on dates, making sure he was the utter gentleman, before proposing to them. It wasn’t marriage or love that Salim wanted at all; he wanted to marry so that he could work discreetly on his testing and experimentation. Salim’s OB expertise would bring to life Raheela’s dream of living anew, which she believed she deserved after marrying so young and stepping into the role of mother, thus robbing her of her life’s potential.
Salim promised his mother that she would get to have that dream realized, and so he and Raheela concocted a plan to clone her and then implant Lena’s uterus, so she could carry the clone to term. Their Eid soirée was just a ruse to select the woman they believed possessed the most perfect womb: Lena. By whisking Lena away to Singapore, Salim and Raheela would be free to control her without external influences thwarting their plans, forcing her to have a child she did not ask for.
Why Lena Doesn’t Believe Ria About Salim
Lena wants to move past being a failed artist, and Ria’s insistence that Lena shouldn’t marry Salim makes the elder sibling more stubborn about doing just that. Lena loves her sister, but she also feels like Ria doesn’t fully understand why Lena’s making such a decision. Admitting the truth, that Lena doesn’t think she’s a good artist, would have hurt the both of them, so Lena avoids looking too closely at Salim beyond the surface. The more distance Lena put between herself and Ria, the easier it was to convince herself that she was doing the best thing for her future and family.
What Ria Would’ve Lost If Lena Had Married Salim
Ria’s intense feelings about Lena getting married so quickly wasn’t simply about losing her big sister to marriage. Ria knew that if Lena married Salim, she would have essentially given up on her dreams of ever being an artist. If someone as talented as Lena could so easily discard her art and potential, then there was no hope for Ria realizing her own dream. As Ria’s biggest supporter, Lena’s nuptials made Ria realize how swiftly her goals could be derailed, and how easy it would be to give up the fight against societal expectations. Ria wasn’t just losing her sister; she was watching her hopes of being a stuntwoman slip away along with her.
What Happened To Salim’s First Wife?
Salim was married before, but his wife died in childbirth. What he leaves out is that she likely died because of the testing he was doing on her. Despite Salim being a successful OB, it could be that carrying a clone of his mother would have its fair share of complications, and that likely affected her in ways that a regular pregnancy would not have done. Considering that Salim probably didn’t care for his first wife or her wellbeing, he might not have taken any precautions, using her as an experiment to deliver the results he wanted.
How Raheela’s Scheme Upholds The Patriarchy
By wanting to live a full life by way of her clone, Raheela is preventing another woman from doing the same. She treats Lena like a vessel instead of a person, putting her in a situation she did not consent to and in which she wasn’t told the truth. Raheela was only thinking about herself and achieving her own dreams. Her actions essentially uphold the patriarchy, as she’s using her own power and socioeconomic status to harm other women in the process of getting what she wants. By doing so, Raheela takes away Lena’s right to choose, forcing her into a marriage while repeating the same cycle that got Raheela to where she is now.
Why Kovacs Decides To Help Ria & Her Friends
Kovacs is Ria’s school bully, and the two are always battling each other in the hallways. However, Kovacs decides to help Ria not only because she promises to do her homework for the rest of the year, but because Kovacs — who doesn’t see her dad very often — knows what it feels like to not have someone you love around all the time. Kovacs’ decision shows that she and Ria have more in common than they think, and that beneath Kovacs’ surly demeanor is someone who simply wants the love and support Ria has with Lena.
What’s Next For Lena: Will She Return To Art School?
Lena admits that she might not be a good artist, and her art school dropout status likely made her feel like she wasn’t going to achieve her dreams. She was fine with getting married because it was what her parents, and society, wanted. But after her disastrous wedding and seeing Ria’s excitement after hearing back from Eunice Huthart, it’s possible Lena could either return to art school or find an entirely new dream. If Lena goes back to art, she might feel a lot less pressure considering she tried to go the route everyone wanted her to take. Regardless, Lena can now move forward with honesty and without the weight of expectation.
The Real Meaning Of Polite Society’s Ending
Polite Society highlights how societal pressures stemming from patriarchal structures influence a woman’s future and sense of self, including how some women uphold patriarchal structures and gaslight others to ensure they maintain power. When no one expects much from Lena’s future besides marriage and childbearing, she is seen as a failure, and her own outlook is affected by it. Polite Society also speaks to socioeconomic status and its influence on reputation. As an example, Raheela and Salim are seen as better than others in the South Asian British community because of their wealth, whereas Ria and Lena’s family is seen as lower in status, which is also affected by the sisters’ less reputable career choices.