Racquel Gate's book "Double Negative", in which she dedicates a portion to reanalyzing "The Associate", argues that texts that have been deemed negative or bad, such as "The Associate", are often assumed to have nothing of critical value to offer. Her rereading of the film suggests that perhaps it reception falls victim to the same patterns that its content critiques. Gates writes "y criticizing "The Associate" for not privileging her white, male creation, the reviewers inadvertently underscore how deep the problem truly runs" (Gates, 108).