gynocentric vs naked

[bitterfig]

I watched the Mike Leigh film Naked.  It’s one of those movies-like Young Adam and almost everything by Lars Von Tier-that really confuses me.

It was a darkly fascinating film, mesmerizing and David Thewlis was excellent (and naked-- God I love English films-- what do Americans have against male full-frontal nudity?) in it.  However the

Comments

[bitterfig]

It's interesting you brought up the Will Farrel movie. After I wrote this I was thinking that I would rather watch something like Naked or Breaking the Waves that is honest in it's ambivalence than something like You've Got Mail which is all about a man deceiving a woman put really candy coats it and makes it seem not just acceptable but desirable. I feel like a lot of mainstream American films (which I avoid whenever possible) really present a warped worldview under the guise of comedy or romance.

The portrayal of the misogynistic character is important and in Naked the mistreatment of women certainly seems ugly but I think what really got to me in Naked is how easily it is accepted. Borderline schizophrenic ex-boyfriend appears at your flat wrecking havoc, whatever. Crazy homeless man shows up at your door, slaps you around makes cruel remarks about your age, just another night. Landlord rapes you then won't leave, go out to the pub for a bit and maybe he'll go away.

Part of me feels like a total hypocrite for being bothered by this considering the nature of a lot of the stuff I write.

[krystal_moon]

Borderline schizophrenic ex-boyfriend appears at your flat wrecking havoc, whatever. Crazy homeless man shows up at your door, slaps you around makes cruel remarks about your age, just another night

Johnny isnt really any of these things. Watch the scenes when he is talking to strangers (especially Brian), and you see his eyes light up. When he is talking to Brian, you realise that he is passionate about values. He is not a hypocrite on what he believes. The one thing that makes him dislikable is that he hates the world- to him, it is dumb down, hyprcitical and cynical

e.g. when he is talking to the homeless Scottish girl and she mentions her good luck charm. He asks her is he is supertitious, she says no and he asks "Why have a good luck charm then?" to which she doesnt reply, a sign of the hypocrisy in the world.

And with Brian... oh this is the best scene in the film. We see a side to Johnny that we dont see anywhere else. He has someone to contradict and argue with- you could see, in terms of his beliefs, he has found someone who understands what he is saying.

so back to my original point, I dont think he's crazy. He's just an intellectual crushed by the cynic world

Of course, thats just my opinion from watching the film too many times :-)

[bitterfig]

I was being really broad in that statement and really looking at Johnny's behavior outside of the larger context of what we know about him in the film. Again, the scene with the older woman, he's no one to her, an anonymous street person yet because he's a man and she's a woman who is older than he thinks she should be he's capable of attacking her intimately and totally shattering her.

I hadn't really thought of it before but I think I do see Johnny's character as being mentally ill. This might have be a totally personal reaction but his speech patterns and movement as well as the preoccupation with the end of the world really reminded me of people I've seen in the manic phase of bi-polar disorder.

I suffer from mental illness (depression and anxiety) myself so I may have a tendency to see it where it isn't but I know it's made it especially difficult for me to accept and cope with the world's cynicism and hypocrisy.

I really identified with Johnny up to a point. That point being I will always turn on myself before I turn on others.

[krystal_moon]

Out of all the women in the film, the only one he comes close to respect is Louise and that is only at the end. Well, the older woman probably means nothing to him because in his words, "you look like my mother" and from what you hear, the one women he seems to detest the most in the world is his mother. We dont know why and we dont ever find out. Oh and theres the homeless Scots girl and the girl who lets him have a bath and some beans. I dont know whats going on there LOL

Yes, when you first watch the film, you do see Johnny as a negative person. It took me several viewings to see that he's got a brain and a heart (although the latter is hard to find) :-)