http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/index/ All Things Matte Chi en info@mattechi.com Copyright 2008 2008-11-19T21:59:47-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/movie_notes_the_suppression_of_sexuality_and_puberty_in_let_the_right_one_i/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/movie_notes_the_suppression_of_sexuality_and_puberty_in_let_the_right_one_i/#When:21:59:47Z As is often the case, Stephen Patrick Morrissey has said it long before anyone else has. Of course, it could only be the bard, someone who once avowed that he was asexual, who could have prophesied the themes explored in Tomas Alfredson's "Let the Right One In." First of all, we give props to Manohla Dargis in her review because she got the title's reference from the start - that's why we all love her so. But she glossed over the crux of Morrissey's persona - sexuality, or supposed lack thereof, in all its ambiguous glory. So onwards to the Word of Moz shall we? (*NOTE: There are spoilers here.) Let the right one in Let the old dreams die Let the wrong ones go They cannot They cannot They cannot do what you want them to do Oh ... Let the right one in Let the old dreams die Let the wrong ones go They do not They do not They do not see what you want them to Oh ... Let the right one in Let the old things fade Put the tricks and schemes (for good) away Ah ... I will advise Ah ... Until my mouth dries Ah ... I will advise you to ... Ah ... let the right one slip in Slip in Slip in And when at last it does I'd say you were within your rights to bite The right one and say, "what kept you so long ?" "What kept you so long ?" Oh ... Not to say that the song by itself encapsulates the whole of of the movie but it gives us and may have even given the writer, John Ajvide Lindqvist, a fertile starting point from which to begin. At the end of the film, the dangling question in my head was whether or not we had in fact, actually seen the beginning of the story. This made me wonder if Eli was in fact quite as innocent as we (including Oskar) were led to believe. The movie may play as a sort of love story, but really, this pseudo happy ending actually points us toward Oskar's inevitably gloomy fate, the same as Hakan (Eli's caretaker, once lover or steady). Flashback to the scene where Hakan comes back empty handed. We're not sure who is talking, but based on the logline, we can guess it's the vampire. And knowing what we know going into the theater, we know the middled aged, Hakan, is being berated by what should be a young girl. We notice an upended power structure - something that will keep coming up. The mature vindictiveness with which he is chastised takes us by surprise. The hierarchy is clear here: Hakan is vassal to the Virgin Queen, almighty. From the start, we're introduced to Hakan's impotence, his inability to fill his role as hunter / gatherer. In fact, later on in the movie when Hakan goes out for another blood-run, he rhetorically asks, "what use am I?" Well, he gets the answer later: if he can't procure blood from somebody, his body must supply the blood. The film takes pains to mirror Hakan with Oskar - their knifeplay, their social awkwardness, and the power Eli has over them. Remember, ladies and gentlemen, the vampire always seduces, and those beings they do not turn into food or vampires are always their slaves. In this light, this courtship between Oskar and Eli is more like a seduction by the vampire, knowing that Hakan's usefulness had come to an end, she reaches out for a new slave. Remember, Eli's been twelve years old for a long time. How long? There may be a hint. In her apartment, Eli points out what looks to be some form of Faberge egg. The first egg was created in 1885. She may not be Anastasia (who was sixteen when she disappeared), but those eggs are hard to get a hold of these days if you get my meaning. So what I'm saying is that she must've gone through a few different Hakans and Oskars during her tenure as a vampire. The intriguing thing about the relationship between Eli and Oskar is their sexual ambiguity. There are all kinds of signs here that muddles things up. It's hard to tell what sex Eli or Oskar is in the first place, and even when we do know this, there are constant equivocal reminders placed throughout the film to confuse us. For instance, there are quite a number times where Eli asks Oskar if he'd still like her if she wasn't a girl (this we're to understand as her way of telling him she's a vampire). There's also the not so subtle hint that Oskar's father is gay and this might be the reason why Oskar's answer to Eli's question is that it doesn't matter if she's not a girl. But the real reason why it doesn't matter is because we meet Oskar before the onset of puberty and Eli, who may have reached puberty before she became a vampire (we discover this because the director slips in a few frames of her naked body as Oskar's POV when Eli changes) must live in a state of suppressed sexuality in order to survive. The relationship between the two will only work if Oskar gives up his masculinity, his sexuality, becomes eunich like Hakan once did. It gets a bit complicated here, but I think we can manage. First Oskar. As Oskar's confidence grows with Eli's help, we discover that his empowerment is purely negative. Oskar's confidence grows only based on his ability to say "no." There are disastrous results to this. Each time Oskar says no, in fact, a body shows up. We get to the scene where Oskar brings Eli to the teenager's hideout. Not knowing that they're supposed to make out, Oskar instead cuts himself in order to make a blood bond with Eli. Well this masculine act of violence, instead reveals Eli's true nature as a vampire. Next take the scene where Eli drops by Oskar's place. Throughout the movie, we're reminded that a vampire needs permission to cross the threshold of a house. They need permission to transgress. Oskar still hopped up on his own testosterone doesn't give Eli permission and here is where the real seduction takes place: Eli performs the transgression, and as a result, she well, secretes blood - which will kill her. As a vampire, her whole point in life is to maintain a sort of menstrual constipation - she is not allowed to release blood from her body, she must disallow this cleansing and also in effect disallow her fertility, suspending her sexuality. In order to save Eli's life (as it were), Oskar must allow her into his home. Do you see what's happening here? The classic roles of male and female are reversed here when he allows Eli to enter into the sanctum of his home. By allowing Eli into him, in a sense, he stops the bleeding and thereby stops Eli from crossing the threshold of puberty. Once more, Oskar says, "no." How fitting that he would then offer Eli his mother's dress to change into now that there is no chance of any other relationship between them. And while on the face of it, the film may seem like a coming-of-age love story, I'll argue against it and say that the film is a parable exploring the dangers of suppressing growth, whether it be sexual or social growth. Roger Ebert gets close when he says: Remove the vampire elements, and this is the story of two lonely and desperate kids capable of performing dark deeds without apparent emotion. Kids washed up on the shores of despair. But Morrissey hit it on the nail when he described how complex things can be when you wrap up sexual ambiguity along with isolation and depression experienced by the outcasts of this world. Having said all this, I'd recommend taking a look at the film again and considering this time around the themes of sexual ambivalence and suppression which I think is what really disturbs the audience when they see the relationship developing between these twelve year olds. P.S. While researching a bit I found an article about real life clinical vampires. Not related per se, but outrageously interesting: "Human Living Vampires - What Investigators Need to Know" 2008-11-19T21:59:47-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/diary_of_a_road_once_travelled_san_francisco_to_new_york_circa_2001/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/diary_of_a_road_once_travelled_san_francisco_to_new_york_circa_2001/#When:15:50:12Z Long, long ago, in some not too distant past, when cellphones, let alone, the internet, were still in their infancies, two travelers embarked upon a walkabout, or shall we say drive-about, from San Francisco to New York. These two sojourners, Amol Sarva and Matte Chi brazenly traversed the American flatlands with nothing more than a Motorola 2way, a Morrissey tape, a digital camera, a road atlas, a used Mercedes Benz (aka, The Silver Ghost), and all the money in Amol's pocket. During these ancient times, these two young men made the trip, unceasingly running for the sun which rises in the skyscraper-ed east and lived to blog about it. Read on, lost reader: "SFNY - There & Back {Again}" From the archives: A Tellme recording from Ohio 2008-11-18T15:50:12-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/my_antique_melamine_bowls_ikea_crate_barrel_and_death/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/my_antique_melamine_bowls_ikea_crate_barrel_and_death/#When:15:20:33Z I was about to quietly slumber away for the night when I realized I have these antique-ish bowls within my kitchening rotation. They say "Melmac" on them but that's a brand name for melamine... The same melamine that kills good-looking pets, Chinese children and curdles good-tasting milk. On the real, I just remembered that Crate & Barrel and probably a whole host of other kitchenware stores stock items made out of this stuff. I mean Ikea? Anything plasticky and we're probably talking melamine radiating protein laden death in your home. Yeah that's means all you Expedit owners! Don't believe me? http://www.crateandbarrel.com/search.aspx?query=melamine http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=melamine So the big question is, when do I die? I wanted to know so I asked "Anna" the friendly robot, over at Ikea. Tightlipped red tape as usual. But I suppose if Ikea's going to kill me, I know they won't be doing the heavy lifting - I'll probably have to puncture my liver myself. And you know I'm going to put that off till next weekend, or the next... 2008-11-17T15:20:33-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/simpler_site/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/simpler_site/#When:16:23:10Z I finally got around to getting rid of the junk I had on the site. All three of you readers might be happy about this. At least I am. Come to think - it’s not really that much more readable. In fact, now that I look at it, it seems even more confusing somehow. How does this happen? I wonder. 2008-11-16T16:23:10-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/peek_tops_times_2008_gadget_of_the_year/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/peek_tops_times_2008_gadget_of_the_year/#When:20:21:10Z I admit it. Amol Sarva’s a friend of mine. His company, Peek has this really simple gadget which just checks email and I personally think that it’s just a great idea. Simple and stylish. Vote for the device now and support someone who has great ideas and runs with it: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1852747_1852746_1852737,00.html 2008-10-31T20:21:10-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/the_palin_shopping_spree_nyc_rulez/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/the_palin_shopping_spree_nyc_rulez/#When:22:43:48Z Yeah sure, $150,000+ that's some serious shopping. I mean what, considering how that could be the cost of some people's homes shouldn't mean a thing now should it? The thing that really gets me is her Saks Fifth Avenue double-take. If you can just concentrate and overlook the dollar figures check out where she shopped and when: $75,062.63 spent at Neiman Marcus on Sept. 10. • $41,850.72 to Saks Fifth Avenue in New York on Sept. 10. • $7,575.02 to Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis on Sept. 10. • $5,102.71 to Bloomingdale’s in New York on Sept. 10. • $789.72 to Barney’s New York on Sept. 10. • Charges of $4,396.94 and $512.92 at Macy’s in Minneapolis on Sept. 10. • $4,537.85 to Macy’s in Minneapolis on Sept. 22. • $349.50 to Lord & Taylor in New York on Sept. 25. • $4,902.08 to Atelier New York, a men’s clothing boutique, on Sept. 10. • Two separate charges of $98 to Pacifier, a high-end baby store in Minneapolis, on Sept. 10 and Sept. 25. • $98.50 to Steinlauf & Stoller, a sewing supply store, in New York on Sept. 25. • $133 to the Gap in Minneapolis on Sept. 25. So I'm just gonna take a wild guess here. Okay I get it, Palin, this down-to-earth everyday woman came here to New York City and couldn't help herself so she shopped a little - you know a Mercedes Benz's worth of shopping. But after shopping at one Saks in Minneapolis (spending a mere $4,500 - we'll knock off the extra dollars since we that doesn't even make a dent in our deep pockets) she sits on that plane and thinks that a smart shopper would comparison shop and she does by gosh. Palin goes into the Saks in NYC on the same day and spends a good $42,000 to make up for it. Now that isn't hypocrisy, that's just the gospel truth. And her haircut? Not on the list, but it's $4,000 - sounds like one or two mortgage payments to me! 2008-10-22T22:43:48-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/republicans_ruin_the_economy/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/republicans_ruin_the_economy/#When:17:02:53Z A nice find by Amol. Read some article that outlined this in some publication some time ago, but the NYT's illustrated graphic showing how the economy is healthier during Democratic administrations just drives the point home. Republicans make it like they know something about the economy and that somehow they know best when it comes to the marketplace, but if you're a betting man, then bet on blue, because just to remind you, most people have done better financially under Democratic administrations. And whether you like it or not, you know how this current economic climate feels like - that's right - it's the same creepy feeling that the people with money bamboozled us and they were probably doing just fine during Reagan and Bush. I mean people make it like all these money-ed white collars are crawling to the poor house, but if they do, they'll be doing it in their Benzes, and losing half of $100 million is still $50 million. Know what I'm sayin? REFERENCE: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/14/opinion/20081014_OPCHART.html 2008-10-15T17:02:53-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/make_your_own_mccain_ad/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/make_your_own_mccain_ad/#When:19:39:42Z Just a pro-Obama side project at the place I work - we randomly string together John McCain’s words to enlighten us with his maverick message. It’s intriguing, really. I worked on the tell-a-friend piece. So TELL A FRIEND. Not that preaching to he choir is such a big thing. But it’s kinda funny when you actually string together some of the bizarre statements McCain has made. http://www.makeyourownmccainad.com 2008-10-14T19:39:42-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/the_credit_swindle_is_back_in_full_effect/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/the_credit_swindle_is_back_in_full_effect/#When:17:21:19Z Suddenly I'm getting offers for loans again. I remember right after I bought my apartment and the whole credit swindle game was in full swing, I'd get reams of offers for credit cards and wannabe checks in the mail (which in reality were high interest loans). This was of course, when my credit was slightly better than it is now on my freelancer's diet of feast or famine checks. So right after congress passes the bailout bill, and I'm talking right after - meaning these guys have been working on these till-death-due-us-part contracts with one hand and cajoling politicians to "loosen up credit" with the other - I get mailings offering me all kinds of new credit to "use this money to fix up your home, or however you wish… it's up to you." People talk as if things have changed, as if these people have learned their lesson, as if this market needed to be bailed out when in actuality they needed to be turned inside out. You're telling me it's not predatory to target people like me and let's face it people who are worse off, who need the money in this current economy by sending us what look to be checks, when it fact it's just another line of credit we couldn't afford then, can't afford now, and won't be able to keep up with later? Without regulation and enforcement, all we're doing is giving these loan companies the credit to do the same thing all over again. You want to talk about being out of touch? How about offering credit when we can't afford it, when the unemployment rate is the highest it's been in a while, to use the money, not to pay for groceries, not to pay for your child's education, but to "fix up your home" or "however you wish"? This bailout is bullshit. 2008-10-06T17:21:19-05:00 http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/revival_of_arthur_millers_all_my_sons/ http://www.mattechi.com/read.php/site/revival_of_arthur_millers_all_my_sons/#When:23:50:02Z Was lucky enough to see this production yesterday. John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest just captured the stage. It seemed like Ms. Wiest had a cold but , professional that she is, she was actually using to her advantage in her performance. Patrick Wilson really knew how to feed off Lithgow and Wiest as well and kept that momentum going. The direction was just phenomenal - sound (reverberating key points in the dialogue), the lighting (the storms and isolation of characters), projection (titling for the acts, and short descriptions). I still remember the sound of the train clacking, the projected video of track and train slicing across the stage and seated passengers in a slashing "v" before the intermission. I remember watching "The Elephant Vanishes," another production by the director, Simon McBurney, and how he used the cast to move objects onstage and the choreographed movement which created a sort of language for the audience to understand that they were to be acknowledged but ignored at the same time. The supporting cast were no joke either, I mean they could've made mince-meat of Katie Holmes if they cared to, but instead they held up the play by sustaining the energy in the absence or support of the lead characters. If I could see it again I would. 2008-10-03T23:50:02-05:00