I know I'm the only one who was really crazy about this movie, so I'll do this one last post and then shut the hell up.
I thought the bathroom scene was very powerful and telling. It showed so many things, not the least of which was the absurdity of the entire situation. The poster mask was to hide her identity as a woman, and yet it brought to mind the Islamic veil — both meant to keep men's reactions in check and absurdly protect "virtue." The absurdity of the poster is the absurdity of the veil. The soldier, trained to be so concerned about virtue and propriety, couldn't keep track of his charge. He couldn't stop the onslaught of men in the bathroom as "nature" called. And his mind was so preoccupied with virtue and violations of virtue that he mistook the most innocent interaction (between the old man in the wheelchair and the boy) as something obscene that needed his intervention. It was a nice metaphor for how the women's simple desire to watch a game, to share in their country's glory, in its public life got twisted into something obscene, something that needed moral policing.
11 comments:
"The absurdity of the poster is the absurdity of the veil." Yes, well-said. The scene felt like a comedy of errors, but it was revealing all the same. The young woman's dutiful champion had a bad turn as a figure of moral authority. He's obviously symbolic of the bigger, botched system Iran has now.
Did anybody else notice that this woman looks exactly like Frankie Muniz?
Especially when he wrinkles his forehead.
Ben, I was trying to share some serious insights about gender and other issues — things that were important to me, that I'm trying to sort out — about this film. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and it's near and dear to my heart. I know you consider this a weak and bad movie, but, seriously, is your only contribution to my observations in this post that the actress looks like the kid from "Malcolm in the Middle"?
I find it very interesting that she looks just like him.
I don’t like to comment on serious things because my lack of insight makes me look stupid. And I don’t enjoy looking stupid.
I didn’t think of the similarities between the mask and a veil. That’s a good observation.
You’re right that the incident with the old man and the boy was very telling and can be seen as an illustration of the whole point of the film. Of course, I never would have thought of that myself. I had completely forgotten about that interaction until you mentioned it.
So, you see, I have nothing to add to the discussion. The only interesting thing I noticed that you might not have noticed is that she looks just like Frankie Muniz. Please don’t take it personally.
I'm not bothered that you noted the similarity. I'm bothered that that's the ONLY thing you had to say. That was your ONLY reaction to my observations. I don't think I'm taking anything "personally." I think it's a matter of common courtesy and blog etiquette.
If you TRULY do consider yourself too lacking in insight to have a "serious" discussion about this film — a film that you KNOW is important to your fellow blogger — then why are you so adamant that it's a "bad" and "weak" film? Why is that a foregone conclusion for you before the discussion even starts? If, by your own admission, you "don’t like to comment on serious things" and claim that you don't understand them or never even heard of them before, why do you feel so comfortable crapping on them?
You and I have very different ideas about blog etiquette.
And I’m not adamant that the film is bad or weak. I only know that that’s how I feel. And I feel that my opinion is unimportant and irrelevant. But Erin told me that I should stop thinking that my opinions don’t matter. So I tried to say what I thought about this film, even though I don’t think my thoughts are valid.
And I didn’t crap on anything.
And my obsessions are important to me, even if they are silly to everyone else. I’m completely obsessed with comparing people who look alike. You’ve seen enough movies with me that you’ve probably heard me comment on it several times--every time Erin and I see a movie or a TV show together, or go out in public, I always comment on how much people look alike. It’s important to me, even if it isn’t to anyone else.
While we were watching this movie, I probably commented aloud on how much she looks like Frankie Muniz at least ten times.
I’m the same way with height. Whenever I see a tall or short person in real life, I always try to get close to them so I can see how tall they are compared to me (I’m especially fascinated if they don’t come up to my shoulders or if I don’t come up to their shoulders). And whenever I see a tall or short person on TV or in a movie, I always look up their height on imdb.com afterwards. I’m fascinated by the fact that James Oliver Cromwell is 2.5 inches taller than Michael Clark Duncan but they were able to make Duncan look at least half a foot taller than Cromwell in The Green Mile.
I even watch “Everybody Loves Raymond” sometimes just because I’m fascinated in the 18.5 inch difference in height between the shortest and tallest cast members.
And I’m obsessed with music and sound effects and voice overs. I’m constantly wondering whether I’ve heard an actor on ads before, and I love to see great voice actors on screen, like Sam Elliott.
Never mind what I said about Sam Elliott. I just found out that he’s homophobic, so I don’t like him any more.
It felt like crap to me.
Excellent connection between the mask and the veil. It was funny that the mask was used in order to make the girl not stand out among the men, but the men still stared at her with their mouths agape. It hardly did the job of helping her not attract attention.
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