Did you think J.J.'s relationship to his sister was "unnatural"? Did you find yourself rooting for Susan? Did you find her likeable, or did you see weaknesses in her that made her less sympathetic? And did you find her realistic? Would it be possible to grow up in the shadow of such a monster and still be so innocent and darling?
8 comments:
I think J.J.'s feelings for his sister were certainly "unnatural," but not consummated in any way. The photo you chose of her, at that moment when J.J. delivers that line about the "apron strings," seemed like it awakened her somehow to the unhealthy feelings or future that he had in mind for her.
She was at her weakest when she planned to kill herself and, having been stopped, did an about-face to stand up to J.J. and leave him. It partly redeemed her earlier actions for me.
But points in the story also suggested she was 19 and no doubt quite innocent, not long out of school, so I could see her letting J.J. "handle" her life at first. And as he demonstrated with a variety of characters, it would be difficult not to let him have the last word. He's too quick to outscheme.
I didn't see any romantic desire in J.J. for his sister. The only thing that was unnatural was how paternalistic he was, in a way that is demeaning coming from a brother or a father or anyone.
I didn't find her a sympathetic character at all. Perhaps because she was so flat. Dynamic, but flat.
As far as the probability of her innocence, I think we're supposed to think that he had always shielded her from the real world and from the truth about himself. And in the fiction of the movie, where J.J. seems almost supernatural, that works.
I was surprised at how many references I saw hinting that J.J. had incestuous feelings for his sister. I didn't pick up on that at all. If anything, because of his mental resemblance to J. Edgar Hoover and Roy Cohn and Clyde Tolson and the other gay tyrants who were pulling strings for so long, I thought he might be homosexual — a self-hater who made it his life's work to drag others through the mud to deflect suspicion from his own life. I'm not arguing that he was, just that it's just as likely as his having "feelings" for his sister.
I think the whole thing with his sister is just that he's a control freak and she's the only person in the world with whom he has a remotely normal relationship. You can tell that he wants her to think highly of him, even though he doesn't care what anyone else thinks of him.
I thought she was a bit too wimpy at times, but it's understandable in the context — her age, living with a monster. She obviously knew he wasn't the salt of the earth (remember the cab ride with her and Sidney?), but he's all she knows until Steve begins to counterbalance J.J. and show her the relative merit of a fur coat and a swanky address as against true human warmth and a real home.
That’s good, kc. The incest theme has become a popular one in recent decades so maybe that is why people are so quick to see it in this movie. I didn’t.
J.J.’s only mode of dealing with people is by trying to control them. He doesn’t seem to have any other way of relating. So that is how he is going to treat his sister too. I think his real desire is to do something beyond his control that is in fact impossible: he wants to keep her in childhood and not let her grow up. But of course she has. He is treating her much more brutally than he ever intended because since he couldn’t prevent her from becoming an adult at all, he instead tries to stamp out her romantic relationships. He realizes that if she leaves, she will come to see him as the rest of the world does and then he will have no family at all. He is very aware that his actions could destroy her regard for him so he tries hard to hide behind his hired axe.
Your suggestion that J.J. might be homosexual is an interesting one, kc. They didn’t directly hint at it, but since J.J. doesn’t keep any women around as playthings, maybe so.
Hmm. I found him tightly wound, and the only place he vented any kind of passion was toward his sister. He was obsessive about keeping her around and "becoming close again." The photo of her at his desk and taking a peek at her while she slept were not by themselves suggestive but added up for me. Her own distaste for him was not the normal reaction of a young adult who wants their independence.
I found something distinctly creepy about J.J.'s relations with Susie, although I couldn't say it was a sexual thing. I like your assessment, dw, the control thing.
I hated Susie. Hated her. I was rooting for her to get away from J.J., but she was so wimpy and annoying that I frankly wouldn't have minded if she jumped off the balcony.
Teehee. I had a feeling you would hate her, Erin.
The studio would have said no, but an interesting way to have ended the film would have been to have her jump. Then J.J. could have pegged a murder rap on Sidney.
I see what Erin is saying, but I think she has to be rather wimpy and sheltered for her to still be able to believe that her brother is an ok kind of guy. I mean, how did he ever fool her when she was thirteen? Teens see through all kinds of phoniness.
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