The tiniest smidgen of sympathy for Jimmy

[NigelNinja]

So I've found that I have the smallest amount of sympathy for Jimmy (still none for Connie and Martin, eff those guys) Why you ask? In the scene where he asks Connie to borrow his keys you can see that they seem to have a relationship based on brotherly love. Yeah he roughs Connie up a bit, (that's pretty much an older brother's purpose in life at that age) but otherwise their interaction is pretty congenial. That being said, I know if I went to my older brother with a busted ear and told him some kid whacked me in the head with a pole he'd be ready to get back at him for hurting me. He certainly wouldn't ask me "Well, what did you do to provoke that?" he'd just be ready to kick his ass. Now don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly believe that he was taking things waaay too far in attempting to drown Oskar, but I can manage to feel just a tiny bit sorry that he got his head ripped off for defending his jerk of a little brother.

[sauvin]

It's been commented before that the movie is loaded with broken people and dysfunctional relationships. Oskar's relationship with his mother seems OK at times, for example, but it's telling that Oskar lied about how his cheek got cut. The folks sharing a few spirits in the yellow light of the China place include a dissolute Lacke, a pontificating sot (whose name I've forgotten) and a half spaced out Virginia. Given this, it wouldn't be surprising to learn that roughness shown between Jimmy and Conny is an outward indication of an abusive and probably toxic atmosphere at home. I mean, most young men coming from good homes don't turn into knife-carrying young hoods or worse.

I don't think of Jimmy as much of a loss.

[Siggdalos]

a pontificating sot (whose name I've forgotten)

That would be either Larry (who combines elements of the novel's Larry and Karlsson) or Morgan.

[danielmann861]

Maybe if they had kept some of the stuff from the book in, I may have felt a smidgen of sympathy for Jimmy.

I mean the book has Oskar burn Connie's desk in retaliation for them threatening to throw him in front of an oncoming train. In Connie's desk is a photograph of his estranged father which sets Jimmy over the edge leading to the grizzly pool climax.

Maybe if they had done something with that thread from the book then maybe I would feel a smidgen of sympathy.

But its kind of hard to feel sympathy for the kid when he jumps straight into "murder mode" over his brothers busted ear.

[BurgerPrince]

...I mean the book has Oskar burn Connie's desk in retaliation for them threatening to throw him in front of an oncoming train. In Connie's desk is a photograph of his estranged father which sets Jimmy over the edge leading to the grizzly pool climax...

That's the key thread Jimmy and Jonny/Connie ironically share with Oskar, Eli, and Tommy. None of them have a father in the house. JAL lost his father at sea and it profoundly influenced his writing.

[metoo]

...I mean the book has Oskar burn Connie's desk in retaliation for them threatening to throw him in front of an oncoming train. In Connie's desk is a photograph of his estranged father which sets Jimmy over the edge leading to the grizzly pool climax...

That's the key thread Jimmy and Jonny/Connie ironically share with Oskar, Eli, and Tommy. None of them have a father in the house. JAL lost his father at sea and it profoundly influenced his writing.

Well, John was already a grown up man when his father died. He talked about it in a radio program, the script was later published in the Swedish version of Let the Old Dreams Die. But one might still say that he lost his father as a child, when his parents divorced.

Below is a link to the radio program. I don't know whether it is accessible outside Sweden, but it's in Swedish anyway, so that might not make much of a difference for most members of this forum...
https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/362944

[BurgerPrince]

Well, John was already a grown up man when his father died. He talked about it in a radio program, the script was later published in the Swedish version of Let the Old Dreams Die. But one might still say that he lost his father as a child, when his parents divorced.

Below is a link to the radio program. I don't know whether it is accessible outside Sweden, but it's in Swedish anyway, so that might not make much of a difference for most members of this forum...
https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/362944

Interesting. I haven't read LTODD yet. Losing parents in adulthood is still a profound experience. All my grandparents died when my parents were in their 40s and it affected them deeply. Divorce can also devastate someone growing up. When I was 17, it ruined my best friend's life because he was surrounded by instability and bad influences.

[metoo]

Interesting. I haven't read LTODD yet.

As I wrote the script is in the Swedish version of Let the Old Dreams Die. The English book with this name contains the stories of Pappersväggar, a collection of short stories, with the addition of the short story Let the Old Dreams Die. The script I referred to isn't published in other languages, sa far as I know.

[BurgerPrince]

As I wrote the script is in the Swedish version of Let the Old Dreams Die. The English book with this name contains the stories of Pappersväggar, a collection of short stories, with the addition of the short story Let the Old Dreams Die. The script I referred to isn't published in other languages, sa far as I know.

Ah, thanks for clarifying.

[Siggdalos]

That's the key thread Jimmy and Jonny/Connie ironically share with Oskar, Eli, and Tommy. None of them have a father in the house. JAL lost his father at sea and it profoundly influenced his writing.

Don't forget Lacke losing his father to cancer.