Boy or Girl?

For discussion of live productions of Let The Right One In
Post Reply
User avatar
IDreamtIWasABee
Posts: 44
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:38 am

Boy or Girl?

Post by IDreamtIWasABee » Sat Jun 27, 2015 8:21 pm

I looked, people. I really did. But short of buying and reading the script, I can't find out whether the play lets Eli remain a boy. So what's up?

I did glean that Eli gives his name as Elias, but is that the beginning and end of it?
Ursula was played by a boy in 1961. One day, Eli.

User avatar
Nightrider
Moderator
Posts: 3546
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:02 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Contact:

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by Nightrider » Sat Jun 27, 2015 11:01 pm

In the play Eli is a girl.
http://www.aspca.org/

Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WeTheInfected

Nobody understands...and of course...how could they?

User avatar
dongregg
Posts: 3937
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:58 pm
Location: Atlanta
Contact:

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by dongregg » Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:26 am

Nightrider and I were among the infected who saw the play in Brooklyn, but I can't even remember how that was handled. I was so excited that it was like being in a dream. So I went to my copy of the script:

Oskar: I don't mind if you're a boy.
Eli: I'm not a boy.
Oskar: But--you said you weren't a girl...
Eli: I'm nothing. Not a child. Not old. Not a boy. Not a girl. Nothing.
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

User avatar
IDreamtIWasABee
Posts: 44
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:38 am

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by IDreamtIWasABee » Mon Jun 29, 2015 6:32 pm

Shameful, but expected. Thanks.

Edited to add: I don't mean to piss on a play I haven't seen, nor do I think that every adaptation of the novel needs to have Eli be a castrated boy. But when every ...... adaptation makes him a girl, it starts to grate-especially since the material in the novel begs to be expanded upon and youth are more queer-friendly than ever.
Ursula was played by a boy in 1961. One day, Eli.

User avatar
dongregg
Posts: 3937
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:58 pm
Location: Atlanta
Contact:

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by dongregg » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:34 pm

Well then, I will direct you to my new story, "Set Me As a Seal Upon Your Heart." The first version that I posted was with Eli as a boy. I got enough pushback that I changed it to girl, which is the version you'll see posted. It reads the same. The pushback was not from members of WTI, but from friends who have seen the film (only), who are not infected, but who like the film. To them, Eli is a girl.

I think my fan fiction is more touching with Eli as a boy -- two boys who are devoted to each other but in a schoolboy crush sort of way. True love, but pre-sexual and unconditional. If you would like to read that version, too, PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send it as an attachment.

And certainly not putting the play down, either, but to me it was the excitement of seeing a play, seeing it with three other forum members, having coffee beforehand, and all of that.

Oh, and whether the version of my fan fiction has Eli as a boy or a girl, I based it on the film and on LTODD.
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

User avatar
intrige
Posts: 4208
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2010 5:20 pm
Location: Norway
Contact:

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by intrige » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:18 pm

From what I have read the swedish and norwegian screenplay adoptations of the novel made Eli a boy. Even added in LTODD without reading it as the short story came out just after the first screenings of the swedish play. (aka: them mixing blood, together forever)

Only first when it came overseas (scotland, england) was when they made the cildren roles into teens, casted somewhone who doesn't llok like Eli at all (Oskar could be anobody, that's kind of the point) But Eli and her black cat-like character was thrown away for a ginger. Gingers are cool tho. Many things changed over the north sea.
Bulleri bulleri buck, hur många horn står upp

gymmy64
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:05 pm

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by gymmy64 » Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:32 pm

Interesting. I remember while watching the play that I thought they were going with Eli being a boy, then being somewhat confused following the exchange between Oskar and Eli dongregg quoted above. I left the play thinking that they were purposely being ambiguous, rather than definitively stating one way or another. I really regret now not seeing the play twice, since my attention was almost as much on the reactions of the audience as it was on the stage.

I also thought it was initeresting how they appeared to go with many of the common interpretations (or, depending on who you ask, misconceptions) concerning Oskar's father and the relationship between Eli and Hakan. It appears that the story continues to evolve with every telling, which is what piques my interest in the televison adaptation.

User avatar
seigezunt
Posts: 123
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2014 3:47 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by seigezunt » Thu Jul 02, 2015 6:13 pm

dongregg wrote:
Oskar: I don't mind if you're a boy.
Eli: I'm not a boy.
Oskar: But--you said you weren't a girl...
Eli: I'm nothing. Not a child. Not old. Not a boy. Not a girl. Nothing.
Ugh. Why do that? It's like they had some Inspector from the Ministry of Cisgenderheteronormativity looking over their shoulders...like in LMI....

Why not just leave it vague?
"She can fly, she has amazing and horrifying powers, she isn’t exactly a boy or a girl, she can’t come inside unless she’s invited ... and she loves him. That’s enough."

--Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com


My LTROI Pinterest Board

User avatar
seigezunt
Posts: 123
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2014 3:47 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by seigezunt » Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:52 pm

seigezunt wrote:
dongregg wrote:
Oskar: I don't mind if you're a boy.
Eli: I'm not a boy.
Oskar: But--you said you weren't a girl...
Eli: I'm nothing. Not a child. Not old. Not a boy. Not a girl. Nothing.
Ugh. Why do that? It's like they had some Inspector from the Ministry of Cisgenderheteronormativity looking over their shoulders...like in LMI....

Why not just leave it vague?
I just re-read the novel, and have to take this back. There's dialogue to this effect in the book, just not the movies. So I was being a little unfair here.
"She can fly, she has amazing and horrifying powers, she isn’t exactly a boy or a girl, she can’t come inside unless she’s invited ... and she loves him. That’s enough."

--Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com


My LTROI Pinterest Board

User avatar
intrige
Posts: 4208
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2010 5:20 pm
Location: Norway
Contact:

Re: Boy or Girl?

Post by intrige » Tue Oct 13, 2015 8:15 pm

Eli views himself as genderless after all. The play got that at least.
Bulleri bulleri buck, hur många horn står upp

Post Reply

Return to “Let The Right One In (Play)”