My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

For discussion of Matt Reeve's Film Let Me In

Moderator: LMI Moderator

Post Reply
Alpha6
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:43 am

My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by Alpha6 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:06 pm

A lot of the time on the internet I see a lot of people saying that Abby is using Owen as the next “caretaker” but where is the evidence to support the theory? There was only Thomas that we know of and how can we judge because we don’t know anything about Thomas to make such a conclusion so the theory is completely invalid
I know for a fact that Abby and Owen do In fact love and care for each other or as close it as it can be I have made connections to a lot of things in LET ME IN that easily support the fact that they do love each other and I hope every other person who reads this agrees

1) When they meet she tells him they cannot be friends but despite this they do become friends anyway, to me it’s almost like this is out of their control, maybe it was fate.

2) He gives her his Rubik’s cube at the start, this object to me represents the connection between them, maybe if it wasn’t for the Rubik’s cube they might of not become friends

3) To me Matt Reeves and the other makers of LET ME IN put many subtle but yet in plain sight hint’s, for example, in the arcade (First Date :D) when Owen is playing Ms. Pacman; Abby looks at him in a way that says to me, she’s starting to care for him and remember when you were 12 surely you gave those looks to girls/boys you liked? Point proven (lol) but the best bit to me is when she looking at him there is a song playing in the background and the exact time she is looking at him the song is at the point where the line is “In my heart the fires burning” coincidence ? I think not such songs throughout LET ME IN have this happen, lookout for them.

4) Afterwards once they are outside she asks “Owen do you like me?” and he replies “yeah, a lot” now we all assume this means as a friend but there is something in Owen’s tone that suggests something more than that and when they get to the flats (I’m British by the way) she takes hold of his hand, and she makes this move this proves my point from earlier that she is starting to have feelings beyond friendship for him (earlier she does hold his hand when they are talking about Morse code and the bullies)

5) After Thomas gives his last act of servitude, Abby goes straight to Owen, and she gets into his bed… uh.. Um naked.. Anyways.. Yeah she gets into his bed and Owen asks the question “will you be my girlfriend” after an initial rejection they do go steady and in the morning when she wrote the note she put Abby+Owen (now tell me that isn’t Sweet) and he smiles when he reads it…. I love it!

6) After the lake incident with Kenny and Owen is telling Abby what he did, she kisses him on the cheek (Awwww) cause he stuck up for himself and she is proud of him afterwards when they are in the basement Owen tells her to close her eyes and the smile she has instantly tells me her thoughts on what’s going on which is “is he going to kiss me?” of course he does something else and it seems to me she really can’t control her Vampiric side but she manages enough to run outside and attack Virginia instead.

7) Afterwards I expect we were all worried on what was going on between them now he makes the first move after having a heart-breaking conversation with his Dad by going to her and confronting the problem head on and then he discovers the picture of a younger Thomas and he leaves to think things through and then Abby bless her Soul somewhat Heartbroken herself Says “ I told you we couldn’t be friends” after the door closes she tilts her head down in confusion and sorrow

8) After an unknown amount of time (most likely a day if so not much time has passed before she couldn’t bear being away from him longer than that) she comes to his door and asks to come in, and when he doesn’t invite her in she comes in to demonstrate what happens, now we all see Owen completely go into shock and lets her in, he Is in a panic at this stage because he almost lost the closest thing to him because of his own stupidity. He asks “woulda of you died?” to which she replies “I knew you wouldn’t let me” she put her life on the line to see if he really does care for her… A Test, afterwards they reconcile to my absolute delight.

9) Whilst Abby is in the shower Owen puts a bit of music on, now to me he’s setting a mood after Abby does get out of the Shower she goes and puts a dress on and when she comes out she twirls around to see what Owen thinks, we see Owen Smile a bit but of course his Mum interrupts and he doesn’t get a word out but when Abby manages to get to her Window they laugh together for the closeness of being caught (wonder what woulda of happened if they got caught? God knows)

10) Later that night when his Mum once again is out of it, Owen Sneaks over to Abby’s and stays there for the night and in the morning she has written him another note and she puts in it “I really like you” now by this point I think we can all agree there is nothing they would not do for each other, and either they are in love or are very close to it and Owen has accepted the fact that Abby is not human and doesn’t care if she is human or not, for one why would he be round there if he hadn’t accepted this?. Anyway the cop finds Abby in the bath and Owen attempts to stop him of course Abby intervenes and as Abby is feeding we see the moment of truth for Owen; Abby or The Cop ? now if any of you for a second that Owen was gonna choose the Cop then shame on you lol he closes the door on them and waits with his hands over his ears and eyes shut tight just because he accepts what she is doesn’t mean he likes the fact she kills people but afterwards when they are standing together and she tells him she has to go away we see the moment we have all been waiting for which is Their first kiss, this adds to the Despair of what we are witnessing because now we saw the potential for both of them after Abby Regrettably leaves we see the jungle gym outside and the absolute heart-breaking moment of Owen’s Despair as the Jungle gym was the place they met, to be honest if that isn’t love then I don’t know what it is, if I haven’t convinced you by now I have my trump card to play

11) Ah a swimming pool, a lovely place with the smell of chlorine and yet the place where Owen is held underwater by Kenny’s big bad brother Jimmy we all thought it was all over but not me I knew Abby was gonna come back for him, and she becomes Enraged at the bullies trying to kill Owen and remember her promise earlier to help him when he needed her? And I swear when Owen is still choking on water at the side of the pool he says the word “Abby” cause he knows she saved him and of course finally at the end of the film there is the train scene and we see Owen Alone with the trunk and we hear Abby Knock out “HI” in Morse Code and I think Owen Puts OX which is of course a hug and kiss and then we see Owen looking at the sun whilst singing the Jingle of Now and Laters, my opinion is that maybe the last time that Owen sees and feels the warmth of the sun as when Abby wakes up she will turn him and they will be together for eternity…

Other Things and the Trump Card!

- There is a very short scene in where Owen is lying on his bed and he puts his hand on the wall as in reaching out to her and we see Abby has already got her hand on the wall and she is smiling and then the smile gets a bit bigger, is it me or do u guys reckon that she knows that Owen has just done the same, if weren’t for that damn wall…

- a lot of people assume Abby is evil… my god she maybe a vampire but on the inside she is human with a human soul and feelings, just because there are monster movies about dinosaurs like Jurassic Park does not mean Dinosaurs are monsters, they are just animals

- People think that Abby is evil cause of the fact that Thomas kills people and drains them for her, she doesn’t make him do it, where is the evidence to say that Thomas does it cause he has too, he may do it of his own free will and now he does do it but can’t get outta of it and people say there is the caretaker cycle where is the evidence to suggest there has been more than one caretaker?

- if Abby is Evil then why is she so Sad and crying when she is at Thomas’s Hospital window, to be honest I liked Thomas because he was not like Hakan in the other version and it seems like that Thomas asks for nothing in return either
And Finally my Trump Card!

- the one reason I think Abby loves Owen is cause of one simple action – She goes back for him, why would she go back and put her safety on the line if she didn’t love him, there is nothing to suggest that Abby is invulnerable she maybe just as vulnerable as human with additional weakness’s, if you can’t see love in this movie then my god you really shouldn’t watch this film, of course this my opinion but the film is listed as a Romance/Horror
I learn film studies at college and I love to analyse films as well as watching them

someone tell me that is not love

User avatar
PeteMork
Posts: 3781
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:56 pm
Location: Menlo Park, California

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by PeteMork » Sat Apr 28, 2012 4:17 am

How can anyone find fault with this? You got it right. ;)

And welcome to the forum!
We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain. (Roberto Bolaño)

jetboy
Posts: 609
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2009 5:22 pm

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by jetboy » Sat Apr 28, 2012 4:45 am

You have every right to think that but I would bet that the filmakers would want different people to come to different conclusions.

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

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by intrige » Sat Apr 28, 2012 12:09 pm

The background music for the packman scene I have never noticed :D Well.. Listened XD
- People think that Abby is evil cause of the fact that Thomas kills people and drains them for her, she doesn’t make him do it, where is the evidence to say that Thomas does it cause he has too, he may do it of his own free will and now he does do it but can’t get outta of it and people say there is the caretaker cycle where is the evidence to suggest there has been more than one caretaker?

- if Abby is Evil then why is she so Sad and crying when she is at Thomas’s Hospital window, to be honest I liked Thomas because he was not like Hakan in the other version and it seems like that Thomas asks for nothing in return either
And Finally my Trump Card!
All of this you wouldn't need to write, most infected feel this way with Eli from before hand, and does not think of Abby as Evil just because she's a vampire. Rather her manipulayive actions, in some of us' eyes. Like the cyrcle, with Thomas and Owen, you have seen it too. But as you say the only think we know about him is just the picture. And I have seen al of this you said above, Abby's smile and I have thought she might actually love him yeah. But she might actually have loved Thomas too. After Abby tells Owen goodnight, by her apartment door, you know.. And Abby comes into Thomas packing for another blood drain, and they have this very sad moment together. Where Abby strokes Thomas' cheek. The way he does it, it's so tragic, sort of says: How I have missed this, or.. What happened to us? I donno, but just because Abby loves him it doesn't mean that it makes a difference if she loved Thomas too.

But the thing is that we doesn't know if there is any difference, maybe she loves Owen more than she loved Thomas? Or maybe Thomas was a friend that grew up to be a big brother,, since she yells at him he is not a father figure.

And what does Thomas mean by: "Please don't see that boy again."? It might be of jelousy, which hints him beaing a former boyfriend. Or maybe he doesn't want the same thing to happen to Owen as his existense it very tragic. Or maybe he see the cyrcle, and doesn't want his role to end. There are so many things that says Abby loves Owen. But there are some things that hints the cyrcle, but I don't think that makes Abby evil. Just manipulative, what would a human do to survive? This might be the only option she has. Somewhere dark to sleep, because of the sunlight issue. And the fact that she has a caretaker even though she is fully capable of killing and hiding bodies herself, makes me think she has a continse and doesn't want to feel all the remorse and regret. It would rather be esier to make someone do it for her right? All of this aint evil, just surviving.

Eli from the novel is also manipulative, but not to Oskar. But very much to Håkan, yet we dont see her as evil. But when this commetment to survive goes out on a boy, then it's evil? If Abby was to collect caretakers from a very young age and mold them and make them willingly accsept and acomplich the commitment of getting her blood, that would actually be very genius. But since she feels the need to have caretacers, I don't see her nor Eli as evil. If she was evil she would kill slowly, with no regret and just live without any bounderies.

Even after all this, Abby really does seem to fall in love with Owen. which also is very human, even if it have happened before. And both LTROI and LMI is a lovestory, a very tragic and harch and awful lovestory, but it sure is in many different ways. LTROI even more since Verginia and Lacke and Oskar and his relationship to his mom is more involved than in LMI.
Is being manipulative pure evil, or is it a survival instinct and someone being egosentric?
Bulleri bulleri buck, hur många horn står upp

User avatar
a_contemplative_life
Moderator
Posts: 5896
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:06 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by a_contemplative_life » Sat Apr 28, 2012 12:20 pm

Image

You state, "we don’t know anything about Thomas to make such a conclusion." In fact, we do know something about him because MR included the scene wherein Owen discovers a strip of photos showing Abby and a much younger (and happy) Thomas together. And the film makes it clear that Thomas has been procuring for Abby for a long time and is now approaching, if not in fact being, burned out. And he obviously cares deeply for Abby, given their exchange in the kitchen.

The inclusion of the photo strip, IMO, completely changes the dynamics on this issue, for we are now being led to consider the idea that Thomas was a boy back when he first encountered Abby and fell in love with her, just as Owen is now. This is a departure from the novel because Eli tells Oskar she has not "had a . . . normal friendship with anyone in two hundred years." And in LTROI, TA presented Hakan in an information vacuum regarding his past relationship with Eli. With the photo strip in place, there is a strong suggestion that Abby's relationship with men is cyclical, and that Owen is just the next poor fella in the cycle. This is the primary reason that I'm not as found of LMI as I am of LTROI.

All of that having been said, you can still imagine that perhaps Abby's feelings for Owen are genuine, and not purely self-motivated. Maybe she can experience genuine love while simultaneously knowing that this young person will soon find himself enslaved to her and doing immense evil to keep her alive. But I think that is a harder case to make with the implications of the photo strip.
Image

jetboy
Posts: 609
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2009 5:22 pm

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by jetboy » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:53 pm

intrige wrote:Is being manipulative pure evil, or is it a survival instinct and someone being egosentric?
What it isnt, is pure love. What is the saying, "if you love something, set it free"? If Abbey really loved Owen she wouldnt allow him to come into her hellish life.

User avatar
PeteMork
Posts: 3781
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:56 pm
Location: Menlo Park, California

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by PeteMork » Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:43 pm

a_contemplative_life wrote:...All of that having been said, you can still imagine that perhaps Abby's feelings for Owen are genuine, and not purely self-motivated. Maybe she can experience genuine love while simultaneously knowing that this young person will soon find himself enslaved to her and doing immense evil to keep her alive. But I think that is a harder case to make with the implications of the photo strip.
Definitely a harder case to make, which is why I still prefer LTROI. In that film, it's far easier. But in LMI, Abby is still a 12-year-old child, and as has been pointed out in many other threads on the subject, is conceivably incapable of thinking like an adult. Pure love to a child is likely a quite different and simpler thing. Abby's cup can still be full, signifying 'pure love' as a child sees it, but it's a smaller cup than that of an adult.

In other words, we can argue all day about whether or not Abby does or doesn't have enough maturiy to understand the potential cyclic nature of her love, but it still remains a real possibility that she doesn't. :think:

All Alpha6 is saying is that Abby really loves Owen. I was simply agreeing with him, rose-colored glasses notwithstanding. ;)
We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain. (Roberto Bolaño)

Alpha6
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:43 am

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by Alpha6 » Sun Apr 29, 2012 8:14 pm

Thank you for all your comments, i do appreciate the amount of time you have all put into replying to my in depth look on LET ME IN

intrige - there is not much proof of a cycle because we have only ever seen 1 caretaker which is Thomas

a_contemplative_life - she is 12 years old physically and mentally, she cannot think like the way your describing her in using people and she knows she is doing it, because what i see yis just 2 lonely souls connecting and falling in love, if you can't see it then whats the point ?

jet boy - the thing was SHE DID leave to stop him from getting involved but although she did come it just meant she loved him more and he chose to go with her

pete monk - thank you for agreeing with me, cause all i can see when i watch LET ME IN or think about Abby or Owen all i see is Pure but yet simple love

User avatar
sauvin
Moderator
Posts: 3410
Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 5:52 am
Location: A cornfield in heartland USA

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by sauvin » Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:27 am

PeteMork wrote:
a_contemplative_life wrote:...All of that having been said, you can still imagine that perhaps Abby's feelings for Owen are genuine, and not purely self-motivated. Maybe she can experience genuine love while simultaneously knowing that this young person will soon find himself enslaved to her and doing immense evil to keep her alive. But I think that is a harder case to make with the implications of the photo strip.
Definitely a harder case to make, which is why I still prefer LTROI. In that film, it's far easier. But in LMI, Abby is still a 12-year-old child, and as has been pointed out in many other threads on the subject, is conceivably incapable of thinking like an adult. Pure love to a child is likely a quite different and simpler thing. Abby's cup can still be full, signifying 'pure love' as a child sees it, but it's a smaller cup than that of an adult.

In other words, we can argue all day about whether or not Abby does or doesn't have enough maturiy to understand the potential cyclic nature of her love, but it still remains a real possibility that she doesn't. :think:

All Alpha6 is saying is that Abby really loves Owen. I was simply agreeing with him, rose-colored glasses notwithstanding. ;)
Things ain't that simple. Yes, it's a harder case to make, and only partly because we've forgotten what it's like to be twelve, and forgotten what it's like to see the world through the eyes and with the mind and heart of a twelve year old child. I think it's perfectly possible that Abby knew very well how things would work out, even if she only has a single Thomas Cycle (tm) almost behind her. I think it's also possible she could hope against what her experience has taught her to hope for, that somehow this time things would work out differently.

Mostly, I think she just lives in the moment, because this is what children do, and because she has way too many yesterdays to lug around, and faces the prospect of having way too many tomorrows yet to deal with. She's just going where life takes her, because she sure as perdition isn't going anywhere else.

BTW: "If you love something, set it free." Can a child think in these terms? I personally wouldn't fault her for grabbing what she can, and keeping it for as long as she can, because she has so little.
Fais tomber les barrières entre nous qui sommes tous des frères

User avatar
a_contemplative_life
Moderator
Posts: 5896
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:06 am
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by a_contemplative_life » Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:53 am

Sauvin raises a valid point, and one that does not get mentioned directly too often, which is, how does the knowledge of your immortality influence your judgment about the morality of drawing a mortal child into a relationship with you? I think we often are quick to evaluate the morality of Abby (or Eli) from our own, human perspective. So we quickly say, 'it's wrong for Abby/Eli to allow herself to become involved with Owen/Oskar when it is reasonably foreseeable that he will end up committing evil out of love for me. It would be better for him not to get dragged into that situation; so, if I love him, I really must not allow our relationship to continue.' What might get left out of the equation is a true appreciation for the utter loneliness that the vampire character experiences, coupled with the knowledge that (through no fault of her own), this lonely existence has no identifiable end. I think that's hard for us to truly understand, given that none of us has ever experienced it. I suppose the only backstop to the future unending course of years is the vampire's power to commit suicide any time she wished, if the loneliness became too unbearable. That's not much consolation, but it's still an option.

The picture becomes even more complicated when you are talking about a child vampire.
Image

Post Reply

Return to “Let Me In”