My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

For discussion of Matt Reeve's Film Let Me In

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

Post by intrige » Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:28 am

When it comes to love, for love's sake, I don't think evil has anything to do with it. And besides, Eli and Abby helped Oskara dn owen too, help them gain confedence, to fight back, save the, fix the mess, save them. Love them like they needed, and see real voilence like it was, at least for Oskar who was obsessed with killings. After having seen Eli kill I don't think that obsession continued.. And Oskar didn't end up as a murderer for some reason, like he thought he would be. Owen on the other hand was just a wimpy little kid with pretty normal reactions for a boy in his situation.. I suppose...
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Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by PeteMork » Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:40 pm

sauvin wrote: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.
This is certainly a possibility. That very hope that things will work out 'this time' is typical of children--and also many adults--no matter how many bad relationships they may have had in the past.

And, as ACL points out, the immortality factor may have a lot more influence on her choices than we've considered before. In fact, I can envision a vampire who is very old considering a human life span a mere flash in the pan. I can't help but think that in this context, he would consider human life to be relatively worthless. Sort of like the life of a Mayfly.
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Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by lombano » Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:00 pm

Welcome, Alpha6!

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.[/quote]

One could say the same thing of Eli - yet I think there are good reasons to regard the two cases as different. For starters, with Eli there is no precedent of romantic love (this is made explicit in the novel and pretty much implied in the original film) - she does not have the precedent of Thomas, which Abby does. Abby cannot plead ignorance to the likely consequences of eloping with Owen. Another important difference is that Owen seems frailer - he is able to put himself on the line emotionally, as he shows in the hug scene, but despite hitting back like Oskar he just doesn't seem like he could adjust to a life on the run. Book Oskar seems by far the one best equipped for that. Finally, one feels sure that Eli, book or film, would die for Oskar, but I don't feel that Abby would die for Owen. I don't want to make Hakan's definition of love (willingness to die - in his case it's no sacrifice at all, as he was deliberately drinking himself to death before) the yardstick here by which to measure the relationships, but as all three vampire children clearly do want to live (however irrational it may be in their cases), I think, unlike in Hakan's case, it's an appropriate indicator. Yes, Abby came in uninvited, but she tells Owen she knew he wouldn't let her die, and she also seems far more reckless (attack on Virginia) than Eli. Plus, the over-the-top SFX make her seem more reckless, too, all of which weakens the bleeding scene as proof of her willingness to die for him. Finally, a small but symbolically important detail is that Eli clutches the cube when seized by hunger pangs, while Abby drops it, signalling that Eli will cling to humanity, love, friendship, etc while Abby will always put her physical needs first.
To some extent, Abby's case is made ambiguous by what little we really know. Crucially, is Thomas the only prior iteration of the cycle, or is he just last year's model? If it's happened before repeatedly, it puts her in a much worse light. This reminds me a little of the play After the Fall - the narrator Quentin's second marriage is failing, his wife says he never pays attention to her, the exact same accusation his first wife had levelled at him - that the two women, despite being so utterly different, came to the exact same accusation, is something he sees as very damning evidence against him, as almost proof that romance can never work for him. At one point he writes: "The only one I will ever love is my daughter. If I could only find an honorable way to die."
To some extent, there is some ambiguity regarding film Hakan - him being a childhood friend is incompatible with his incompetence, etc, but he could be a stranger held by vampire glamour (which makes Eli's actions much worse than if he is a hired paedophile) or acting out of some other motive.
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Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by jetboy » Tue May 01, 2012 3:55 am

sauvin wrote: 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.
Its not really cut and dry that Abbey or Eli are completely twelve years old mentally without the ability to learn from any of their experiences. Abbey for instance sometimes seems more adult than the adult, being Thomas. Without retaining the experiences they went through, you cant really say they are suffering from the experiences either, and their suffering is very much a part of this story.

Having said that, it is LTROI that is the statement on pure love IMO (or the opposite if you consider the manipulative angle) and LMI more about the messiness of it.
lombano wrote:One could say the same thing of Eli - yet I think there are good reasons to regard the two cases as different. For starters, with Eli there is no precedent of romantic love (this is made explicit in the novel and pretty much implied in the original film) - she does not have the precedent of Thomas, which Abby does. Abby cannot plead ignorance to the likely consequences of eloping with Owen.
Exactly
Another important difference is that Owen seems frailer - he is able to put himself on the line emotionally, as he shows in the hug scene, but despite hitting back like Oskar he just doesn't seem like he could adjust to a life on the run.
Again, exactly and also that hit back scene looked like Owen was doing something he really didnt want to do and was horrified by it which to me gives evidence toward Owen leaving half against his will.
Book Oskar seems by far the one best equipped for that.
I dont know if I agree, the lack of dialogue in the movie got my mind going and I had this feeling that Oskar was cuckoo. In the scene when Oskar turned on the lights to his mother's room, I thought he was considering offering her to Eli and was seeing how easily she awakes
Finally, one feels sure that Eli, book or film, would die for Oskar, but I don't feel that Abby would die for Owen. I don't want to make Hakan's definition of love (willingness to die - in his case it's no sacrifice at all, as he was deliberately drinking himself to death before) the yardstick here by which to measure the relationships, but as all three vampire children clearly do want to live (however irrational it may be in their cases), I think, unlike in Hakan's case, it's an appropriate indicator.
I just want to stick up for movie Hakan here and say, we dont know he wanted to drink himself to death, we only know he killed himself in the slowest most agonizing way (or close enough) I can think of.

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

Post by lombano » Tue May 01, 2012 5:31 am

jetboy wrote:that hit back scene looked like Owen was doing something he really didnt want to do and was horrified by it which to me gives evidence toward Owen leaving half against his will.
Yes, whereas in film Oskar's case it seemed something he really wanted to do, but needed someone to have confidence in him, someone who would commit to standing by him. Book Oskar seemed to find it distasteful but necessary (being perfectly willing to inflict violence, but not relishing it, is part of the reason why I think of all three versions of the character he's the best equipped to elope with a vampire child).
jetboy wrote:
Book Oskar seems by far the one best equipped for that.
I dont know if I agree, the lack of dialogue in the movie got my mind going and I had this feeling that Oskar was cuckoo. In the scene when Oskar turned on the lights to his mother's room, I thought he was considering offering her to Eli and was seeing how easily she awakes
I think in this scene he very nearly spilled the beans on Eli, etc, to his Mum - and changed his mind at the last minute.
jetboy wrote:
I just want to stick up for movie Hakan here and say, we dont know he wanted to drink himself to death, we only know he killed himself in the slowest most agonizing way (or close enough) I can think of.
True, I was thinking of book Haakan - we know basically nothing about the film version of the character. But there is a hint he's an alcoholic - he's drinking milk at the restaurant, which is effectively a bar.
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Re: My View on LET ME IN - Abby+Owen

Post by Angelalex242 » Tue May 01, 2012 8:08 am

Hmmm.

Since Owen is the wimpiest of the 3 (Book Oskar, who is confirmed Turned, Movie Oskar, who is 98 percent likely Turned, and Owen, whose current chances of Turning seem to be about 60 percent. Still better then half, because LOTDD has an influence, but that picture strip with Thomas bumps the perentage WAY down.)

This is ironic, I think, since Owen is most ill suited to be a caretaker. He doesn't have the violence in him to procure blood. As such, he actually needs the Turning more then either Oskar. Odds are he'd wimp out before he could make himself kill somebody otherwise.

I still vote for Turning over another Thomas...if Abby learns from prior experiences, she'd figure out the whole 'leave them mortal' thing doesn't work.

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

Post by jcckidz » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:40 pm

PeteMork wrote:But in LMI, Abby is still a 12-year-old child
I very much see Eli as a 12 year old child, too.

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

Post by Mickey30 » Sat Jan 03, 2015 4:44 pm

I have to agree with Alpha 6. At the beginning of the film some people have suggested that Thomas was a former boyfriend of Abby's who became her adoptive father/caretaker as he got older. let me run through a few things to straighten things out. I do not believe that Abby has had any romantic feelings for Thomas ever I just thing they met when he was a young boy and became friends and when got older he became her guard. The reason Thomas remained a human and was not turned is because he was more use to Abby as a human. As we all know Abby sleeps during the day and needs someone to protect her during the day while she sleeps so she would have refused a long time ago to turn Thomas. We all know in the film that Thomas and Abby where growing apart and that his love for her was becoming weaker to the point he was making mistakes when getting blood for her and in the end he died serving her.


Owen on the other hand is totally different the fact is Abby is deeply in love with Owen and I feel he is the first boyfriend she has ever had and the first boy she has had theses feeling for and some people have stated that Owen is in line to become her next caretaker not at all. I believe she loves Owen enough to turn him in to a vampire so they can be together for eternity even thou she hates being one herself. The sequel to Let me In has not been made if ever it will but I believe when the train stops and they begin there new life together Abby will turn Owen and that means his train journey was his last taste of the sun.

If you remember in 1887 before Abby was attacked by her uncle and turned in to a Vampire she had a friend called Constance who told her that when she finds the right boy that she loved she would undress and get in to his bed and feel close to him and we all know she did that the night she went to Owen's flat the night Thomas died. A lot of people have stated that Let Me In is not as good as the original Let The Right One In but I disagree. let Me In was a brilliant movie and I honestly cannot wait till they make the sequel and it will be a shame if they don't make one as fans would like to see where Abby and Owen end up.

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

Post by dongregg » Sat Jan 03, 2015 5:09 pm

Welcome, Mickey30. A lot of good and original thinking in your post!
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

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

Post by dongregg » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:11 pm

Oh, and also our first 2015 member!
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

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