Re: Did anyone else like LMI better as a film?
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 12:06 am
I never expected this thread to last so long. I'm still reading through some old pages and appreciate the thoughtful discussion here.
I think @Alice?Maybe was right in 2014 that the films should be appreciated as "different animals." The most important difference is in primary theme. Loneliness is prominent in both films, but LMI focuses more on the loss of innocence, which is why I think it resonated with me so much.
I first saw it after finishing middle school.That summer, I felt the end of my childhood. Part of it was simply growing up, but another factor was witnessing and experiencing evil from adults. I saw photos of Southern lynchings (including live burning), Chinese slow slicing, German civilians blown up in WWII, and serial killers mutilating pets. I read in depth about the torture-murder of Sylvia Likens, wishing for her abusers to die more painfully.
Back then, I felt like I should have been more shocked than I really was. I already had violent fantasies and most of the human gore didn't bother me much, which made me think something was wrong with me. Even trying to direct my urges against evil people made it hard to discern myself from them. There was no moral guidance. My parents didn't pay attention; they blamed TV and video games for my problems. Meanwhile, I caught on to domestic abuse that my family ignored and even encouraged. That year, I lost faith in God and man.
Owen was bullied in plain sight as his school pledged to "justice for all." "America is good," his president would tell him. Evil was elsewhere or in Satanic cults, but Owen had to deal with it every day. His only source of moral guidance was a mother too drunk to know where he is. His father was too abusive to take that responsibility himself. The eyes of Christ would not stop him from committing evil via theft. Abby -- the "evil" one -- would not reject or mistreat him. Even after killing Thomas, she didn't want Owen involved in her deeds. "I told you we couldn't be friends," she said.
Looking back, I do think Reeves over-used special effects and fell into some stereotypes of American horror. [Edit] Abby's "be me" and puzzle scenes may have been worth keeping, but the actors conveyed the story well without it. [/Edit] The apartment raid should have been done a lot differently. Invoking Death of the Author, I don't think his intentions necessarily limit the way one can interpret the movie.
I still think it was better for Abby not to cry after killing the jogger. As much as it scars her, centuries of killing people would harden her. I rarely cried during my teenage years after losing my grandmother at 13. Even when my uncle died two and a half years later, I could hardly force a tear out. The guilt affects Abby on a deeper level, which is why her "I'm nothing" line is important.
Unless she turns her partners, Abby cannot maintain romance with them as they out-mature her, forcing her into decades of loneliness at a time. Owen breaks that cycle. She can finally be a kid with him again, emulating the days when she was innocent. The way she acts when he isn't looking indicates that she cares about him. She didn't have to come back for him in the end, especially when someone could have identified her. If she merely wanted a slave, she could've seduced someone else anywhere.
Owen, meanwhile, has someone to take him away from the society that disillusioned him. Whether he turns into another vampire or another Thomas is still debatable. The tragedy is that Abby eats either his life or his soul.
I think @Alice?Maybe was right in 2014 that the films should be appreciated as "different animals." The most important difference is in primary theme. Loneliness is prominent in both films, but LMI focuses more on the loss of innocence, which is why I think it resonated with me so much.
I first saw it after finishing middle school.That summer, I felt the end of my childhood. Part of it was simply growing up, but another factor was witnessing and experiencing evil from adults. I saw photos of Southern lynchings (including live burning), Chinese slow slicing, German civilians blown up in WWII, and serial killers mutilating pets. I read in depth about the torture-murder of Sylvia Likens, wishing for her abusers to die more painfully.
Back then, I felt like I should have been more shocked than I really was. I already had violent fantasies and most of the human gore didn't bother me much, which made me think something was wrong with me. Even trying to direct my urges against evil people made it hard to discern myself from them. There was no moral guidance. My parents didn't pay attention; they blamed TV and video games for my problems. Meanwhile, I caught on to domestic abuse that my family ignored and even encouraged. That year, I lost faith in God and man.
Owen was bullied in plain sight as his school pledged to "justice for all." "America is good," his president would tell him. Evil was elsewhere or in Satanic cults, but Owen had to deal with it every day. His only source of moral guidance was a mother too drunk to know where he is. His father was too abusive to take that responsibility himself. The eyes of Christ would not stop him from committing evil via theft. Abby -- the "evil" one -- would not reject or mistreat him. Even after killing Thomas, she didn't want Owen involved in her deeds. "I told you we couldn't be friends," she said.
Looking back, I do think Reeves over-used special effects and fell into some stereotypes of American horror. [Edit] Abby's "be me" and puzzle scenes may have been worth keeping, but the actors conveyed the story well without it. [/Edit] The apartment raid should have been done a lot differently. Invoking Death of the Author, I don't think his intentions necessarily limit the way one can interpret the movie.
I still think it was better for Abby not to cry after killing the jogger. As much as it scars her, centuries of killing people would harden her. I rarely cried during my teenage years after losing my grandmother at 13. Even when my uncle died two and a half years later, I could hardly force a tear out. The guilt affects Abby on a deeper level, which is why her "I'm nothing" line is important.
Unless she turns her partners, Abby cannot maintain romance with them as they out-mature her, forcing her into decades of loneliness at a time. Owen breaks that cycle. She can finally be a kid with him again, emulating the days when she was innocent. The way she acts when he isn't looking indicates that she cares about him. She didn't have to come back for him in the end, especially when someone could have identified her. If she merely wanted a slave, she could've seduced someone else anywhere.
Owen, meanwhile, has someone to take him away from the society that disillusioned him. Whether he turns into another vampire or another Thomas is still debatable. The tragedy is that Abby eats either his life or his soul.