How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

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BravoHotel
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How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by BravoHotel » Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:51 pm

Before I dive straight into things I'd just like to say hi first, while this isn't my first posting (4th to be exact) it will be my first thread which I'm putting here seen as though it is more linked to Let me in at the moment rather than LTROI and hopefully it goes as well as I intend it to, so here goes.

My first post on the forum was in answer to Misteak's survey into why we like LTROI, link right viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8414, one question in particular caught me a little regarding whether the story left a lasting impression on me or changed me in some way.
Yes was the answer to be blunt but trying to target why stumped me, so I articulated myself the best I could at the time and now have carfully devised an answer that describes as best as I can express how LTROI has affected me and possibly in later a thead I may describe how it has even changed me as a person, for the better.
My first exposure to the "Infection" was last year early in the winter when I watched Let me in, what caught me at first was the relationship that formed between Abby and Owen on their first meeting, the outsider meeting the outsider. By outsider in terms of Owen I mean the loneliness and how outside of the rest of the world he seems, always watching people, the adults there for him while not being at the same time.
Then his lack of friends not that he cannot actually be friends with anyone, more because of the bullying my view of which meaning that no would want to be friends with him because of how he's seen as the bullied kid that no one is friends with and so no one wants to be, for fear of becoming the same. This I think Owen is aware of and understands, leading him to want to be a feared serial killer so that the people that caused this are punished for putting him in his position that he can only best be freed from by starting anew elsewhere or by meeting another outsider someone unaware of how Owen is veiwed. Bringing me to the other outsider Abby who as the veiwer I was aware of her vamprism so for me the story did not progress until Owen was aware of this too because this is where my relation to the story begins.
When I was younger a few years younger than Owen (who if i remember correctly is 12 in Let me in) I was the one branded the "outsider" in an Owen sort of way and can almost entirely relate to how Let me in portrayed the mindset of a person trapped in such a position. Most of all though what the film gave to me was a chance to see what it was like to have what back then I most wanted a friend that was also an outsider, but one that was more different than me, more on the "outside" so to speak, that I could seek comfort in helping them as I'd be the one in the better position me being closer to the "inside" than he or she was.
However this outsider would also have something "special" to them the thing meaning that while they may physically be stronger than me I would be stronger than them as I would be the knowledgable "insider" for me it was a take on some kind of werewolf friend of all things. (anecdotally I find it quite scary how close it is to vampire as they are often seen as somewhat relatives) And that's the beginning of how LTROI infected me because I feel it parallels in a way with my life ( something which I feel I may end up accidently publishing entirely at this rate) that wanting a unique friend to run away and be with that I never got but the film created for me, giving me a taste of what it could really have been like. Because being with that dangerous possibly even killer of a friend would have meant I was still an outsider on terms that I back then would have wanted, to be feared and people were mabye even jealous of because I had the thing that I believed everyone else like me secretly wanted but could never have and I would never give up because back then I wanted nothing else more in life. So in a way I feel almost related to the LTROI story and wonder if John Ajvide Lindqvist grew up thinking the same way I did (or it could be the other way around since he came first) and if this is the way other people feel but are unaware of how to express, don't remember or will not normally admit to feeling and he found a way to express it in the book, which I could describe how I was affected (or should it be infected? ) by it in my next thread maybe? Should you all like me to.
Of course I say this with the hope this thread best describes what I am trying to get across and that you all find it at most the least bit interesting, (my huge amount of self confidence astounds me :D :oops: ). Anyway in conclusion I digress I would be interested to hear how the infection affected anyone out there or if anyone feels about it in a similar way as to how I have attempted to described or diagnose it so far.
Last edited by BravoHotel on Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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intrige
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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by intrige » Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:24 pm

OMG dude, have some space inbetween those lines. It makes me tired to read.

I am not a big fan of LMI but I can see that given that you saw it first, it has a lasting impression on you aswell. I don't think LMI is awful though, it could have been much much worse.

For the questions about JAL. Yes, he was bullied. In 1981 he lived in Blackeberg with his mother in the very same apartment number as Oskar is written to live in. The bullies even had the same first names, but JAL mixed up the last names. I don't think JAL was ever "Piggy" Oskar was a fat kid and here has never been let out any information confirming that JAL was fat and was called piggy aswell. But it in some ways was JAL, he even collected ghosebumps books. Pretty cool pararells. Some on the forum has questiones if there ever was an Eli figure in his childhood, but I remember veagly that JAl wrote here and said it was not.

Welcome to the forum anyway! LOVE your avatar! Cute :D
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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by BravoHotel » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:57 am

For the questions about JAL. Yes, he was bullied. In 1981 he lived in Blackeberg with his mother in the very same apartment number as Oskar is written to live in. The bullies even had the same first names, but JAL mixed up the last names. I don't think JAL was ever "Piggy" Oskar was a fat kid and here has never been let out any information confirming that JAL was fat and was called piggy aswell. But it in some ways was JAL, he even collected ghosebumps books.
My bad I dont think I asked the question as clearly as I thought I had :think: , what i was trying to get at was do all children under the similar circumstances I and JAL grew up with have that view of the world that I'm trying to describe and that I find in LTROI

And yes the book and swedish version of the film is much better I just happened to see Let me in first and this was my first impression on the whole LTROI media that made me want to see more.
OMG dude, have some space inbetween those lines. It makes me tired to read.
Sorry about that I'll do better next time, nice name by the way doesn't intrigue have a different opposite kind of meaning in Norweigian?
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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by drakkar » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:21 am

intrige wrote:Some on the forum has questiones if there ever was an Eli figure in his childhood, but I remember veagly that JAl wrote here and said it was not.
In the radio program (Sommar i P1) JAL said his life started when he was 13 years old, and he started going downtown becoming a member of the Swedish Magical Circle. Somehow, I've always linked that statement to the appearance of Eli in LTROI.
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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by BravoHotel » Sat Apr 26, 2014 12:37 pm

In the radio program (Sommar i P1) JAL said his life started when he was 13 years old, and he started going downtown becoming a member of the Swedish Magical Circle. Somehow, I've always linked that statement to the appearance of Eli in LTROI.
Never knew that I can see how that could have led to Eli making an appearence I myself like to think the goosebumps books may have had an influence, LTROI seems like a very goosebumps story, a vampire living next door and scary things going on :twisted: .
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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by gkmoberg1 » Tue May 06, 2014 2:55 am

BravoHotel wrote:Most of all though what the film gave to me was a chance to see what it was like to have what back then I most wanted a friend that was also an outsider, but one that was more different than me, more on the "outside" so to speak, that I could seek comfort in helping them as I'd be the one in the better position me being closer to the "inside" than he or she was.
I completely get this. You or Owen, as one "outsider" would have somebody that you can both relate to and help out, in a way. I've been there with that. And Abbey certainly is that outside-oustider for Owen! It's harder to get to be more of an "outsider" than her. Imagine how she, then, feels.

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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by BravoHotel » Tue May 06, 2014 5:33 pm

I don't think I can.
What I get from the way Chloe-Grace portrays Abbey is that Abbey has tried to convince herself that she either doesn't need or can't have anyone (mainly can't),
so much so that she is maybe even starting to believe it herself you can sense it when she first talks to Owen. It was round that time I thought wow this is actually going to be a really good film not the horror flick I thought it was going to be.

Makes me wonder what type of person she would have wanted, if anyone "inside"? Or "out"?
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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by gkmoberg1 » Tue May 06, 2014 9:20 pm

I don't think she would know. At the start of the movie, when she meets Owen for the first times on the playground, she has shut herself off from trying to reach out and make acquaintances. She's nearing the end of her relationship with Thomas and I feel she is in a depressed, closed, sad state. There is nothing in her world in which she can find joy or interest. She's moving through the days without paying attention to them. I mean this from an emotional viewpoint. Obviously she's physically navigating through the days. But mentally and especially emotionally she's very closed off. So as to whether she would have wanted an "inside" or an "outsider" in her life, I think the answer is neither.

I like how the movie gives so many clues about her yet never let's us know for certain.

Meanwhile, when it comes to Owen I wonder whether an "insider" or an "outsider" would have been more to his liking. He is defensively closed down. Yet I think he is emotionally starving for friendship. The breakup of his parents marriage, the father's moving away, plus the bullying at school - he is left in a very unsettled quagmire of what to do with himself or (re)build his self worth. Getting a knife and using it to stab trees in the dark is, well, a pretty big clue that not all is going well with him. As for whether he'd be more likely to become interested in an "insider" versus an "outsider, I think the answer would be either - whichever comes along first.

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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by BravoHotel » Wed May 07, 2014 9:22 am

I see what you mean, that she has grown tired of getting close to people and is merely in need of another handler nothing more, and when she first meets Owen she even gives the impression she doesn't even want that anymore.

It's been a while sice I've seen it but if I remember correctly as they see each other more I think Owen pretty much, unkowingly hands himself to her with his eagerness to make a friend that is "either", which is maybe why Abbey takes him on, It's been a while since I've seen it and I guess I'm going to have to watch it again :D but .
One thing I think would be interesting to find out would be how Abbey came to meet Thomas, and if she cared about him at all or if he was just another in a long line of handlers, because I think she really was happy with him at one time.
Image
Although looking at the picture long enough her expression seems to shift between the two it's like how you put it rather well a clue that we never get an answer to.
Just to get this out there by the way Chloe-Grace is stunning in this picture as she always is, just how you can look at it without any context and get a feeling of something out of place about her, like...
oh damn I had a description for it but it's just escaped me :oops: .
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Re: How LTROI affected me, first impressions.

Post by Agustin Gerrard » Wed May 31, 2017 7:41 am

Being a bit of a fan of the supernatural I gave the movie a shot. And it was amazing! It was slow but it didn't matter. I liked the atmosphere. And I liked the fact that "she" is genderless.

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