Post
by sauvin » Sat Aug 23, 2014 6:08 pm
I think I agree with dongregg in seeing too much being made of Oskar or Owen's behaviour at the pool scene - this coming from the guy who used to dissect every facial expression and musical cue.
Lombano states that Oskar could have "won precious time" by moving to the centre of the pool. In his place, I might have done this, but some of this would also go through my mind: (1) we don't know what Oskar's swimming skills are like, (2) assuming the bullies weren't willing to get wet, there's no guarantee he could tread water long enough for them to get bored and wander away, (3) he would himself have to wander away eventually against the fear the bullies hadn't wandered away very far, (4) there's nothing to say one or more of the bullies wouldn't just jump out of their clothes and into the pool after him, (5) he had no way of knowing Jimmy would escalate matters far beyond what he'd already experienced with the other bullies at other times, (6) the only real reason for buying "precious time" would be to stave the confrontation off long enough for rescue to arrive, but we don't have any indication this is going to happen, and don't have any indication that Oskar knows or suspects it.
We could say that Owen at least tried to fight back. He DID run off to his locker to retrieve his knife, didn't he? That was before it became clear he was trapped. When the pool scene crisis became clear in Oskar's case, it was already too late to do anything.
Owen tried to fight back, but realised too late that his weapon was really only useful for cleaning fingernails or scraping gunk off the bottoms of his boots. It was woefully inadequate in practical terms against several opponents, most of whom outmassed and out-muscled him by an appreciable fraction of an order of magnitude, and it was worse than useless in psychological terms. Nobody fears a pocket knife.
What's shown in LMI is as real a depiction of school bullying (grade school through high school) as any I can remember ever seeing on the big screen. It does get worse, if my experience from forty or fifty years ago is any indicator, but from the perspective of the victim, what's shown in LMI is abundantly traumatising enough - and far more common than we'd like to admit.
Yes, Owen went into the pool screaming and crying like a terrified little girl, but I (for one) can't fault this reaction. Like me in such circumstances, it's more than possible his mind went on temporary vacation; unlike Oskar's bullies, Owen's are apt to inflict physical injury; Owen had no idea what to expect, except that it'll likely be very unpleasant. It was already "uncomfortable", being dragged essentially naked down concrete or ceramic tile floors.
There's nothing to say that Oskar's mind hadn't also taken temporary leave. Where Owen broke down, Oskar shut down. His mind went blank; he froze. Who can say for sure?
Neither reaction - taken by itself - is necessarily indicative of (lack of) "strength of character", "intestinal fortitude", "moral fibre" or any of the other qualities or virtues we apply or ascribe to people when operating under this kind of duress. Oskar apparently "had it", and Owen "didn't", because Owen's reaction was noisier? This kind of assessment is made in a vacuum when any man, woman or child is overpowered and menaced in such a manner.
Fais tomber les barrières entre nous qui sommes tous des frères