The Lobster - Tumblr Posts
Dogtooth
(2009)
Photo credit: @cypherdecypher via public domain
That Defining Characteristic
S.O. and I were watching Yorgos Lanthimos' film The Lobster and we happened upon the scene where Ben Whishaw's character stands up and talks about his defining characteristic.
Completely ignoring the meaning of the scene and yet embracing it in a different way, I mentioned that my defining characteristic appeared to be a net. A mesh if you will. Or perhaps a cage. I see the many chapters long Peter Parker/Spider-man epics, the long-standing projects waving futilely from the island across the sea where they are stranded. I would need to be a long-lived lobster with incredible focus to complete them all. Or perhaps a fisher scooping them up to carefully and devotedly tend to them one by one and then set them free. Meanwhile the short drabbles, the insignificant tasks, and the side tangents frolic on the beach next to me, unaware of the tragedy beyond the mesh.
Aaaaand I just realized I somehow joined in crossover The Lobster and Free Guy and if that doesn't define me, then I don't know what does. My S.O. didn't even bat an eye.
What is your defining characteristic? Then perhaps tag a few people and learn more about their own perspectives...
@sincericida, @periprose @blooming-violets @withahappyrefrain @ficthots @p3mybeloved
This stare
she is the moment ✨
so actually i am a Luca Guadagnino and Yorgos Lanthimos fan first then a girl second.
The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)
The Lobster is set in a dystopian future where single people spend 44 days at a Hotel, if they remain alone throughout the 45 days, their stay ends with them transforming into an animal of their own choice.
The Hotel reinforces the concept that to be alone is to be weak but to be with a partner is a matter of survival. The mise-en-scene shows the sheer lack of love in the shots, meaning that relationships become hostile and purely strategical. The warm colouring of yellow in most of the shots is completely overshadowed by the horrendous acts the spectator sees on the screen. The film does not discuss reproduction, if a couple stays together long enough, they are allocated a child. The film argues that, simply, to be alone makes you vulnerable. This is seen in the reenactment scene, the camera remains completey still whilst the workers at the Hotel act out how vulnerable it is for females to walk alone at night. The voiceover is clearly authoritative and furthermore, is devoid of any emotion. Furthermore, it trivializes the situation and rids the characters of any individuality as they cannot even tell their own story. The stilted performance of all characters helps anchor this fragility and this is best highlighted through Biscuit woman, who calmly states that she is “good at blowjobs”, the sexual proposal is not suggested in an enticing way, the spectator fully believes that she is saying this to prove her worth as a potential partner. Moments later she discusses how she will jump out of her window if she is alone by the end of the 45 days.
The film challenges the concept of soul mates, and destined relationships. the film suggests that for soul mates to work, one must suspend disbelief. The limping man’s repeatedly bangs his face against walls to make his nose bleed so that the nosebleed woman percieves that he is the one- that this uncanny resemblance is completely believable. The spectator is forced to see the idiocracy in this concept. At the end of the film, the protagonist still believes in this concept. As he believes he has found his ‘soul mate’ he ails himself so that he can fully ‘match’ his love.
The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)
”I just have this limp, which is also my defining characteristic. My wife died six days ago. She was very beautiful and I loved her very much. She had a limp too.”