tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615167884712379815.post8310701011272524786..comments2021-09-12T14:25:06.225-04:00Comments on Pennies in a Jar: Two Theories on the Representation of Rape (Inspired by Dragon Tattoo and Precious)Nels P. Highberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17998283755242261031noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615167884712379815.post-58609879364927542082012-01-02T11:12:03.498-05:002012-01-02T11:12:03.498-05:00Nels, Thanks for reminding me of the Bill/Lorena r...Nels, Thanks for reminding me of the Bill/Lorena relationship. You're right, that was rape, too, although it played out in the weirdest way ever. Turning her head 180 degrees? That's just an awful image to associate with rape.jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07530237351106234206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615167884712379815.post-66104597117906192902011-12-23T20:34:50.525-05:002011-12-23T20:34:50.525-05:00Jennifer, I loved Prince of Tides, and that is one...Jennifer, I loved <i>Prince of Tides</i>, and that is one of the few films that does show us the rape of a boy as it is described in the novel. I remember seeing that in the theatres and the audience getting so quiet. And <i>True Blood</i> really plays with all of these theories. In a way, whenever Lorena commanded Bill to have sex with her, she was raping him because he didn't want to do it but was compelled to do so because she was his maker.Nels P. Highberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17998283755242261031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615167884712379815.post-25391589976872662552011-12-22T14:12:17.447-05:002011-12-22T14:12:17.447-05:00As I read your post, I found myself flashing back ...As I read your post, I found myself flashing back to The Prince of Tides (1991). Nick Nolte's Tom Wingo describes being raped (along with his mother and sister) by escaped convicts. He says in a small voice, "I didn't know it could happen to boys." Until that movie, I didn't know it could happen to boys, either. Of course I knew that women get raped: it's on the news, on TV, in the movies. And murder is a regular occurrence on TV (a daily event, if you consider how often Law and Order is shown). But when rape is depicted, it's always upon women, so I agree completely with Theory 1. It's also a measure of how squeamish the public is that we don't call it "rape" when the victim is a child. We call it "sexual abuse," as the media demonstrates over and over regarding Penn State. In regards to Theory 2, I haven't read Push and I have to admit that I haven't heard of IRL instances of women raping men. The only one that comes to mind is the most recent season of True Blood, when Jason--the stud of Bon Temps--is kidnapped and forced to have sex with the women of a small town to impregnate them. Although the character's best friend identifies it as rape, Jason doesn't talk about it and the tone of the show makes the situation seem like karma.jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07530237351106234206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615167884712379815.post-4575089681052063232011-12-22T13:49:22.619-05:002011-12-22T13:49:22.619-05:00Shell, thanks so much for all this detail! I'...Shell, thanks so much for all this detail! I'm nodding as I'm reading. And I'll be honest. I saw Antoine Fisher on DVD a few years ago and completely forgot about the abuse, and I am someone who is usually attuned. And I never say Kite Runner, but I remember seeing the previews, and they now list on that green screen before a preview why it earned that rating of R, and I remember that preview said the rating was partly for "rape of a child." That may be why I actually haven't seen it.<br /><br />And that is very true about Precious. The orgasm is something that students often want to discuss but are afraid to mention, but we talk about the biology of orgasm and the psychology of a girl who truly has been abused her entire life.<br /><br />And I think you're so right about Lisbeth. We do know that it's going to get worse after. This might be where gender as a viewer comes into play. I knew it was going to get worse, but I also knew Lisbeth was going to get revenge. It was already clear that she would never stand down. And I was cheering a bit when she got her revenge. Then I stopped to think about that, cheering someone who embodies vigilante justice while also knowing Salander has reasons that become clearer as to why she does not trust the legal system. As I kind of say in this post, I don't think rape is every okay even when it is used against a rapist, but I admit to feeling pleasure, and anticipating that pleasure Tuesday night in the theatre, when Salander gets revenge.<br /><br />This is where Larsson deserves some praise. Lisbeth Salander is one of the contemporary literary characters who is worth deep discussion. She's a feminist hero and a scary vigilante.<br /><br />I may come back and have more to say. These are my gut reactions typed fast, too.Nels P. Highberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17998283755242261031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615167884712379815.post-67951008644221503912011-12-22T11:18:57.338-05:002011-12-22T11:18:57.338-05:00and then, not abuse perpetrated by a woman, but by...and then, not abuse perpetrated by a woman, but by another male: The Kite Runner. I read and saw The Kite Runner, and while the scenes in it were teen on teen (pre-teen?), the rapist ultimately was proven to be a pedophile by the relationships he established later in the book/movie.<br /><br />(I typed a lot more and then went forward and lost it, but I see that I already wrote a lot, so I'll leave it at that but I do want to say that I agree with you very much about the importance of the inclusion of the details of these crimes regardless of how difficult they are for us as readers or watchers.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615167884712379815.post-48363608292361192982011-12-22T11:06:35.703-05:002011-12-22T11:06:35.703-05:00I have a few half-scattered thoughts. First, whil...I have a few half-scattered thoughts. First, while I have admitted how much I loved the entire trilogy and did watch all the foreign films (with my whole family including hub who almost nearly always falls asleep in dubbed films but didn't in these), I had to put the first down after the first brutal scene of Lilsbeth. It was clear in the book leading up to the scene that Burjman's next move would be a graduated level of abuse after the first inthe office and the second overture to be in his personal residence, but I was not prepared (can one be?) for the brutality of that rape. I did put the book down and I remember saying at the time (probably a snippet on fb which I was on at the time or something) that I would not be seeing that film after all. I picked the book back up though, and I guess it was only the fact that Salandar was able to so -- I'm trying to choose my words carefully - satisfying label him for what he was - that as a reader, I could move forward. I also think the scene itself and her very clinical treatment of herself and her recovery and seeing that angle of it from a reader's point of view helped propel me through a section which otherwise would have been difficult for me to return to. (I am, after all, a person who first read the rape scene out of Bastard out of Caroline while unwittingly pickign it up in B&N having no prior knowledge of Allison at the time and wound up like a stunned animal in the cookbook section waiting for my husband to bring my then-kids back from a toy store). <br /><br />Even though as you pointed out, the book has evidence of multiple occasions of abuse, it is Salander's that I remember. I think that for me as a reader, that was due to the brutality of it, the strong sense of need for her to defend herself against Burjman as she had been a potential victim for him in just about every way that a minor can be a guardian, and the fact that as a reader, I did not find myself fully vested in Harriet. There was too much for too long which was unclear, and I found myself seeing all through Lisbeth's eyes, and let's face it: she was not too sympathetic to Harriet, far from it. <br /><br />I saw the first film after reading the first book, so I think it was sometime in 2010. I don't remember every scene as vividly, and while I do remember the basement scene, I did not remember the omission of the kiss. Probably since I knew that he was going to be safe and not raped, any potential lead-up there may have been not as closely scrutinized by me at the time. Would the inclusion of the kiss have tempered the anticipated violence of the rape any or woudl that have been a thought for the audience's interpretation? (?) <br /><br />I *do* remember being very shocked at the way the rape/incest scenes were interpreted in the film version of Push. Those were difficult scenes to read. They completely omitted one of the more difficult aspects of the father's rape which included her own orgasm during the act. The mother's acts were conflated with this other self-abuse of over-eating to the point of not be able to move, and that sleep state that was at play as a result was a mental check-out for Precious. All of those factors were important in that dynamic, and they were rolled away and what we got instead was momma and her posters, masturbation, which had nothing to do with the realities introduced in the book, and as you said, the call to Precious could easily have been ignored for what the film writers tried to pass it off to be (a substitution for their omission of the book's scenes).<br /><br />I can think of two movies which did include as part of the abuse of a child the abuse by a girl/woman/maternal figure: Antone FisherAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com