“Whale” is a kind of movie that I think is very good, but I don’t want to admit it is good, and I don’t want the main creative team to be praised. Two stars give it 0 points for its artistry, intention and spiritual core.I have to say that I haven’t seen such an enjoyable movie for many years. My personal feeling is that the movies in recent years are always at two extremes: either the excessive accumulation of metaphors to the extent of mystifying, or the willingness to stop at sensory enjoyment. However, “Whale” takes every frame beautifully in every square inch of the world, and you can feel the emotion in it with a piece of it. Although the whole scene is confined to the narrow cabin, and the main character’s appearance is not “beautiful” at all, the whole picture is harmonious, and there is nothing superfluous in the chaos.
Some films have created wonderful characters, but the connection between the characters is not so strong, more like a pile of elements being forced into a space. But “Whale” makes me feel through the picture that there is a connection between each flat figure:
Many people mentioned that the plot of Charlie’s gluttony was uncomfortable. I think this is also the success of the film. I have experienced the problem of overeating myself. I didn’t feel that I was stared at as an alien. The emotion expressed by the actor was really my real feeling at that time: I temporarily ignored the mental pain through the sensory stimulation (even pain) brought by eating, and waited for the moment when I stopped eating with great fear, and my hatred and shame came again.
But why do I still give it a low score? Because I have known that men are selfish, I hope that at least some of the men belonging to minority groups can realize the selfishness of male power, because they are in the situation of being stared at and criticized, and women have been living this way since birth. By feeling discriminated against and tried, perhaps they can understand the bitterness of being “second sex” and produce some more innovative content.
Unfortunately, although the theme of “Whale” is the plight of minorities, it still continues the idea of “the crying man has milk to eat”, which also completely dominates the development of the story.
First of all, Charlie abandoned his wife and daughter for the sake of same-sex love. I think it is human nature to move on to another love. No matter how pure love is, it is impossible to guarantee a lifetime. What’s more, in real life, there are many influencing factors besides pure love. When you meet the same person at different times and different moods, you may have completely different feelings for it. In my opinion, it is actually a responsible way to advocate for divorce after the derailment, because from the moment the derailer has feelings for the third person, the original family has been broken up. Instead of reluctantly sticking together, it is better to give the other party the right to know, and everyone has time to pursue happiness elsewhere. However, Charlie’s cheating target is homosexual, and the situation becomes more complicated in combination with the situation of homosexuals in society.
If Charlie is heterosexual, then of course, the audience’s sympathy order for the role will be: 1. Ellie; 2. Mary; 3. Charlie. While Charlie is gay, the situation becomes more complicated. As a minority, Charlie seems to deserve more sympathy, and his mistakes have been weakened. His self-denial seems more reasonable, while Ellie and Mary’s lack of understanding for him seems less legitimate.
This leads to some digressions: gay men often think that the chain of discrimination is like this: straight men – straight women – gay. However, women (regardless of sexual orientation) often feel: straight men – gay men – women (straight women – lesbians). While women’s equal rights and interests have not been fully respected, the affirmative action movement of sexual minorities is also in full swing – I certainly do not mean that one must be solved before the other. All affirmative actions are essentially the same, that is, affirming the value of human beings, Instead of judging its value based on its achievements in playing a certain role in the society (so, Shun Zhinan is also a victim of the patriarchal society, because the patriarchal values also discipline men to become a kind of “manly man”, not himself).
In Whale, all women play the role of caretakers. Without Liz, Charlie could not live; Mary and Allie finally brought comfort and understanding to Charlie. Psychologically and materially, Charlie relies on the compassion of women in every way. I blame the screenwriter for his values; I can’t blame the screenwriter, because that’s the reality. If the gender of Liz and Charlie were exchanged, the whole story would not make sense.
The relationship between the characters in Whale radiates with the male role as the core, forming a patriarchal relationship network. In this story, we can see the microcosm of the whole society: men are themselves, while women are men’s sisters, mothers, wives and daughters; The elder is himself, while the younger is “someone’s son/someone’s daughter”.
Each female character in the film lives in the shadow of the male character: Liz is shrouded in the death of her brother and Charlie’s disease; Mary and Allie are shrouded in Charlie’s desertion. In fact, they can completely avoid resentment. After experiencing changes, they can rebuild their inner order and become capable of not being hurt, rather than passively accepting the hurt. This reminds me of my mother’s black hat band in Narrow Gate. Women must become women in men’s lives. After thousands of years of discipline, women have forgotten how to become themselves. Women are told at birth that you are beautiful and fragile. Please let men take the responsibility of protecting you. Your survival needs men to rely on.
Once the attachment is gone, women find that their father, brother, husband and son are not always reliable, but they do not have the ability to rely on themselves. Having lost the roles of mother, sister, wife and daughter, women often feel lost, because they have only played these roles in their life, and have never experienced a relationship network centered on themselves. This is the reason why Mary, Ellie and Liz can’t cross over. They only know that they are “someone’s woman”, but never have the concept of themselves as individuals and subjects.
Whale is a long deathbed confession. I have always believed that the concepts of cause and effect, reincarnation, and the possibility of a good doer to go to heaven in religion are very despicable, because good is supposed to come from nature and act according to one’s ability. Although using religion to persuade people to do good has achieved practical effects to some extent, the utilitarian color attached to good is contrary to the original intention of good. Charlie kept stressing:
“I need to know that I have done at least one right thing in my life.”
“You are the only good thing I have done in my life.”
“I need to know that you are a good person and you care about others.”
“I want him to think that as long as I am enough, I think my love can help him ignore the harm of the world, but I can’t do it.”
But whether it’s Allie or her dead lover, they are independent individuals. Charlie has neither the ability nor the power to decide whether she is a good person for Ellie, and whether he can ignore the external harm for his lover. All Charlie did for Ellie was to make atonement for himself. This was part of his deathbed confession and part of ensuring that he had a clear conscience.
I understand people who want to die and people who eat too much, but I can’t understand Charlie who wants to die by eating too much. If you lose hope of life, you can die directly. If you fear the physical pain caused by suicide, isn’t the inconvenience caused by obesity more painful in recent years? If you want to paralyze me through gluttony, you don’t need to make gluttony sad. Charlie repeatedly showed a righteous look at death when gluttony, which made me feel despised. How dare you make a self-sacrifice gesture when you are clearly hurting everyone?
He hoped that his daughter would really care for others, but he used money to buy Allie to visit him. If Ellie refuses to be bribed, he cannot achieve his goal; Ellie agreed to be bribed. What does it do to help her build a healthy and selfless personality? If Charlie is really as guilty and loves his daughter as he said, he should follow the advice, use his savings to cure the disease, live to witness Ellie’s growth, and accompany her and dispel her doubts in the following decades of life; He should start to take care of himself or commit suicide earlier and more directly to reduce Liz’s burden; He should pay more attention to Mary’s feelings for forgiveness, rather than become a giant baby, leaving the responsibility of being a parent to Mary alone.
This is certainly not a film about turning evil into right. I fully understand and respect Charlie’s despair. He has no ability to rebuild and has no courage to face it. So can you at least not turn everyone around into a full NPC set by yourself? I’m sorry for them all my life. Since you intend to make up, why can’t you just let them go?
All these doubts were answered in the last scene of the film: “Whale” is a complete narcissistic story. The way to love her daughter is to intimidate and lure her. Morality kidnaps her to accompany her and forces her to watch her death. Finally, Charlie smiled, and the light of heaven shone on his face. He completed his salvation. What about others? Liz said, “I can’t go through all this again”, and Ellie will also witness his father’s death. All these people also need to help deal with his huge body
The dead are long gone, and Charlie finally got rid of the heavy body he imposed on him. However, the survivors he left behind have to carry a heavier burden and continue to move forward.