The Movie...Let the Right One In
SPOILERS GALORE….Only Continue Reading if You’ve Already Enjoyed the Film!! The movie’s great and if you’re a fan of foreign, horror, coming of age, or vampires, I suggest you check it out.
But what bothered me was the unstated, though very present, undercurrents of sexuality related to a 12-year-old vampire. There is a shot in the film that shows a close up of Eli’s frontal, unpantied body. NUDITY IN A 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL? REALLY? Is that ever appropriate, except if we’re catering to degenerates? Though I didn’t recognize it as such, one of my NFriends thought the shot shows a scar. Twice during the film, Eli says that she is not a girl and her comments might be referring to the fact that she’s dead. But is that true?
We know Eli is old, surely too old to have gone through any type of surgery while she was alive for a sex change or intersexual condition. But if it is indeed a scar, that’s where the package would have been. ALSO THERE’S THE ISSUE OF HER “FATHER,” who can’t possibly be, because he isn’t old enough. So, was he selected when he too was 11 years old? As a grown man, are we to assume that their relationship is platonic or paternal? If Oskar is the chosen “father” replacement, will she become his girlfriend as he grows older? Though her body is 12, this girl has been around for a while and I think there is another aspect to this story that is only hinted at.
Ok, the sexual parts of this speculation are icky, but as many people have already mentioned, this is a dark story and I’m interested in what the filmmakers were striving for…because I don’t believe a story of this nature (12-year-old-vicious-monster-when-she-needs-to-be) would not dare to tread on such slippery, possibly tabooed, slopes. Or maybe I’m the degenerate, seeing sexual situations where none exist. Even if it’s to tell me I’m full of crap, what do YOU think?
But what bothered me was the unstated, though very present, undercurrents of sexuality related to a 12-year-old vampire. There is a shot in the film that shows a close up of Eli’s frontal, unpantied body. NUDITY IN A 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL? REALLY? Is that ever appropriate, except if we’re catering to degenerates? Though I didn’t recognize it as such, one of my NFriends thought the shot shows a scar. Twice during the film, Eli says that she is not a girl and her comments might be referring to the fact that she’s dead. But is that true?
We know Eli is old, surely too old to have gone through any type of surgery while she was alive for a sex change or intersexual condition. But if it is indeed a scar, that’s where the package would have been. ALSO THERE’S THE ISSUE OF HER “FATHER,” who can’t possibly be, because he isn’t old enough. So, was he selected when he too was 11 years old? As a grown man, are we to assume that their relationship is platonic or paternal? If Oskar is the chosen “father” replacement, will she become his girlfriend as he grows older? Though her body is 12, this girl has been around for a while and I think there is another aspect to this story that is only hinted at.
Ok, the sexual parts of this speculation are icky, but as many people have already mentioned, this is a dark story and I’m interested in what the filmmakers were striving for…because I don’t believe a story of this nature (12-year-old-vicious-monster-when-she-needs-to-be) would not dare to tread on such slippery, possibly tabooed, slopes. Or maybe I’m the degenerate, seeing sexual situations where none exist. Even if it’s to tell me I’m full of crap, what do YOU think?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by e manderthal on -
Although Netflix may not replace disks that they already own, It should be an easy matter to upgrade the available Instant Watch offering, at least.
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Permalink Reply by Ken Otwell on -
MORE SPOILERS
I realize this is an old post... but I just found it after watching the movie, loving it, watching it again and then reading the book...so there.
I had some of the same reactions as Donna. What is actually going on in the movie are several hints at what was in the book but was totally - and correctly I think - left out of the movie. so.. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!!!! YOU WERE WARNED!!! Eli's "real" name was Elias, a boy. He/She was castrated/mutilated by a "nobleman" 200 years ago and has no genitals at all, either way. When Eli says "she's" not a girl, she's not kidding. In the book she says she's not a girl, she's not a boy, she's not anything. Oskar pretty much figures it out and asks his teacher about boys loving boys... another part that was left out. In the book, Oskar is much more conflicted about their relatiohship (vampire to boy, not boy to boy) and it resolves itself much slower than the one movie scene. And the part about the "father".. .not sure if you really want to know. But if you do - he was a pedophile/alcoholic that was infatuated with Eli.There is large subplot about him in the book that would never, ever make it to the American audience in any movie form whatsoever.
One part of the book that I think should have made it to the movie is Eli's partial redemption. Just before the pool scene, she buys blood from someone rather than kills them. I have no idea why this was left out of the movie, except perhaps to leave it more ambiguous.
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Permalink Reply by Donna Loves Movies on -
Hi, Ken! I haven't been here in ages and only caught your comments by accident. So glad you posted them.
SPOILERS AGAIN!!!
This site caused a heck of a lot of grief for me as the fans of the movie were outraged (to put it mildly) by my suggestion that there might be some extremely deviant behavior going on. What I didn't like about the movie was that these hints were so obscure as to go over nearly everyone's head (as evidenced by this discussion) and left the rest of us scratching our heads. My biggest problem was the (non)genital shot. Why was it there? After reading the book, now I know, but in the movie it didn't further the story and I found it distracting all out of proportion to what WAS being told.
Wasn't the book fabulous?!? I loved the author's style and can't wait to read whatever he writes next. Glad you stopped in!
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