Shame

[Die Hard]

I just saw the movie 'Shame' starring Michael Fassbender (who gives a great performance!) and felt the need to recommend it on here.

The main character is addicted to sex, it's basically the main focus in his life. He is constantly pursuing it one way or another, picking up women he meets in his daily life, getting behind his laptop to engage in internet porn, ordering an escort girl, or just jerking off on the toilet.

He's good with women, runs pretty solid game. But it's all superficial, he just knows how to push the right buttons and make their ginas tingle, then fvcks them. He's unable to establish something like a "connection" with them, fvcking is a purely individual experience for him, just as masturbation. Only, instead of using his right hand, he uses a woman's body.

It seems as if the guy is empty inside and is trying to fill his inner emptiness by engaging in sexual activities all the time. Of course, it doesn't get him anywhere, but he can't help himself. He just keeps repeating his cycle of sexual activities, he's a slave to it. The moment he would stop doing it, he'd become very uneasy, like a drug addict going through withdrawal.

Fassbender's portayal of the main character is quite brilliant. Nothing of what I wrote above is being told explicitly, you just deduct it from his actions and body language while the movie lets you be a spectator to the main character's daily life (so, in fact, you might disagree with certain parts of my analysis of the main character and give a slightly different meaning to his behavior, although I'm sure you'll agree with it for the most part).

Anyway, it's a pretty raw and engaging movie, and upon viewing it, I realized I have more in common with the main character than I'd like to admit... I suspect many of you would feel the same upon watching it. It also reminded me of Squirrels and the problems he spoke of in many of his posts. Squirrels could be this guy, lol. So if you could relate to the things Squirrels was struggling with, you'll probably find this movie interesting.

Love to hear your thoughts if you watched it!

 

[Lexington]

I just saw the movie 'Shame' starring Michael Fassbender (who gives a great performance!) and felt the need to recommend it on here.

The main character is addicted to sex, it's basically the main focus in his life. He is constantly pursuing it one way or another, picking up women he meets in his daily life, getting behind his laptop to engage in internet porn, ordering an escort girl, or just jerking off on the toilet.

He's good with women, runs pretty solid game. But it's all superficial, he just knows how to push the right buttons and make their ginas tingle, then fvcks them. He's unable to establish something like a "connection" with them, fvcking is a purely individual experience for him, just as masturbation. Only, instead of using his right hand, he uses a woman's body.

It seems as if the guy is empty inside and is trying to fill his inner emptiness by engaging in sexual activities all the time. Of course, it doesn't get him anywhere, but he can't help himself. He just keeps repeating his cycle of sexual activities, he's a slave to it. The moment he would stop doing it, he'd become very uneasy, like a drug addict going through withdrawal.

Fassbender's portayal of the main character is quite brilliant. Nothing of what I wrote above is being told explicitly, you just deduct it from his actions and body language while the movie lets you be a spectator to the main character's daily life (so, in fact, you might disagree with certain parts of my analysis of the main character and give a slightly different meaning to his behavior, although I'm sure you'll agree with it for the most part).

Anyway, it's a very engaging movie and upon viewing it, I realized I have more in common with the main character than I'd like to admit... I suspect many of you would feel the same upon watching it. It also reminded me of Squirrels and the problems he spoke of in many of his posts. Squirrels could be this guy, lol. So if you could relate to the things Squirrels was struggling with, you'll probably find this movie interesting.

Love to hear your thoughts if you watched it!

The problem is that it's a movie. Yeah I'm sure a guy who could lots of sex whenever he wanted could feel "empty." But he could also be the happiest person in the world. It totally depends on the person.

Some people long for "connection." They want to do the whole wife, kids, house in the suburbs, picket fence thing. But that's not necessarily for everyone.

It's a pretty common theme in many movies, TV shows and society in general for a guy to need a woman to make him "complete." IMHO this is utter BS. That's not to say that men shouldn't seek a connection with women. If that works for you, then great.

But there's no shame in being good with women and getting laid a lot.

 

[Die Hard]

You're kinda missing the point. This movie is not about the standoff between being happy on your own and needing a woman to complete you, nor was I alluding to that standoff in my post. You totally misinterpreted my use of the word "connection".

 

[Scaramouche]

Dear DieHard,
Saw the movie.....Agree with you on most of your observations but I san also identify with Lex...A contradiction in terms?No....It could be in all seriousness that you have taken your relationships with Women to a higher level.or certainly different level than Lex or I have wanted to achieve...
For me svex has always been,even during two marriages.Just as it seems to be with Fassbinders character,a uniquely personal thing...To talk of emptiness in either of us,is silly....No We are like Pavlovs Dogs repeating behaviour that had previusly elicited pleasurable outcomes....if you want to talk about emptiness,then take the Svex away from us!

 

[Burroughs]

"connections" are overated

cvmming on a girl's face is not

 

[Die Hard]

Dear DieHard,
Saw the movie.....Agree with you on most of your observations but I san also identify with Lex...A contradiction in terms?No....It could be in all seriousness that you have taken your relationships with Women to a higher level.or certainly different level than Lex or I have wanted to achieve...
For me svex has always been,even during two marriages.Just as it seems to be with Fassbinders character,a uniquely personal thing...To talk of emptiness in either of us,is silly....No We are like Pavlovs Dogs repeating behaviour that had previusly elicited pleasurable outcomes....if you want to talk about emptiness,then take the Svex away from us!

Repeating behaviour that had previously elicited pleasurable outcomes is one thing. In the main character's case, however, it has become an obsession. The obsession is meant to take the place for something else that he lacks.
The scene where he had to stop in the middle of the act and what happened afterwards, is very telling and clearly shows that there's a lo tmore going on with this man than him simply "repeating behaviour that had previusly elicited pleasurable outcomes...."

could be in all seriousness that you have taken your relationships with Women to a higher level.or certainly different level than Lex or I have wanted to achieve...

I find it sad that you wouldn't WANT to achieve a diferent level in your relationships, Scara. It means the fear inside of you has won and you gave up on the chance of emotional restoration.

 

[Scaramouche]

Dear DieHard,
"I find it sad that you wouldn't WANT to achieve a diferent level in your relationships, Scara. It means the fear inside of you has won and you gave up on the chance of emotional restoration." Perhaps you are right Die Hard.....Don't know....I do feel however that if I had shown more Bvalls when being coerced into two marriages,then I would be far happier and self fulfilled,though I must say the uncompromising life I live today is very close to being "As good as it gets"!

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

One of the most common themes in human storytelling is the quest for meaning in what's essentially meaninglessness. This story has been retold for centuries in different contexts, but it's essentially the same plot; the person with the unfillable void inside that prompts them to great acts of creative passion or horrible deeds of self-destruction. It can be a tragedy or a comedy.

Sex addiction is just the meme du jour of this century. Feminization has taken this cliché for its own purposes. Every romantic comedy, every 'love story' in the past 50 years, all revolve around men's inability to fill the hole in their heart that only a special woman can. Literally, everything else in the world is just a cheap, superficial substitute for the inexplicable magical element a woman completes a man with. He literally cannot live without her piece of his puzzle.

Sex addiction is simply the new pathology of the male condition so we make the leap from Pretty Woman and the Hooker with the Heart of Gold to the more sinister sex addict who's so hopelessly flawed he'll burn away to hell before he sees the healing light of submitting to the feminine imperative's medicine.

Women like it because they feel superior in their capacity to control themselves sexually (dubious, yes), but also because it provides them with a self-righteous sense of pity; "If only men would just see us for our beautiful insides and be less obsessed with our bodies they'd find peace."

Men like this because it gives them a feeling that as bad as they are, they're not THAT bad. There's a self-righteous sense of qualifying to women based on how much better they are in controlling themselves, and again this contributes to their "not-like-other-guys" sense of uniqueness they hope women will recognize, appreciate and want to ƒuck them for. That sex addict in the story can't make a human 'connection' with women, but I can, so ƒuck me instead.

 

[Die Hard]

There's a lot of truth in your post, Rollo. It doesn't apply that much to this movie, however. The movie makes no judgments about the character or his addiction at all, it doesn't try to get some message through to us. It just lets us be a witness to this guy's habits and leaves any judgments purely to the viewer.

So no need to view this movie in regard to the things you explained in your post, Rollo. There's no hidden agenda here. If the movie instills those self righteous thoughts you described in certain viewers, it will be as a result of their own thought tendencies, it is not the movie's intention.

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

The fact that a thought about a movie about a 'sex addicted' man occurred to someone and was created is proof enough of its cultural relevance for our time. The zeitgeist of this period is evidenced in what we think others will find relevancy in, regardless of any intended purpose.

The story wouldn't exist if the cultural interpretations weren't already pre-established to make it relevant.

 

[Burroughs]

....the fact that men actually fall for this line of shaming is proof how stupid men have become (or how desperate)

take someone like Tiger Woods...when the press got wind of his numerous fvck friends...he should have stepped out in the open and said 'I'm TIger fvcking woods and I like to fvck sluts' simple...'i'm the best golfer in the world none of you can touch me, you can judge me but i'll still get my d!ck wet in any pornslut I can buy..if my wife doesn't want to fvck me all day and all night I will find those willing parties who will'....now that would have been refreshing.

of course Nike wouldn't have liked this one bit...because you have to sell to women at all costs.

and frankly thats what the world needs....more men of power and influence that step up and say 'i'm going to fvck hot azz biatches that look like jenna haze till the day i die and nothing you self hating, feminazi, fat chicks, mangina afc faggots, puzzy hating biatches say is gonna stop me!'

 

[Down Low]

Haven't seen Shame, but it sounds like The Man Who Loved Women (1977, France, also titled L'Homme Qui Aimait Les Femmes). It's one of those must-sees. Much more humane than Alfie.

Funny how the anticlimax of The Man Who Loved Women was precisely to resist having a title such as "shame" put on the story.

 

[Die Hard]

The fact that a thought about a movie about a 'sex addicted' man occurred to someone and was created is proof enough of its cultural relevance for our time. The zeitgeist of this period is evidenced in what we think others will find relevancy in, regardless of any intended purpose.

The story wouldn't exist if the cultural interpretations weren't already pre-established to make it relevant.

The fact that a thought about a movie about a 'sex addicted' man occurred to someone and was created is proof enough of its cultural relevance for our time. The zeitgeist of this period is evidenced in what we think others will find relevancy in, regardless of any intended purpose.

The story wouldn't exist if the cultural interpretations weren't already pre-established to make it relevant.

So what you're saying is every possible story anyone comes up with for a movie is always, and with no exception, the product of pre existing cultural interpretations, as opposed to an original personal idea. So much for creative thinking, then... Copernicus didn't come up with the idea that the earth is flat either, then? It was not his original thought but a purely the result of pre existing cultural interpretations? I'd expect a bit more logical sense from you, Rollo...

Furthermore, you now speak of plural interpretations. Yet, you only alluded to one particular interpretation before, namely the self righteous thoughts of men and women. This is just one possible interpretation. There are definitely more interpretations possible, of which some are deeply influenced by our culture/zeitgeist etc. and some are more more personal.

 

[MisterSisterFister]

You say its all about interpretations but the movie sets a precedent on you before you even see the the film.

The movie is called: Shame Correct?

Which automatically tells you he is not happy about something?

 

[Die Hard]

Apart from great directing and acting, the movie held significance to me and perhaps it will to you too. I don't think the title has anything to do with that and I certainly wouldn't refrain from watching it just because Rollo has an obsession with finding signs of feminism and social manipulation in every little thing he encounters...

 

[Scaramouche]

Dear All,
That first post of Rollos should be compulsory reading for all DJ's it read so well too,like sugar drizzled with honey.

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

DIE HARD, I got nothing but love for you brother, but, have a read of this:

http://heartiste.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/the-medicalization-of-maleness/

I'd be curious to read what your take is on it.

 

[Die Hard]

DIE HARD, I got nothing but love for you brother, but, have a read of this:

http://heartiste.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/the-medicalization-of-maleness/

I'd be curious to read what your take is on it.

Sorry for the late reaction, I wasn't aware of the last three replies until just now.

Nohing but love for you too, Rollo. But the fact that you posted a link to that article shows you are really just making incorrect assumptions in this thread. Coz I agree with the article you linked! And there should be no reason for you to think that I wouldn't, or that the article contains any new idea to me, or that the article is conradictory to the movie.

My post was not a detailed review of the movie, so that left a lot of room for anyone to make incorrect assumptions about the movie. Which you're obviously doing... If you would just watch the movie for yourself, it'd be a lot easier for you to draw any conclusions about it or about what I have said. Of course I could explain things by extensifely describing specific scenes in the movie, but why would I go through that trouble if you can just watch it yourself and see what I was talking about?

Just watch it, you'll see that your assumptions are incorrect and that there is no need for debate here. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy watching it too! Which was really my intention when I started this thread: for other forum members to enjoy a well crafted movie with a story that touches on several topics we discuss in here...