Qi Xiangyu
When Barbara dresses up to get Hart's invitation, we see a little "weasel greeting the rooster". A person's psychology has a thousand twists and turns, and there are many ravines, secret and dark corners of the soul, perhaps the dark side that even God does not watch, and perhaps those disgusting things that even Satan is unwilling to do. The human heart is perhaps the habitation of the worst Satan. This kind of evil, it is difficult to attach any moral accusation to it, it is difficult to judge it, maybe this is something that only human beings do. This kind of evil is not the "evil" in ordinary social morality, but a kind of "evil" that makes people speechless.
Sartre said: Others are hell. For Hart, Barbara was hell, little boy was hell. A person who is too good will cause too much trouble, from the holy Cupid, and from the old witch with the cloudy face. Some human emotions, God is not willing to let him control very clearly. Sometimes, emotions are amazing. It drives you to do bizarre things, hurts others, and puts your elaborate cage quietly and quietly on his/her head. I dare say that everyone has some of those things, the ones that are hard to come by, the ones that are a little dark, and sometimes look back on them, and they have a bit of a creepy thought. Don't you have it?
Beauvoir has a saying that is so precise and so frank: I am like everyone, half accomplice, half victim. There is one point in this sentence that can no longer be denied, namely: Selfishness is always the essence of human beings. Barbara was thinking about how to get her, her heart, and her body. Her most punishing moments were the days when Hart stayed at her house after the teacher-student relationship was revealed, guarding and watching day and night. What a feminist moment, like watching your own prey.
There is no doubt that Barbara is a feminist. This trend of thought has been surging since the 1920s. The essence of this trend of thought is that women are not second sex, but equal first sex. Women are to cast off the shadow of men and despise them. Barbara is a quintessential feminist, although I'm not referring to any movement she's been in. But the kind of thing in the bones. I still believe Lacan's assertion of gender: there is no such thing as female. When feminism reaches its extremes, it still stands in the so-called "male position." Such as looting, such as the desire for power - these are the vicious accusations they put on men. In Barbara's eyes, Hart's husband is a vulgar and useless man. When she stayed at Hart's house, watching the middle-class family's cheesy music party scene a little condescendingly after her meal, she couldn't help but feel a little airy. I'm British, but your cheesy American life. At this time, she was a prouder Woolf than Woolf.
However, the film also gives us another layer of cultural implications. Although Hart is now the wife of a barrister, a wealthy middle-class woman, in the past, she was a "punk", a "hippie" who wore unisex clothes and Draw towers, smoke marijuana, and do doodles. she's a rebel, Strong anti-social tendencies tended to her disdain for all middle-class culture. Coincidentally, and tragically, she herself became the captive of the middle class, the golden house wife of a middle-class successful man of her father's generation, and complacent about it. However, there is still a kind of unbridled wildness buried in her heart, a kind of wildness that has to be avoided. I dare say it wasn't the boy who seduced Hart first, but Hart himself had already hinted at him. Who says only men are lower body animals? This is what a woman said. Isn't it a woman? The little boy was never tired of it. This kind of child has long since lost the youthful look in "Farewell in the Classroom". His sophistication surprised Hart, "Do you want it again?" This sentence made Hart feel cramped. This is the child of today. He has no scruples. Justice and justice will always be on his side. When things are revealed, he is just a victim. He is hugged and coaxed by his mother, and he instantly becomes a celebrity. This is also the reason why Barbara always faces the current students with a sideways face. Today's children are not like before. They are much more mature, they are familiar with handling things, and they are good in bed. It is truly a generation over a generation.
What does feminist sexual possession look like? non-physical? Purely spiritual? Barbara's most witch-like bewitchment was to make Hart close her eyes and touch her arm. "Sisters, let's put our arms together!" This kind of physical communication is so secretive, so primitive, and so breathless. Barbara is obviously used to this, and in her opinion, the pleasure of enjoying such skin is the most orgasmic moment. She wants to take her away, she wants to be a successful hunter.
Sadly, we know that Barbara's chances of success are limited. She always failed, and she was even sued by the previous prey, which really outweighed the gains. In modern civilization, this kind of wild thinking is a bit unsustainable, and this female Satan is a bit out of her skills and can't use her hands and feet. Her most speechless moment was facing the headmaster's reprimand and hearing him speak the truth out loud. Kind of absurd, isn't it? Sad, Barbara, half accomplice, half victim.
Hart, this modern Helen. Not only has it become the caged beast of the previous generation, but it has also become the coveted prey of the next generation. In this movie, the old generation always captures the next generation. This stepped pattern makes people believe in the prophecy that "everyone wants to be young forever". She's such an embarrassing character, is that what happened to the women of the "post-war baby boom"? She is probably the saddest, with nowhere to go and no seat of her own. She had to go home again, moved by her husband's magnanimity, and put herself coldly in a corner of the family, living a life without herself. It is better not to expose or publicize the truth. Personality is better to be restrained, how will she spend the rest of her life. The scarlet letter on the chest, the guilt that will never be washed away, will it bear a lifetime.
Still Barbara lived a free and easy life. She started chasing again, spending her life in the hunt, never thinking of death. So, from the perspective of the narrator of this novel/movie, she is completely dominant, smug, and contented. Look at what I did!
Because of my own experience, this movie still warns us all: Friends, stop keeping a diary, it's stupid. (Zhuge Yi)
View more about Notes on a Scandal reviews
