When Ripley was caught stealing Dick's clothes, when someone mentioned that Ripley's food and clothing were all on Dick, when Dick said you couldn't pay the rent without me, and later, Dick cursed Ripley, you're like a blood-sucking worm in me. I'm sick when you're bored. These moments made me feel very embarrassed as a viewer.
I'm not trying to rationalize Ripley's ferocity. I just feel uncomfortable, like seeing the same embarrassed youth. Another coincidence is that I went to see a good freshman friend yesterday. We hardly saw each other since she changed departments, and it has been almost ten years. She now has a stable job, gets married and buys a house, and lives a happy life in the mundane sense without any accident. She still looks like an eighteen-year-old delicate little princess. She reminded me of those cowardly and inferior youth, following the beautiful girl as a foil, spying on the boy she dared to confess but did not dare to like.
Not everyone's life can be bright and lovable. Too many people's youth is unknown - it's Ripley on the cover, standing in the distance and watching the glittering happiness of others in the sun.
The director made many people feel uncomfortable with the murderer. Not surprising, since too many people have positioned themselves in that humble role.
After all, there are less Dicks and Ripleys in the world.
In the end, the little princess said, I am really envious of your rich and wonderful life over the years, and you have done so many things that I wanted to do but have not done.
I secretly smiled inwardly. In fact, after experiencing you, you may not be happier. I just live in a way that everyone will envy. The happiness you see may not necessarily be true happiness. The ones I built on the social network are just the person I want to imagine to be, a good person who is gentle, considerate, upright, kind and affectionate, an enviable child of a well-off family who can pay expensive tuition and live a luxurious life, a person I once envied other people. I will not let people know the other side of me, the one who hates myself, the one who is superficial and ignorant, and the one who is hypocritical and desperate.
So when I am now approached, admired and liked by strangers on social networks, I am actually very scared. It was as if Ripley didn't know whether Peter liked the upper-class Ripley who was propped up by the status of the Chinese clothing, or the lower-level Ripley who had done several odd jobs. I don't know if they like the constructed me or the scarred me. I don't know if the black hole can come in and he won't be afraid. I choose to like the person who is least likely to like me, because he's never interested in getting into my heart—a place I don't want people to discover.
Maybe the person you love the most and the person who loves you the most don't need to know all about you. May you always be on the other side of me, so you won't suffocate me with your way of love, so I won't overwhelm you with too complicated emotions, so the maintenance of the relationship, as long as you reach out and give a thumbs up, the world will be peaceful.
We are all selfish, don't pretend to be selfless.
View more about The Talented Mr. Ripley reviews
