The Lobster (2015) presents a dystopian story. If there is any positive energy in this story, it is that it makes us understand such a truth: once the social system is unreasonable, it is a tragedy for the individual.
The reason why this film chose the marriage system to tell the story is because the marriage system is the cornerstone of society and can affect every member of society. The quality of the marriage system can basically determine the level of civilization of this society. The dystopia in "The Lobster" is a society of couples, where everyone has to be in pairs, the loners are questioned by the police, and those who are single, widowed or about to be divorced are gathered in a hotel, where There will be some measures to help these people find mates. Those who can't find a mate within a certain period of time will become an animal and continue to find a mate according to the animal model. Those who can't find a mate and don't want to become an animal have to flee into the jungle and become the prey of those who focus on hotels looking for a mate. Obviously, this provision is contrary to human nature. What goes against human nature is not the point of turning people into "animals", which is of course a dystopian literary expression. Because it is a "person", he will choose a mate according to the human way. For example, he will take into account factors such as appearance, property, social status, and hobbies. "Animal" is nothing more than to get rid of "humanity" as much as possible, and let him find a "mate" according to the instinct of animals.
Obviously, not everyone is willing to become an animal, and the celibacy in the jungle is a proof, because there are still people in this group who want to find a partner, but they can't complete the task within the stipulated 45 days. However, escaping to the jungle is a huge pain, so people who don't want to become an animal and don't want to endure the pain choose to cheat. "Cheating" is also forced by an unreasonable system. Because this system stipulates that you have to find a partner based on a "main characteristic" defined by an individual. For example, if you define yourself as a main characteristic of lameness, you have to find a lame person. If you have frequent nosebleeds, you have to find someone who has frequent nosebleeds. people. So, when John can't wait for another cripple for the rest of the time, he smashes his own nose and succeeds in gaining the favor of a girl with frequent nosebleeds; the hero of the film, David, changes his temperament artificially to match the indifference Ruthless and cruel women bond. Of course, we can also say that the so-called "main feature" is also a literary expression, it is nothing more than to express that there should be "connections" between partners that attract each other, such as common hobbies. However, marriage is an open expression of two people who love each other. True love can face death, and having a "connection" is not proof of "love". In fact, the film arranges a dystopian act to illustrate this in the second half of the film, when the jungle celibate leader holds a gun at the hotel manager and her partner, even though they are united because they both have great voices , but under the threat of death, the "love" between them soon revealed a flaw. It can be seen that it is unreasonable to simply use some kind of "connection point" to pull together.
The second half of the film seems to further criticize the "evil" that an unreasonable social system can produce from the perspective of human nature. The social nature of human beings enables people to actively adapt to society, which is often the reason for the existence of unreasonable social systems; and because of this, unreasonable social systems are more worthy of criticism, because they not only squeeze human nature, but also change it. Although the male protagonist David fled to the jungle and became a member of the celibate faction, the rules of the celibate faction must not have any behavior that may form a couple. No matter what he does, he can no longer act according to the established social rules, but he still follows the hotel requirements. The "main feature" is looking for a partner. Obviously, David's tragedy is not only that he violated the rules of the jungle, but also that he failed to escape the constraints of social rules. So, when the woman he loves is blinded by the leader of the jungle celibate faction, he also wants to blind himself to find a match, even if they have fled back to the city. Although we feel that this kind of behavior is extremely stupid, when we think that it is the influence of the social system, we feel chills down our spines; although we can "mourning the misfortune and angering it", we expect ordinary members of society to fight against the hateful Is it a bit inhumane in itself? (Text/Slate Planting Flowers on Tuesday, December 29, 2015)
Ps. Thanks to the subtitle team at 3:00 a.m. for providing Chinese subtitles for this film.
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