Rebellion, Control and Destruction - After Viewing the Movie "Foxcatcher"

Dwight 2022-03-26 09:01:05

Rebellion, Control and Destruction
——After watching the movie "Fox Hunter",

"Fox Hunter" can be called a masterpiece, its "god" is that it is difficult for ordinary people to understand the behavior of the rich man John Dupont in the play. And it can also put you in an unbearable state where no matter how you understand it, it seems reasonable, but no matter how you think about it, it seems like you can’t figure it out.

As far as DuPont's mother-son relationship is concerned, John's behavior is neither to gain his mother's approval nor to please his mother. His behavior is completely a kind of rebellion, opposition and even revenge to his mother. John's mother liked horse racing, which she considered a noble sport; she disliked wrestling, which she considered a low-level sport, and even told John clearly that she did not want to see John "degenerate" in this sport. But John didn't do what his mother wanted at all. He disliked horse racing, fox hunting and other sports since he was a child (as can be seen from the black and white photos at the beginning of the film), and thought that horses were stupid; When she gets a medal, she replaces her mother's horse racing prizes, and when her mother dies, she releases all her valuable horses (fortunately, it wasn't shot with heavy machine guns, which may have been used for this purpose in the first place).

John's behavior is by no means to please his mother, to get her mother's recognition. He supported the Western Free Wrestling competition and won the first place in the competition by bribing the athletes. His mother saw through it at a glance, didn't he know that this couldn't please her mother? He won the World League title by supporting and training athletes who have won Olympic champions. Will his mother give him credit? Obviously, John's behavior was clearly designed to disgust his mother. A worthless medal, he wanted to put it in Rosemont (which should be the place where their house displays the prizes of major competitions), and he was disgusted to his mother, who only thought it was a souvenir; he pretended to be a coach, and his mother did not Left after a few minutes. John's behavior of doing whatever his mother doesn't like is clearly a manifestation of a child's rebellious psychology.

In addition, John's behavior is more to satisfy his perverted "hunter" psychology. He has no intention of being a world champion at all. Although he said that his prey are "medals", in fact his prey are wrestlers. His purpose is to achieve "control" over these strong players. If he really wants to support sports Career, no matter what line of work, how could it possibly lure athletes to take drugs? Does he not know the harm that drug use can do to an athlete? The reason why he chooses wrestlers to achieve his goals is, of course, the first is the rebellion against his mother's will; the second is his childhood experience. From the pictures at the beginning of the film, it can be seen that he does not like horse racing and fox hunting. It should be due to his smallness and cowardice, and this should be an important reason why his mother does not like him. He cannot be as arrogant as his ancestors. Sitting on a horse and hunting foxes bravely, but he still has the "hunting" gene in his blood, and he also wants to prove himself, so he chooses those stronger "prey" - wrestlers, to these strong "prey" An athlete's "control" should be a perversion of his "hunter mentality".

Because of this, when he can't satisfy his desire for control, he chooses to destroy, which is the main reason why he ends up shooting Coach David. It is argued that he shot David because (1) he was jealous of his family, (2) he took anger at David for failing to invest in sports, and (3) he was empty and bored with nothing to do, and the result of money willful. I think these reasons are debatable. Could a homosexual be jealous of the perfect happiness of the normal sex? What an idea for the DuPont dynasty to invest money in sports failures; he's a bird expert, runs the DuPont dynasty, stamp collector, philanthropist, it's hard to say he's doing nothing; he kills for a while Rising, certainly "rich and willful" has nothing to do, he will not know that intentional murder in the United States is a matter of settlement through money; and killing is not his purpose, because he obviously spends money to achieve this purpose without taking risks. Therefore, his killing is purely a vent, and this "vent" must be carried out by himself, and the incentive for venting is that he can't tolerate his "prey" being out of control, he feels the "prey". The power of control can't even keep up with the influence of Coach David on his prey, and the already controlled "prey" Mark (Mark has not only drug dependence, but also psychological and even spiritual dependence on him, Mark was kicked out of the hut but took what John gave him), also left him because of David's intervention, and even David, the big prey himself, left (there are signs, such as David seems to be on the training ground with the athletes Farewell, repairing the car in the snow, wife packing), which intensified his venting pace. Vent should not be for punishment. If it is for punishment, one shot can achieve the goal. Therefore, complete control can only be destruction, so there are the next two shots. He not only destroyed David, but also destroyed himself.

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Extended Reading
  • Sylvan 2022-03-31 09:01:03

    There are very few lines, and the story is told entirely with camera and emotion, which is kind of great. For money and fat, I would do anything, anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Chandler 2022-04-02 09:01:02

    There is really no way to put aside the emotional disgust to like this work, of course, this is indeed more proof that this is a good film.

Foxcatcher quotes

  • [Dave feels uneasy and struggles on filming his scene on who John du Pont is]

    Documentary Director: Let's get pointed here.

    David Schultz: What are you looking for?

    Documentary Director: I think you know what we're trying to accomplish here. We're making a documentary that shows John is gonna be able to lead this team and lead you to levels of greatness in the world of wrestling that we haven't seen before. And, talk about that, but use some of those terms that he likes like excellent and intensity and validation.

    David Schultz: [laughs to himself] All right. Well, John du Pont... Say that again? I'm sorry. Can you ask me that question again?

    Documentary Director: John see's you as important to this. You're the closing chapter to this thing. You're the end of it, and you're the assistant coach. He see's himself as your mentor. I would like you to just look at the camera and just speak about John... as a mentor.

    David Schultz: And say what exactly?

    Documentary Director: That he's your mentor. Can you do that?

    David Schultz: John du Pont... is kind of a mentor to me.

    Documentary Director: Just look over here at the camera and say it again.

    David Schultz: [Dave clears his throat, smiles, and answers without emotion] John du Pont is a mentor to me.

  • [John du Pont drives up to see Dave Schultz, makes a stop, backs up his car, drives forward and parks up beside Dave]

    David Schultz: Hey John, What's happening? Hey Whoa!

    Wayne Kendall: [from Wayne in the passenger of Mr. du Pont's vehicle] No.

    John du Pont: You got a problem with me?

    Wayne Kendall: John. Don't, John!

    David Schultz: No, John, I don't have a problem. Hey... John -

    [gunshot from du Pont]

    David Schultz: Argh!

    Wayne Kendall: [Wayne leaps out of du Pont's vehicle] John, No! Stop, John. Stop!

    [Dave tries crawling away on the ground, grunting]

    Nancy Schultz: [Nancy Schultz runs out the front door and screams] John, no!

    [another gunshot is fired at Dave Schultz]

    Nancy Schultz: [Nancy runs back into the house when she see's Mr. du Pont aim the gun up towards her]

    [Dave grunts continuing to try and crawl away]

    Nancy Schultz: [final gunshot to Dave Schultz ending with a final scream, Mr. du Pont calmly drives away as Nancy holds onto her dead husband laying in the snow]