If Malena didn't like the attention or gossip... - Malèna (2001) Discussion

[–] ARomanHoliday 14 years ago

I hear what you're saying, and it does seem like life could've been easier if she' just tried to look like everyone else - but this point sounds an awful lot like "she asked for it" and that doesn't ever really sit right with me. There was another town hooker that didn't get the crap kicked out of her. Malena lived in a small town with small-minded people who were simply threatened by her beauty. By the time she dyed her hair and changed up her look, she was desperate and hungry. (When she wore white however, she was a married woman who everyone admired.)

I really wanted to like this film. In fact I was excited to finally rent it, but instead of a coming-of-age film, I found it to be incredibly misogynistic. Other than great cinematography, there wasn't one enjoyable movie-watching moment for me. Very disappointing.

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[–] Mikenaf123 14 years ago

Yeah I'm with you. I wasn't even blown away by the cinematography. You're right too misogynistic.

But, she was definitely wearing white when she got in the German officer's car, and she also cut her hair and dyed it which created quite a stir and stuck out from everyone else and that was after her husbands supposed death and she was on her own.

I know the "she asked for it" bears a certain connotation in this pc society, but seriously, the only person in the town wearing white and she doesn't want attention?

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[–] criztu 14 years ago

If Malena didn't like the attention or gossip why was she doing such things to call so much attention to herself

Malena is a symbol for beauty (as in Eros). Beauty stands out no matter what. The men and boys were drooling over Malena's ass even when she was fully covered, all black, in mourning clothes.

If I was a beautiful woman, which I'm not, lol, so I could be way off here, but if I was and I wasn't appreciating the attention I was receiving from the townsfolk, I would try to assimilate my looks, not dress opposite everyone else.

Beauty stands out by its own nature. Say, a beautiful film or sculpture or painting, or a beautiful building, or a beautiful town, or a beautiful landscape, or a beautiful life. You wouldn't ask Michelangelo to sculpt his statues ugly, so that they don't draw attention.

That's what Malena is. A beautiful, free, enjoyable life, that everyone wants to taste.

What you see in this film, is Eros (Life/Love) vs Reality. Read Herbert Marcuse: Eros and Civilization - The Origin of the Repressed Individual.

Evolved societies have to repress the Eros in order for them to function efficiently. Sex is forced to serve only for reproduction. Free Eros is tabued, deemed as perversion by the society, because it disrupts the individual from performing as part of the system.

But this causes rebellion, the individual needs freedom, and escapes repression by diving into even more perversity (like Malena trading sex to the lawyer, to avoid consequences of an unfair trial, ending up a whore to survive sheer hunger, as the community increasingly ostracizes her, or like all those men who dream of doing all sorts of things to Malena)

So what those women were doing to Malena, was taking her freedom away. Repressing her. The moment she returned to her previous state, that of the wife of her husband, things went back to normal.

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[–] cornygirl 14 years ago

Very nice post. I think you have some good points and I agree.
I wish I had something constructive to ad, but I don't.

But what I would have argued to the OP, would have been that some people just can't be repressed. Malena was one of those extraordinary beauties, who would be hated and talked about no matter what she wore. The fact that she didn't let the narrowminded people of the village control her, only made me like her more.

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[–] criztu 13 years ago

some people just can't be repressed. Malena was one of those extraordinary beauties, who would be hated and talked about no matter what she wore. The fact that she didn't let the narrowminded people of the village control her, only made me like her more.

Western world, and I dare say the authors of this film, are fascinated with Freud.

The film is quite a copy/paste of Freud's psychology: The town is the Psyche. The town is consumed by war - Freud's "Aggressive Drive". Malena is the "Love Drive". The boy evolves from Unconscious - acts uncontrolably in the begining of the film, to Conscious - acts towards reuniting Eros (Malena) and Thanatos (Malena's husband, the soldier) and restore balance of the Psyche (the town). Freud's Father-Son relation and Civilization vs Repressed Individual, and more, are also put into the fabric of this film.

Malena is singled out as the only beautiful woman in the whole town, this is certainly not realistic, in any town of that size there must be at least a couple of nice women, a few good looking ones, two or three great looking, and let's say one or two really exquisite. If you ask me, Malena did not look extraordinary herself, but only when compared to the other women in that town.
So the artist's intention when presenting us Malena as the only beautiful woman in town, is to focus the viewer's attention to what he wants to say: Malena represents Beauty, Love, Life, all that Freudian stuff.

Next, it is unrealistic to have Malena be so utterly rejected by the people in that town, then leave, then return to the town, then be greated almost as if nothing had happened. That is artificial. Art is artificial. It transcends reality in order to comunicate an idea, again: Aggressive Drive (War) throws Psyche (the town) into regression, into Unconscious (uncontrollable irrational) and repress Eros(Malena), but Eros (Renato Amoroso - the boy) emerges to surface, into Conscious (reuniting Malena with husband) and reestablishes balance - Soldier and wife Malena and Town are one again.

blablabla, it's kind of boring to see how simple a structure this film has.

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[–] Mikenaf123 14 years ago

I appreciate your well thought out and calculated response, but am not buying it for the topic at hand. She was wearing ALL WHITE walking through town with EVERYONE else wearing drab blacks and browns.

If I were hiring Michelangelo to paint my wall, I sure wouldn't be complaining after it was done saying it's drawing too much attention or it's unfair that people are criticizing me for thinking my walls are better than my neighbor's. If Michelangelo did not want to stand out or did not want the attention of his peers I'm sure he wouldn't have sculpted such beautiful works. But that really is getting off subject.

The men can "drool over Malena's ass" all they want when she is in all black and in mourning, but that has nothing to do with my topic. Why was she drawing such attention to herself if it was unwanted? This topic is not "How could she hide her ass better when she was dressing like the other townsfolk."

My ex girlfriend was quite a beauty, raven black hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She did not like the second looks she received from other men while walking through a place such as the mall. She learned to look down or not make much eye contact with men to avoid unwarranted attention. She did not do the opposite and dress her eyes up with mascara and eye shadow and intently stare at them. I would say that is more like what Malena did.

Surprisingly, the answer that I believe to be true but hasn't been mentioned is the story is being told from the boys perspective. The movie is almost downright unbelievable to watch the reactions of men as she walks by. Comical if you think of the wife that would beat the husband who stared too intently at Milena in town. It really seemed unrealistic as the memory of a young boy would be. He was projecting his feelings on others in his memories of Malena. I'm sure the whole town didn't stop what they were doing when she walked in. Maybe that's just his memory serving him when thinking back that here is Malena in a dusty old town and she stood out angelic like with her white dress.

And finally, I never thought the final scene that showed her respected so well in the market had as much to do with her having a husband as it did her returning to a hostile scene as a proud woman by herself. In fact, her husband was not even accompanying her in that scene.

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[–] PoppyTransfusion 14 years ago

She was wearing ALL WHITE walking through town with EVERYONE else wearing drab blacks and browns.

Yes because the film makers/director was illustrating something. You translate this literally when it serves also as a metaphor.

On the literal level I always assumed Malena was better off than the other women as her husband had money. The women turn on her when she needs money, as her husband is assumed dead and not because he is absent, which is when the men start to take advantage of her.

never thought the final scene that showed her respected so well in the market had as much to do with her having a husband as it did her returning to a hostile scene as a proud woman by herself

I saw her as humbled and that was what drew the women to accept her, oh and her money.

Moments of perfection,
idle in the sunshine

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[–] cstu11 13 years ago

Nonsense, take a look at this picture of without makeup and tell me she's some beauty that stands out no matter what:

http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/partner/mr_c66ac56b4dbc47.jpg

If she didn't want the attention could have woke up, taken a shower, put her hair in a pony tail, put on some jeans and she would get a tiny fraction of the attention she received in the movie. Yes, she's a beautiful woman but she wanted the attention.

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[–] bruno-ferreira382 14 years ago

I think people should mind their own business,quoting burroughs "Most of the trouble in this world has been caused by folks who can't mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has." Malena is a symbol of beauty, and all her disgrace is due to small minded people that surrounded her, envied by women, seen as a sex object by men. Of course she was bound to suffer on a place like this, because in the world we live, sometimes,free beauty(by that i mean, having a own sense of style)is badly seen, everyone wants to be her, to own her, they envy it's freedom and beauty, hence its destruction. Why should everyone have the same kind of clothes? Can't people have their own type of clothes without being bothered? Again that sometimes is not possible because of people's small minded mentality. I think Malena, the film that is, is one of the most beautiful depictions of perversion towards beauty and sensuality.

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[–] Mikenaf123 13 years ago

You could be correct... And sure she can have her own clothes/style. She just should expect some attention! If you don't want attention, assimilate! lol

I think in pre to mid war Sicily your views are slightly avante guard. Can't say I disagree but gotta keep in mind the times and the culture.

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[–] willangel79 13 years ago

I think Malena didn't mind the attention at all. She knows she is being watched. The subtlety of the acting suggests that. It was never indicated in the film that she didn't like the attention though. I do think she is a naive woman. She is focused on her responsibilities being a daughter and a wife waiting for the return of her husband that she never bothered to be a part of her community. She has a life, a routine. And so she is a mystery to them. And there are tendencies for people to create stories or exaggerate what little thing they know about her everyday life. Maybe the clothes/her beauty triggered the false stories against her, but her own naivete about her surroundings caused her disgrace. When she returned with her husband, her apparent maturity and learned wisdom became clear. Like one of the dialogues spoken by one of the women in the last scene, her face now has wrinkles but she is still beautiful.

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[–] infinity8 13 years ago

I'm sure that Malena is used to being watched. I don't see her as particularly enjoying it. She as good as ignored all of the men who drooled over her.

Honestly, Malena was a bit of a recluse because she had to be. The town had judged her as soon as she arrived. The men were all trying to sleep with her and the women all hated her. Everyone made up stories about her within days of her arrival. She could not become part of the community no matter how hard she tried; it had already judged her.

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[–] mokha1990 13 years ago

It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but if I remember correctly, Malena cuts and dyes her hair after being labelled as the town whore. Everyone in the community seems to believe so, even her own father. I believe her decision to cut her hair short and dye her hair orange is her way of expressing her anger. This is the turning point when Malena comes to accept her role as the town whore.

Even though she is innocent, everyone refuses to believe she is. So basically she says "Fine! If they think I'm a whore, I'll show them a whore!" She's tired of fighting to protect herself. Her thinking might be confusing to some, but think of it this way. If you were constantly accused of being a thief--and not just by one person, but your friends, your family (especially your mother and father)--it would get to you. At first you would fight back and tell people it just isn't true, however, after some time you would come to accept yourself as a thief. You would say to yourself "Well, if I'm going to be called a thief I might as well gain something from it" and so you may decide to steal. Maybe not everyone would react this way, but some will. This is how Malena chooses to react. After some time, she accepts her role as the town whore. In fact, she is even shown enjoying her new image a little. During the scene where she walks into town with her new look, she gets men to pull up a chair and light up a cigarette for her. Whereas as before she avoided the men she now indulges in the attention.

In the end, I feel that this entire scene reflects the idea that if you say or hear something enough times, you'll believe it to be true.

That's my perspective anyways. I apologize for the lengthy response, however, no one in the thread seems to have mentioned this. Unlike what some people have stated here, this scene doesn't make the movie "unrealistic" or weaker but quite the opposite. I feel this is one of the scenes that makes the story so much more beautiful and intricate than people have given it credit for.

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[–] VittoriaVetra 11 years ago

Yes, dress yourself down because everyone else gossips and acts like lunatics..

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[–] aios-dum 9 years ago

owned in such few words.

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[–] teamneedle 11 years ago

She didn't cut/ die her hair until she caved in and became the person the town made her out to be.

Prior to that she hadn't really done anything to warrant the terrible reputation bestowed upon her.

That being said, she could have dressed more modestly/ conservatively thus hopefully avoiding all improper treatment prior to her prostitution phase.

However, I too have wondered why she would put herself in a position to be scrutinized which leading to her ultimate internal fall.

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[–] VittoriaVetra 11 years ago

She didn't cut/ die her hair until she caved in and became the person the town made her out to be.

Prior to that she hadn't really done anything to warrant the terrible reputation bestowed upon her.

They hated her but they wanted to be her, obviously. Cutting her hair, dying it, nothing would or could change that..even dressing conservatively.

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[–] teamneedle 11 years ago

I guess we don't completely know that to be true cause she never tried it-

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[–] aios-dum 9 years ago

yes we know it's all over literally. it's the victim mentality we never heal, apparently.
When you've done nothing, you have nothing to change about yourself. If others hunt you down, it's because they want to. Usually, caving in will make them come at you worse, because they see it has an effect on you.
The people who brutalized Malena are at fault, but somehow half of the comments I read here are about how she could have acted/dressed differently.
Rape culture ftw

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[–] mhan00-2 11 years ago

I'd like to just point out that it was mentioned in the film that she goes out everyday to look to see if she can get a job. It's specifically mentioned by one of the town gossips that she can't find any because none of the women want to hire her, and the men are afraid to because of their wives. And when you are looking for work, you dress your very best to do so.

It was just unfortunate that she was such a rare beauty that she just stood out, and that her personality was such that she didn't seem to be one of those irrepressible friendly people who might have been able to break through the walls the women of the town put up due to her beauty. Instead, she seemed to be more introverted, bordering on shy who was uncomfortable with all the attention she received. Being someone of a similar personality type, I sympathize with her. It is extremely difficult to make the effort to make friends when people are being so transparently hostile or apathetic.

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[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sophrickco 10 years ago

Any thoughts?

Yep. Go *beep* yourself.

A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.

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