MovieChat Forums > The Master (2012) Discussion > Taxi Driver, Aunt Bertha, etc., etc....S...

Taxi Driver, Aunt Bertha, etc., etc....Some thoughts. SPOILERS.

posted 10 years ago by snowleopard27
7 replies | jump to latest

It's obvious that Freddie is a person in a great deal of pain. The film is sort of like Taxi Driver in that it mentions the war, but doesn't really dwell on it, yet the main character is obviously so screwed up BECAUSE of the war.

Unlike Travis in TD, Freddie seems on the surface like a free-spirited wildman. But in reality, they are both in a great deal of mental anguish. Freddie really hasn't had much fun at all before he met The Master. I wonder, do you think he's had sex with anyone OTHER than his Aunt Bertha?

My theory is she's the only girl he's ever slept with. He makes it seem like no big deal, almost like he's proud of it, but in reality it must be a very guilt-inducing, shameful experience. I mean, he says "aunt", not "cousin." So, really, he was MOLESTED, even if he was into it. I imagine he was probably pretty young when it happened, like fifteen or something. His pervy aunt had sex with him. That's got to have some lingering effects on the psyche.
He doesn't seem to ever really get with anyone else, until the end. He falls asleep when he takes that one girl out, then flips out on the married man the next day, obviously out of jealousy.

I wonder what will happen to poor Freddie. He's in bed with a woman at the end and having fun, but I wonder if, just like in Taxi Driver, he's really still the same person. Travis will undoubtedly eventually have to commit another "cleansing" act of violence. What will happen to Freddie? I like to think he's okay, or at least better...but, I don't know. The fact that he's repeating lines from The Cause, in a mocking way, as he's banging that girl, seems to me to indicate the whole thing with his mentor was a waste of time. And, also, I think it's very significant that the girl we see him with is clearly just a one-night-stand, harlot bar-chick type; I think it's extremely unlikely there's going to be any real connection or relationship with her.
Still, though, I guess it's good he finally got some from a non-family member. A roll in the hay really can do wonders for the spirit, probably more than all of Dodd's teachings. Hmm...maybe that's the point. I don't know. I'd like to hear what others think.

[–] BrendanFrye 10 years ago

I think he's really changed. though, it's hard to tell. when I first saw it, I thought that last shot was extremely significant, and an obvious indicator that freddie had changed for the better, sleeping next to her and not trying to fck her. but when I saw it again, I noticed that the shot is in the film before then. so, he's still had those inclinations before. maybe the master just helped to bring them out of him more, and that's why he recites the questions? I don't know.

as for your theory about him never having had sex before (besides his aunt), that might be true, which is why he needs to and wants to have sex throughout the story.

in foleyd's analysis on youtube, he said the ending shows how freddie has changed by showing him supposedly being kinder to the woman at the bar, and successfully attracting her enough to go to bed with him.

however, in the beginning with the woman in the coat, he picks her up easily as well. sure he fcks it up by falling asleep on her, but what's to stop him from falling asleep again? he's obviously hammered.

in an interview with pta on youtube, he said it's a frustrating story because the characters really have no arc, because they're the same people at the end as when they started. so he could be the same.

in short, I don't know.

[–] snowleopard27 10 years ago

Yeah, I think that's one of PTA's recurring themes, characters who come full circle and essentially are the same at the end. Kind of a bummer. But unless he really PLOTTED the subtext, then in a sense once the story is created, it's not really up to him what we take from it.

Another thing I noticed on repeat viewing: initially I thought Dodd to be a total charlatan. But the second time I watched it, I think he's pretty much exactly what that editor guy says, the guy who Freddie gets in a headlock toward the end of the movie. Dodd is a grade-A mystic, but his thoughts are too jumbled. I don't think he's a liar or a fake. And one scene I really found telling second time around was the dream at the end, when Freddie gets a phone call from him. I think they REALLY WERE spiritually connected, 'cause Freddie DOES find him in England (how would he just happen to know that's where they've gone?) and Dodd does indeed seem to have been waiting for those Kools, and more importantly, just like he said in the dream, he believes he has finally remembered where they met before.

I don't know. I guess individuals can take different things from it. There's definitely a lot there to work with. I sometimes don't think PTA knows himself what he meant by certain things, and that's totally, totally OK. But I think he thinks he has to always add a sort of dark end to things, to make them more "artistic." I wish he'd be a bit more generous with his characters.
Still, though, the guy's a friggin' MONSTER filmmaker. I think we're really lucky we've grown up in a generation that has both him AND QT making movies. They're two true giants. And they're both WRITERS, as well, developing, usually, their own ideas. Which, to me, makes both of them even better than say a Scorsese or Coppola or any of them dudes, who, extremely talented though they were and are, always need a SCRIPT from someone else first to spark their creativity. Both PTA and QT are like visual novelists, bringing their own ideas to life.

[–] BrendanFrye 10 years ago

yeah, I love QT too, but the reason that I think PTA is better is because of his diversity. In my opinon, PTA could probably make a QT movie, but QT could NEVER make a movie like The Master or There Will Be Blood. he's almost too into his own style. he definitely has not made a bad movie. I just wish he'd try more stuff like Jackie Brown. more mature stuff, ya know.

now that I think about what you said PTA's theme of making things come full circle, it's really true... that's pretty awesome, actually that it's so subtle that I never noticed (apart from the obvious of Boogie Nights). I don't know if Magnolia and PDL do, but the others definitely. especially Sydney, with Syndey resorting to killing again at the end. that's so cool.

man, I love The Master the more and more I think about it. I always find it so pretentious when people say, "TRUE art can be analyzed..." because I think Inception is just as much a piece if art as The Master, albeit a different kind. but now I know what it's like to appreciate a movie by discussing it.

[–] snowleopard27 10 years ago

Good points, man. Yeah, I love talking about movies. Even silly ones, but a film like this almost REQUIRES further discussion.

[–] lebowskithedude 10 years ago

Certainly the war contributed to Travis Bickle's mental state, but do we really believe he's like that BECAUSE of the war. Something tells me Travis Bickle has an innate mental illness of some kind.

[–] snowleopard27 9 years ago

Yeah, you're probably right...I think it's that way in reality, most of the time. There's a variety of contributing factors. A person could already have a predisposition, but then something pushes them over the edge, something that might not have affected another person in nearly so profound a way. Like, I'm sure plenty of guys saw the same action Travis did, and they were able to function, whereas Travis came back crazier than a *beep* rat.

[–] dsgoorevitch 9 years ago

He was screwed up long before the war. He describes his home life as getting drunk enough to pass out, night after night, with his parents, around the kitchen table.