So, in the hotel, the girl in the room next to Jessie's is being assaulted and probably raped and what does Jessie do? Nothing. She doesn't call the cops. She doesn't try to intervene in any way. WOW. That is messed up.
How I saw it was the same way I saw the scene when she takes that deep cut on her hand and tries to take care of it in her own Motel room instead of going to a hospital. She's underage. She probably by law needs to be in a home or something now that she has no family or adult supervision. If she calls the cops, she'll probably be taken away. Was it right? Nope. It's just another sign of the narcissistic traits that took hold on the Runway. Notice that the scene happens after the Runway. Before the runway she was willing to call the police.
And I just realized she didn't call the cops when they tried to break in and get her either....
Before the runway she was willing to call the police.
You're absolutely right, I never thought about that! After coming here and reading all the interpretations about Jessie's narcissism, I'm wondering if her parents are still alive and she ran away from home, then claimed they were dead so they couldn't be notified and take her back home.
The runway scene is important because Jessie could have called the police anonymously and claimed she wasn't home so she wouldn't be questioned. But she chose to leave the victim to suffer while listening to her screams.
The reason that she doesn't call the police is that it is HER that is getting assaulted next door. She's listening to her own death. It's the moment she dies and then becomes stuck in limbo.
shareWow, that's the kind of critical analysis I'm here for!
I just finished the movie and found it a hard watch, just in the sense that it was very disturbing, but...obviously it's meant to be, haha.
The scene you're all referring to was horrible. I wanted to smack her for not attempting to do anything about it. Reading it your way though, is a fantastic way to look at it. I got that moment with all the mirrors and her kissing herself and all that was supposed to represent the turning point in terms of Jesse signing her soul away for that kind of life, but I didn't extend that so much to what came after.
I chalked her inaction up to just being scared as well as looking out for herself...thank god, it wasn't me, kinda thinking which plays nicely into her narcissism anyways. Bravo on your interpretation though!
I think when she was dressed in white, standing on the swimming pool diving board - that gives off the feeling that she is in limbo, and so maybe everything that happens after the hotel scene is some sort of weird trip.
I'm not certain. It's just a theory. But it's a great film.
I really like that theory and it makes sense to me given its atmosphere and aesthetic, like you said. The way certain things are shot...certainly in that assault scene where it ends up zooming out and taking you out of the physical space with only a spotlight on her, gives it a feeling of "otherness." So, I could buy that the last act of the film is taking place in a purgatorial state.
That actually makes it a more interesting film, in my opinion, than if it's all literal.
I seem to remember there is a fetus like shape in the hotel scene somewhere. Similar to Kubrick's 2001. So this was another thing that I thought might be a nod to her "being born again" in another plain etc.
I can't remember though. So it might not be 100%.
This part of the movie is important for the progression of the Upcoming Story....
Big spoilers here folks, don't read if you haven't seen it, and if you gonna watch it, just be aware that this is a very grotesque flick.
First, this Movie is created by a concerned father (Nicolas Winding Ref) worried about his daughter who just entered the model industry. The director is also from Denmark and they do have 'weird' ways there. Also this is the directors own words.
""It's a camp movie," he says, with a laugh. "I took all my love for vulgarity and whatever other Italian Renaissance art form you can imagine and relished in it. I wanted to make a horror film, I wanted to make a melodrama, I wanted to make suspense, I wanted to make humor, I wanted to make existentialism, I wanted to make science-fiction. You name it, it's all in there.""
- http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/why-nicolas-winding-refn-had-to-make-neon-demon-20160624
He was also as mentioned before really worried about his daughter .
That fascination began to merge, however, with his amusement at the fashion industry's ludicrousness and his concern about raising two daughters, the oldest now 13. "I wondered if this obsession with beauty — which has escalated enormously because of the digital revolution — what if that conflicts with the longevity of beauty, which is getting shorter and shorter?" he says. "I can see my daughter is becoming prey already, and has probably been prey [for] many years."
Prey is very important word here. He wanted to make this movie as a warning message to his daughter. It is no coincidence that Keanu Reeves mentions that a 13y old girl stays and is available at his motel to Jessie's "boyfriend" . The directors own daughter is 13. With that In Mind You can easier understand the extreme scenarios. Also back to that part where Jessie don't help her neighbor.
My Theory.. the man over there "raping" the other woman is hired by Ruby to make Jessie scared enough to call and stay at her place. The Lion that occupy Jessie motel room is very alike a stuffed up animal in Ruby's "home". I don't think this is coincidence. I believe Ruby also 'fixed' that too. Why I believe this is..
1. Ruby is a Lesbian. 2. Ruby loves Jessie. 3. Ruby seems very lonely 4. Ruby portrait a beautiful girl coming into the fashion world an being forced a role of "servitude" . As a licensed embalmer and makeup artist for the deceased Ruby makes the models pretty.. She makes the dead people pretty..
Did she eat people before Jessie? No. I think Ruby just totally snapped when Jessie rejected her "advantages" because Jessie is heterosexual unlike herself. Thereafter Ruby draws a " ( x-x ) " marked figure on the wall and has sexual intercourse with a dead woman at the funeral... the last 20 minutes seems very ...
well , what do you say about concerned parents that are worried about their children. They picture that worst scenarios..
I have to say up until these last scenes I really enjoyed the Movie. It was real.. it had depth.. and shows some real problems with the fashion industry, especially "natural" beauty , plastic surgeons, the concepts of "beautiful" ectera