So i thought the reason Claire always rode in the car that way was because of her back pain. But at the end of the movie it occurred to me that it was because she didnt wanted to be reminded of the accident that had killed her son. was i slow to pick up on that, or did it take others a while to get it? and then at the end of the filem she finally came to terms with it.
shareIt was the crash.
Sylvia said "you can sit normally", it was symbolic because the last time she say upright in a car, she went through the windshield.
The end of the film symbolised that Claire was looking ahead to the future, that she faced her fears, accepted the death of her son and her chronic pain all by facing forward in the car.
Sure she was in pain and uncomfortable, but she was just as uncomfortable sat up in a chair.
She could've sat upright for 5 minutes while they passed the border but she didn't, because she couldn't, she hadn't faced her fears yet
Exactly. You nailed it.
Brideshead is A Thousand Moments and MacBeth
Bingo! Nailed it.
shareWell she didn't have back pain, but in her legs which had pins in them. It was down to fear, after the accident she simply didn't want to look at the road and traffic.
She wouldn't sit up cause of what she saw during the accident
shareI think this is a very good opinion. Never thought of that.
shareIt is both. It is REALLY because of the crash, but she uses the excuse of her pain, both to herself and others.
She may or may not be consciously aware that she is using her pain as an excuse, but at the end of the movie she "wakes up" and comes to terms with it. 😉
She gets in and out of the car to go get pills and go to Nina's husband's house.
She walks around Tijuana all day but won't sit up at the border.
Sylvana tells her, " sit up! It doesn't hurt you, please sit up!"-whilst they're at the border.
She falls asleep pool side whilst sitting up. (no prob)
Ergo, once off of drugs and alcohol she came to terms with the accident and took the chance to face the road. It was both symbolic and literal (phobia).
It was obvious.
"I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?"
The biggest sign of intelligence is the ability to hold two conflicting ideas in the brain simultaneously... hence the 'both' comment. It is possible that some of her motivations were conscious, while others were still unconscious.
A huge draw to 'black or white thinking' is that once someone decides that their opinion is either one way or the other, they get to stop using their brain. This way of thinking has its roots in laziness.
I'll include the original quote for your reference. 😀
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."share
- F. Scott Fitzgerald -
I think lying down in the car was her way of dealing – or, more accurately, not dealing – with everything that being a passenger represented. In the end, she turned a corner on her grief, her anger and her fears.
shareYou're spot on, in my opinion. It was at least as much an issue of facing the past as dealing with pain.
shareI enjoyed how these film makers held their cards close and didn't lay 'em all out there like so many less intelligently crafted films do.
I don't think you were "slow" to pick up on anything. As anyone who's suffered a catastrophic loss (such as that of Claire's) which has also resulted in their own bodily injury will tell you, it's almost impossible to distinguish between actual physical pain and emotional pain. They are intertwined, become as one, and feed one another. I think the film brilliantly presented that.
Claire clearly displayed both the physical scars and emotional scars of her painful past.