MovieChat Forums > The Gift (2015) Discussion > Three things not mentioned on the board....

Three things not mentioned on the board...SPOILER

posted 9 years ago by JayCeezy
40 replies | jump to latest

1) the koi fish are a symbol of love, friendship, and prosperity. They were a gift made in that generous spirit. When Simon (unknowingly being recorded) behaved like his old cruel bullying self, and cut the evening short with Gordo by telling him to stay away (after making sure his wife didn't hear the reason why), Gordo killed the fish. They were a gift. And the gift was rescinded. Amazing symbolism, I had to look up 'koi fish' because I knew it had meaning and I just didn't know what.

2) Gordo was discharged from the military (where Gordo got his surveillance training) for "Conduct Unbecoming." That is code for 'gay', and the earring on a grown man in his 40s in Los Angeles is pretty gay. That is why Robyn, upon meeting him without knowing any of his history, called Gordo 'socially awkward' and knew Gordo wasn't trying to bang her (despite what Simon claimed). The gay thing is also why Gordo's father set him on fire, and Gordo was an easy and believable target for claiming he was being molested by an upper-classman. Gordo did not rape Robyn (shown in the DVD Extras), and as a straight guy I can say with great authority that the ONLY reason not to take advantage of an unconscious Rebecca Hall is because you are gay.

3) Simon was 'gaslighting' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting his wife Robin, by trying to persuade her that Simon wanted to bang her when he knew full-well Gordo was gay. He was trying to turn her opinion, just like he did to the kids in high-school 25 years earlier with his bullying and lying. Marking 'Weirdo' over the 'Gordo' phone number, mocking Gordo with the silly voice and his finger through his zipper when Gordo left the house, and telling a false story about Gordo's intentions, which Robin intuitively knew that Gordo wasn't after that. Robin had suspicions all along, hiding around the corner to hear what Simon was going to say to Gordo when Simon told Gordo to stay away, looking into Simon's desk drawer to find those private investigator profiles on Simon's "victims", etc. Ugh! Total sociopath!

Amazing script by Joel Edgerton. If you liked it, you will also like "The Rover" starring Guy Pearce which Edgerton also wrote.

[–] minasituation 9 years ago

I'm surprised you missed the fact that Gordo has a child. I haven't browsed the forum for this movie much yet, but at a quick glance it doesn't look like that's common knowledge. His background check includes the information that he has one child and the attempted abduction of a minor was parental kidnapping.

[–] JayCeezy 9 years ago

Discussed last year on an old thread, keep looking.

[–] Heidi_Smiles 9 years ago

the ONLY reason not to take advantage of an unconscious Rebecca Hall is because you are gay

What the hell is wrong with you?!?

[–] JayCeezy 9 years ago

Problem?

[–] janis_bananis 9 years ago

the ONLY reason not to take advantage of an unconscious Rebecca Hall is because you are gay

Are you a Stanford swimmer? How about being a decent human being, you piece of filth?

[–] JayCeezy 9 years ago

Are you saying you do not find Rebecca Hall insanely attractive?

[–] erin1223 9 years ago

i think she is more attractive with longer hair but her hair could be mom hair and her having that short hair could be a foreshadowing of her ending up a mom

[–] TorontoTed 8 years ago

"The Rover". Another Brilliant movie, thanks for recommending this.

[–] jharmon64 8 years ago

and as a straight guy I can say with great authority that the ONLY reason not to take advantage of an unconscious Rebecca Hall is because you are gay.

Unbelievable.

You must be 17 or an absolute idiot.

"What's in those things Bert?"........"A few household items in the proper proportions."

[–] JayCeezy 8 years ago

You are projecting.

Only an SJW 17 year old idiot would virtue-signal like that. At least you didn't junk up your self-righteousness with the trite "never in my life" or "I can't even"

[–] Mossap 8 years ago

Great post. Could you elaborate on the dvd extras and what exactly there is about the rape? He didn't do it 100%?

[–] JayCeezy 8 years ago

If you watch the movie again, you will pick up many things that are not obvious on first viewing. Elaborating on a DVD extra doesn't do it justice, and will just lead to more questions you will find answers to, by watching again.

As an example, here is a 2min. trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3IiZU9JBuE Look at the moment Gordo re-introduces himself to Simon, and Simon's response. The big wolf-grin, "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you!" and the hand-on-shoulder, in Gordo's space. Gordo reacts correctly, looking suspiciously at Simon's hand. But we don't know the reaction is correct, because we don't know what the history is between them.

Knowing now what Simon did to Gordo 25 years earlier, would you expect a normal person to greet you enthusiastically, "Gordo! I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you!" and then get in your personal space? Or would you expect a normal person to be somewhat embarrassed, realize what this person from your past must think of you, and then regret your own bullying behavior?

One of the foreshadowings in the movie had to do with Simon planting seeds of 'doubt'. He did it in Robyn, where he gaslit her to the point she didn't trust her own memory (see recent 'Girl On The Train' for another example of this awful psyops technique), his new employer, the employer of his competitor, etc.

Gordo's job in the military was spying. He is a professional at psyops. He recognizes it, and can actually do it better than Simon. But Gordo is not a sociopath; Simon is a sociopath. Gordo is just paying back Simon, after first giving him many chances to 'let bygones be bygones.' Simon didn't really have to cruelly 'break up' with Gordo; Gordo didn't want a friendship with someone who had been so horrible to him. Gordo just wanted some kind of acknowledgement that Simon knows and regrets the horrible things he did out of sheer meanness. Simon could have made the whole thing end with just a few honest sentences. But sociopaths protect their self-image above all else, even their marriage, career, and status.

[–] duongdogg 8 years ago

Yeah but i thought he had a thing for rebecca hall.

Three things not mentioned on the board...*SPOILER*

Three things not mentioned on the board...SPOILER