MovieChat Forums > Our Vines Have Tender Grapes Discussion > This is very hard to understand

This is very hard to understand

posted 12 years ago by jughead10m
9 replies | jump to latest

When Ingeborg Jensen wanted to give Arnold a super big hug, he rejected it & this doesn't make sense. Ingeborg is very pretty and attractive & a big perfect 10 & myself & many like thousands of men & possible many other boys would climb the highest mountain just to do that? Why didn't Arnold want her to hug him. In another decade he would wish it did happen & many men love it when someone like her does it because they are pretty and attractive & after all Beaver had a crush on Miss Landers and on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, William Campbell had a crush(thinking he was in love with her) loved it when Mary touched or hugged him. Lots of young preteen other boys love getting hugs so why didn't Arnold allow it. When Nels was giving Arnold and his cousin Selma a lift, then, Viola had to let Arnold sit on her lap & Arnold didn't mind that but why why why wouldn't he let her hug him? Lots of thousands of others wish something like that would happen to them & they wait a million years for that & go millions of miles out of their way for that but why did Arnold do the opposite why?

[–] marckymarc71 12 years ago

Well I must be hard to understand too. When I was five years old I would recoil at the thought of any girl trying to hug or kiss me... Girls? Yuck! ONLY my Mom and Grandma had my allowance of hugs and smooches. I thought Arnold's reaction was very accurate for most 5-year-old boys.

[–] jughead10m 12 years ago

Yes but if it was me and an opportunity like that came along, (some 5 year old boys like it very much, after all Opie Taylor loved it when Ellie Walker put her arm around him & hugged him alot)I would be happy feel like I am on cloud 9 & enjoy it alot and after all, Ingeborg Jensen, is super pretty & attractive & she wanted to hug Arnold without him even trying so again why did he refuse it why why why? In 14 years he would try his hardest to get it like on Dobie Gillis when he wanted Thalia Menninger's affection & she refused it. If I was Arnold & that happened to me I would be jumping for joy so why why why did he refuse it why?

[–] marckymarc71 12 years ago

Opie Taylor isn't real life. In real life, most 5 year old boys find it gross to be hugged and kissed by girls.

[–] jughead10m 12 years ago

Yes I understand, some 5 year old boys or boys ranging from 3 to 10 or to early preteen years find it hard & don't like girls hugging and kissing or even touching them however Ingeborg was not Arnolds age nor was she a preteen or teen. She was a young adult in her early twenties & lots of little boys do like it & some do & some don't but why didn't Arnold want it? After all an opportunity like that out of family comes very very very rarely in many cases. If he had accepted Ingeborg's hug he would have had some type of cloud 9 metephoric memory for the rest of his life. Plus don't forget that Dobie Gillis tries hard to get Thalia Menninger's and many females affections but fails alot & many of them refuse him & that could happen to Arnold 10 to 12 years later & if he had that big hug from Ingeborg he would have had something to remember because thousands of other men(including myself) would go a million miles out of the way to get it.

[–] misspaddylee 11 years ago

Arnold was probably a little frightened of Ingeborg after hearing the adults talk about her not being quite right or a bad girl.

"Walk? Not bloody likely. I'm going in a taxi."

[–] jughead10m 11 years ago

Now I understand it more after what you said in your posting. Even though Ingeborg was very pretty & attractive & a perfect 10 & friendly & kind also, some kinds of things are very hard for some 5 year olds to understand.

Lots of times while Arnold is hanging out with his cousin Selma, other town folks mention that Ingeborg before she was an adult in her twenties had a very bad childhood & yes even though young boys find young female adults pretty & even have crushes on them, Arnolds brain was kindof different & even though Ingeborg asked him(which she did the right thing first) if she could hug him, before taking action & doing it, Arnold only said no because of what other town folks & her Dad said about how she was pushy & persistent when she was a child, preteen & teen. Just the same as many men don't want to be near a certain woman, despite how pretty & kind they are, it has to do with them up to something or trying to use them for something or angle toward a wrong side & that is somewhat metaphoric to some reasons why Arnold wouldn't allow Ingeborg to hug him. So now I understand why he would let Viola sit on his lap & touch him & not Ingeborg.

[–] misspaddylee 11 years ago

Glad I could help. We all see different things at different times, even when we're watching the same movie.

"Walk? Not bloody likely. I'm going in a taxi."

[–] reddrdish 10 years ago

Just finished watching this movie for the first time. Wow! Dalton Trumbo is a God. Anyway, regarding your inital thread, consider why Ingeborg had such a NEED to hug. Does it have something to do with Ingeborg's family life? Especially when viewed with our modern primitive's eye? Also Arnold really did not look that pleased having to sit on the new teacher's lap at the beginning of this wonderful film. Somewhat of a cute dated stereotype of a 5 year old boy.

[–] dglslvr 10 years ago

It's clearer in the book. Ingeborg loves little children and always hugs them when they meet. When this is pointed out to Arnold (by an adult) Arnold complains that he's not a little child, he's seven years old. Ingeborg, incidentally, is 28 in the book. But anyway, in addition to not wanting to be treated like a little kid, I think Ingeborg also creeps him out.