I think people are very wrong to believe that she has been abused, causing her to be "different". She doesn't have a rape fantasy; she has nightmares about being raped, which is entirely different. I know because some of my worst nightmares are the intruder/rape type, and I've never been harmed in any way. She simply became more fixated on this and had to deal with hearing her sister and her lover together, which would be unnerving and upsetting to her. Also, he taints her surroundings~not just the brush in the glass, which he obviously does to upset her.
While not every celibate person becomes completely unhinged as she does, the world can seem much more threatening I think.
When I first saw this, I understood the pressures she had to deal with at work and in social settings that she was incapable of dealing with. For some people, a date can be an ordeal, depending on the person and his expectations.
I never viewed her as a rape victim. I don't believe she was ever sexually abused. The photo tells us a lot by her being apart from her family with what I see as a somewhat lost, introspective, lost to the world gaze; she is in her own world at that point. I've always tended to be that way, and I did not like physical contact. I still do not. I've learned that this can be from a number of causes~ADHD and fibromyalgia/CFIDS included; often, an ADHD person finds physical touch uncomfortable~too harsh, too heavy, too irritating. She is very beautiful, and, if she still is a virgin, knows what men usually expect, setting up a fear response. Think about when she finally snaps, the circumstances that send her over the edge. Autism is a possibility, too.
There are so many other reasons for her behavior, and I don't believe molestation is one.
~~MystMoonstruck~~
"I will take you places you have never been, and I will show you things you have never seen.~~And I shall see the life run out of you."~~Ghost Story
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prodigylover
16 years ago
I agree that the childhood abuse angle is left ambiguous (at best), but I don't agree that her rape fantasies were actually nightmares.
What I got from those scenes was that, like any human being, Carole felt strong sexual desires. However, she was so repulsed by them (i.e. look what it does to people) that rape was the only "acceptable" means to satisfy those longings. Hence, the violent sex fantasies.
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MystMoonstruck
16 years ago
I don't know of any woman who fantasizes about a rape, not with what we know about the psychology of the act. So, a girl fearful of sex, even if she has "urges", is not going to fantasize about such a violent sexual encounter. I disagree strongly about this being a fantasy she wants.
This is her nightmare. This is her greatest fear, which is why she kills the landlord, which undoubtedly sends her over the edge. If she fantasizes about it, why does the real thing cause her to commit a murder?
People like to think that a girl like Carole feels "strong sexual desires" when she very likely does not. Try being an innocent in a world that expects something more. It can range from uncomfortable to terrifying. For Carole, this becomes repulsion at physical contact. Intruder nightmares are NOT an enjoyable experience! Watch the film "Salvage", in which those nightmares are placed on film. (Thank goodness for the ending!)
~~MystMoonstruck~~
"Smith's right. I AM a museum piece."~~Boris Karloff in "Targets" (1968)
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rushmore1978
16 years ago
I don't know, I think I agree with prodigylover on the subject of whether or not those scenes were nightmare or fantasy. It's a horrible thing that terrified her, but during one of the last of these scenes she puts on lip gloss immediately before going to bed, then lies there wide awake. She almost seems excited about it. To me that said it all. I could have misinterpreted that though. Any thoughts?
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NickiDrea
16 years ago
I tend to agree with you and the other poster about the rape scenes. In the first rape nightmare/hallucination/fantasy, she is terrified by the sex and struggling to get away. In the second rape, she is still terrified but seems to struggle a bit less. In the third rape, she puts on lipstick BEFORE she knows what is going to happen, and lays there with a smile on her face waiting. When the actual act does happen, she seems to alternate between being terrified and actually enjoying it.
I also agree that it's obvious that she's struggling with a repulsion of sex and a strong sexual attraction to men during the movie. This is obvious in the scene where she picks up her sister's boyfriend's shirt to put it in the hamper- or maybe it was even the trash can. She picks it up with two fingers, holding it far away from her, about to throw it away, then, almost as if she can't help herself, holds it to her nose and breathes in deeply, smelling it. After she smells it, she immediately gets sick and vomits. It's a very strong scene.
And to say that NO women have rape fantasies is simply untrue. There are women who fantasize about being tied up during sex, dominated during sex, being forced to have sex, hit during sex, etc. Obviously that's not all or even the majority of women, but they exist. There's such a social stigma about it that women who enjoy such sex live almost a double life. Unfortunately, some women like that kind of sex because they WERE abused, but there are some women who are just into it. There are people who are into everything.
"The only thing I expect out of lawyers is that they be back in their coffins by sunup."
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