I just watched this for the first time on HBO recently, so I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but it was pretty obvious the Hitcher had a death wish and wanted to be killed... So why didn't he just commit suicide? Also, when he was taken into the police station and Jim walks in and spits in his face, why did the Hitcher reach out to grab his hand?
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IMO, I think he wanted to die, but not by just killing himself, he wanted someone to stop him. Hence the scene in the truck, where he gives Jim the gun. As for him reaching for Jim's hand, he 'selected' Jim to be the one to stop him pretty much and felt a 'connection' with him. That's just my theory.
They will say that I have shed innocent blood...what's blood for, if not for shedding? - Candyman
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He did! That's exactly what he did.
shareIt came on HBO in the late 80's, early 90's all the time, it is so glad to hear its still being played on there this day. :)
shareRyder is a psychopath, as such it is difficult to rationalize his actions. My theory is that he did not believe in suicide (same as many homicidal maniacs). They want to stop killing, but they are compelled to do it by some unknown force. Ergo they desire and need to be stopped by someone else, and will continue to kill until it happens.
Ryder saw something in Jim, and an attachment was created when was thrown from the car. He became convinced when he fired upon him with an empty gun that he was capable of stopping him. After the truck scene, everything finally came together for the two of them.
- The General has spoken.
Because if he had committed suicide, it would have been a very short film.
What would it take for you to fellate the actor Keith Allen?
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I don't think it was as simple as John just wanting to die. I think it's more about HOW he wants to die. He doesn't dismiss committing suicide because he's lacking in courage to do it. He dismisses it because he doesn't believe it is a death that is befitting of his life. I think he wants to go out "with a bang" so to speak...One last grand hurrah and to die at the hands of a worthy adversary. And also maybe, just maybe...he wants to know or feel what all of his victims felt when they were about to die(I might be going too far with that idea, I dunno). When Jim throws him out of the car I think John is impressed that someone actually got the upper hand on him and feels Jim is "the one."
I also think John has grown bored with just taking the physical life of his victims(notice how several times he states "I'm tired"). It has become too easy for him and I think he values having the thrill of a challenge in his "work." This need is fulfilled through Jim as he has no plans to kill Jim's physical being, but rather wishes to manipulate and assasinate his mind and very soul.
In the end, John gets both. He gets the satisfaction of taking a once innocent and pure soul and transforming it into one that is now more "John" than "Jim." And through this transformation he also gets an opponent that is now worthy of taking him head on and actually coming out on top. Think of the scene in the diner where John says "You're a smart kid. You'll figure it out." He's wants Jim to figure out that if he wants to kill John, he has to BECOME John.
So yes, death is part of it. But John has been the "winner" so long in his game that now the only thing left to cure his boredom with it is to actually lose. He's been looking for the right person for a LONG time and he finally found it in Jim. A simpler way to put it would be to think of it as a serial killer's version of retirement.
"Equal rights for everybody, special treatment for NO ONE!"
I think Davewashere made some very good points, but my perspective on the whole things differ a bit.
We can find out the most about John Ryder by looking at his actions. He has no real history that anyone can find, so his actions are the only things available to figure him out. Here is a man who is not a serial killer. He chooses his victims at random and makes no attempts to hide what he does, while wasting no time between kills. He destroys helicopters, police cars, kills tons of police officers and escapes from a prison transport. Along with the lack of information as to who he is, this would indicate a background in intelligence or the military. It doesn't hurt that this movie was made around the time the Rambo movies were very popular.
Everything John does seems to be with total ease. I don't think he necessarily wants to go out with a bang, but I do agree with him wanting to make someone kill him. Part of that may be to take away innocence, but I think John wants to be killed by someone who can actually kill him. The person who kills him should not just be the person who kills him, it has to be the person that can beat him.
I would venture to think that John's military or intelligence background probably took a lot of his humanity and capacity to feel away. Being that he dresses like drifter and this was in the mid 1980's, the assumption I make is that he was probably in the Vietnam war. I would assume his emotions are dulled and there is probably nothing joyful he can find in life. He probably gets further and further frustrated by the amount of violence and death he causes because nothing beats him. His constant antagonism of his victims is an invitation to kill him, which no one is able to do.
My guess is that every single person who he has killed in a car probably repeated the "I want to die" phrase, even though John knew that they did not want to. Jim beat him and exclaimed his will to live and this was not something that John expected. The person who killed him had to be the person who can beat him, and that is what he saw in Jim.
There are some very good case studies here. I agree that John may have been in some type of top tier paramilitary organization. I believe after seeing and committing horrendous things, he probably developed an extreme case of narcissism - the denial of one's true self and/or emotions. As it is known, narcissists constantly feel empty inside and one way to temporarily subdue that misery may be from taking drugs to causing harm towards other people. In John's case it was taking away the lives of innocent drivers passing through the highway. Another known fact about narcissists is that they loathe routine and are heavily inclined to boredom. Jim granted him the opportunity to change all that and presented him with a game of cat & mouse. So to answer your question, I feel the reason he didn't commit suicide was because his ego was much too big for that. There is no doubting that he was self-destructive, but he wanted to die in a way that was grandiose by a worthy opponent and perhaps leave his image upon another in the process.
shareBecause if he had committed suicide, it would have been a very short film.------^ this
--------No! not that!
"Because if .... yada yada yada .... it would have been a very short film."
are some of the most pointless posts ever!
up there with "Its a movie thats why"