Nick


What was the significance of Carl's writing teacher totally ignoring/snubbing him?

Jim, do you know what you've done?
He knows, Doctor. He knows.

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[deleted]

I think it was to re-inforce how Carl feels like an outsider, someone who doesn't fit in anywhere. It also reminds him of how insignificant he is. That his teacher, who he really respected, didn't even remember him or felt Carl wasn't important enough to take 30 seconds to stop and say hello.

Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.

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I missed those qualities in Carl's character. He seemed to me the most grounded and intelligent of the group. He did not strike me as vain or pretentious, except perhaps when he spoke about a Plutocracy which seemed to come out of the blue. Of course for that he was soundly put in his place by the published writer who was also sexier and in the process of stealing his girlfriend. To me Carl seemed unduly criticized and punished by the writers.

You know me. I'm the same as you. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody.

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[deleted]

Like Luis Bun~uel with many of his characters, this writer-director treated Carl with some cruelty: he's shown as an idealist, naive, wannabe writer, who appears to be ready, even willing, to accommodate his girlfriend's infidelity.

The teacher snubbing him is just more of the same. It's not that the teacher didn't recognize him; otherwise, he would have said "sorry, I don't seem to recall you". Obviously the teacher recognized him but chose not to waste his time with someone who talks about the merits of plutocracy, or some other nonsense.

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I really don't blame the teacher for snubbing him. I know a handful of Carls. All they do is go on and on about their work and about topics that they've schooled themselves in so that they can sound smart in front of everybody. The teacher was probably just like, "oh God, not this guy..."

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All part of his downfall. Snubbed by his idol, emasculated and cuckolded by his girlfriend and a man he can't stand, insulted and belittled for his opinion. Unfinished novel, *beep* construction job, cheating girlfriend. That's why I love Liev Schreiber, he's the best at these characters. Spring Forward, Sphere. Something about his face makes me instantly empathize with him.

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